And that boys and girls is how our tax system works

A guest post by TikunOlam

Sent to me by email (I am guessing the email orginated with a Republican friend):

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

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1The 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 everyday and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, theowner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers', hesaid, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to paytheir bill the way we pay our taxes so:

The first four men wereunaffected. 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?'
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 paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The 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.

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 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 satdown and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money among all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how ourtax system works.

The people who pay the highest taxes get the mostbenefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they mightstart drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

In the email this was attributed to David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics, University of Georgia, however, according to Snopes, he was not the author.

Search for more information about taxing the rich at 4torah.com.