on taxes and tax cuts

i did not write either of these - the first one was sent to me by a democrat friend as an attempt to get me to understand why we conservatives are so wrong on how unfair the tax cuts have been.  the second is a story i picked up along the way and is what i sent her in response.  enjoy!

Tax Cuts:

50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund was then due.

The team was about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopped them and suggested that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee’s interpretation of fairness.

After all, if the refunds were made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the ticket holders of the most expensive tickets. That would be unfair and unconscionable.

People in the $10 seats will get back $15, because they have less money to spend. Call it an “Earned Income Ticket Credit.” Persons “earn” it by demonstrating little ambition, few skills and poor work habits, thus keeping them at entry-level wages.

People in the $25 seats will get back $25, because that’s only fair.

People in the $50 seats will get back $1, because they already make a lot of money and don’t need a refund. After all, if they can afford a $50 ticket, then they must not be paying enough taxes.

People in the $75 luxury seats will have to pay another $50, because they have way too much to spend.

The people driving (or walking) by the stadium who couldn’t afford to watch the game will get $10 each, even though they didn’t pay anything in, because they need the most help (sometimes known as Affirmative Action!).

and also on taxes:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until on day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily bee r by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percent, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The n ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. B ut when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

i hope this clears it up.  if you're a conservative no further explanation is necessary for the analogy of the second story and no explanation possible for the first.  if you're a democrat no further explanation is necessary for the analogy of the first story and no explanation is possible for the second.

Comments

[z]

Great post and amazing recap. I loved it!
"they may not show up anymore" indeed.
I remember Obama suggesting we have to tax corporations HIGHER so we'll keep more jobs here...sometimes, you just wonder if the American people are sleeping.............

[Defiant_Infidel]

Wonderful job, Heidianne... The American people are seemingly comatose and credit/entitlement drunk. They are devoid of even the most rudimentary grasp of taxes and the economy while being completely bereft of the motivation to alter that. (Apparently more "change" than they wish to personally employ.) So, after the crash that this nipple mentality will precipitate... they will have "change" forced upon them. Of course, the real problem is that it will be forced upon all of us, because we all stay afloat in the same craft.

Perhaps we should grant them one last entitlement? Their own damn boat! Then they can so eagerly pursue sinking themselves only, instead of everyone also along for the ride...

[Defiant_Infidel]

Wonderful job, Heidianne... The American people are seemingly comatose and credit/entitlement drunk. They are devoid of even the most rudimentary grasp of taxes and the economy while being completely bereft of the motivation to alter that. (Apparently more "change" than they wish to personally employ.) So, after the crash that this nipple mentality will precipitate... they will have "change" forced upon them. Of course, the real problem is that it will be forced upon all of us, because we all stay afloat in the same craft.

Perhaps we should grant them one last entitlement? Their own damn boat! Then they can so eagerly pursue sinking themselves only, instead of everyone also along for the ride...

[Angel]

dont fret..Hussein obama will raise our taxes so high we will all go broke but the druggies and Moslem terrorists will be well fed!..blech!

[Fumanchudad]

Excellent!! I just found you again and have re-added you to my blogroll on my re-launched blog. Glad you're still out there fighting the good fight!
FMD

[Karen]

Terrific post. I can't believe we'll be right back at Clinton style tax rates again, come January, 2009. Turns my stomach.

[Uncle Joe]

Great post. Americans want change. Boy, are they gonna get it. BTW - Can someone tell me just how stupid you have to be to still be an undecided voter? Just what does such a person base their vote on anyway? Further, if someone is still undecided, shouldn't that disqualify them from voting (kinda tongue in cheek on that one)? Good grief!

[Debbie]

Those are great, especially the baseball one.

[Jennifer]

Great comparison Heidianne! I can't even imagine a democrat not being able to understand them, but I don't want to give them too much credit!

[hypotheek company]

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