Tax cuts - How they really work

Sometimes politicians can exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!", and
it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in
case you are not completely clear on this issue, we hope the following will
help.

                  Tax Cuts - A Simple Lesson In Economics

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.
   The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, 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.  "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. 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 each 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, 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
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. 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 me!"  "That's true! !!" shouted the seventh man.
"Why should he get $10 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 the tenth man 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 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 ones who get the most money back from a reduction are
those who paid in the most. Tax them too much, attack them for being
wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore. There are lots
of good restaurants in Europe and the Caribbean.




Brian Duncombe  [log in to unmask]
"We're making progress.  We know a thousand ways it can't be done"
Thomas A. Edison

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