[Rhodes22-list] Taxes & Politics

[Rik Sandberg]

Paul,

Yeah, I printed that one out. Think I'll frame it and hang it on the wall 
in my office. We had that happen in Minnesota the last couple of years when 
they did a sales tax rebate. People that were living off welfare or other 
gov't programs were all bitching 'cause they didn't get any money back. 
It's amazing how they can translate paying nothing into less of a benefit 
to them than paying less is to someone else. To top it off, it seem there 
really is a fool born every minute, so there's a lot of them out there. :-)

Rik

At 08:00 AM 1/15/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Before you read this, it is a commentary on taxes & politics.  It is just
>one guy's opinion (not even necessarily mine) so don't go crazy with this
>& start a war.  If you don't like this kind of stuff, delete it now and
>don't read it. - Paul
>
>
>A VERY simple way to understand the tax laws. Read on -- it does
>
>make you think!!
>
>
>
>Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every
>day,
>
>ten men go out for dinner. 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 $7, the eighth $12, the ninth
>$18,
>
>and the tenth man -- the richest -- would pay $59.
>
>
>
>That's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant
>
>every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day,
>the
>
>owner threw them a curve (in tax language a tax cut).
>
>
>
>"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce
>the
>
>cost of your daily meal by $20." So now dinner for the ten only cost
>$80.00.
>
>
>
>The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the
>
>first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what
>
>about the other six -- the paying customers? How could they divvy up the
>$20
>
>windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share?"
>
>
>
>The six men 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 end up being PAID to eat their meal. So the restaurant owner
>suggested
>
>that it
>
>would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and
>he
>
>proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so the fifth man
>paid
>
>nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid
>$9,
>
>the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of
>his
>
>earlier $59.
>
>
>
>Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
>to
>
>eat 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,
>
>but he, (pointing to the tenth) got $7!". "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed
>
>the fifth man, "I only saved a dollar, too, ........It's unfair that he
>got
>
>seven times more than me!". That's true!" shouted the seventh man, why
>
>should he get $7 back when I got only $2?" 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 he
>didn't
>
>show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it
>
>came time to pay the bill, they discovered, a little late what was very
>
>important. They were FIFTY TWO DOLLARS short of paying the bill!
>
>
>
>Imagine that!
>
>
>
>And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the
>
>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 at the table anymore. Where would that leave
>the
>
>rest?
>
>
>
>Unfortunately, most taxing authorities anywhere cannot seem to grasp this
>
>rather straight-forward logic!
>
>
>
>T. Davies
>
>Professor of Accounting &Chair,
>
>Division of Accounting and Business Law
>
>The University of South Dakota
>
>School of Business
>
>
>
>
>
>========================
>Paul Grandholm
>C&H Technology
>GrandPower Components Div.
>========================
>_________________________________________________
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