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Thread ID: 58054	2005-05-19 23:47:00	Tax Cuts: Savings 101 or, "A precautionary tale"	Billy T (70)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
356845	2005-05-19 23:47:00	Here is the real story to lighten the Budget discussion! You've heard the cry in the last 5 or 6 days from across Australia: "It's just a tax cut for the rich!", and it is accepted as fact . But what does that really mean? The following explanation may help . Suppose that every night, 10 men go out for dinner at the local restaurant . The bill for all 10 comes to $100 . They decided to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, and it went like this: * The first four men (the poorest) paid nothing . * The fifth paid $1 . * The sixth $3 . * The seventh $7 . * The eighth $12 . * The ninth $18 . * The tenth man (the richest) paid $59 . All 10 were quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner said: "Since you are all such good customers, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20 . " So now dinner for the 10 only cost $80, and the group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes . The first four men were unaffected . They would still eat for free . But how should the other six, the paying customers, divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"? They realised that $20 divided by six is $3 . 33 . But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth and sixth men would each end up being paid to eat . The restauranteur suggested reducing each man's bill by roughly the same percentage, thus: * The fifth man paid nothing (like the first four) instead of $1 (100% saving) . * The sixth paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving) . * The seventh paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving) . * The eighth paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving) . * The ninth paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving) . * The tenth paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving) . Each of the six was better off, and the first four continued to eat for free, as now did the fifth - but 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!" "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 . The nine sat down and ate without him, but when they came to pay the bill, they discovered that they didn't have enough money between all of them to meet even half of the bill! That, boys and girls, journalists and college professors and special interest whingers, 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 at the table anymore . There are lots of good restaurants in Monaco and the Caribbean . Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
356846	2005-05-20 01:39:00	Explains it very nicely. :D How would you have it done though?	vapo (5203)
356847	2005-05-20 01:55:00	Now if i was in charge . . . No one would be allowed to own a compay, they would all be state owned and people would do the job (for life) that my department assigned them to, A figure would be decided upon that reflected what a days work was worth (probally about $40) and this would never change . Everyone would be equal in my glorious paradise,and thanks to my secret police criminals would be locked up and executed before they commited crimes . And children would be put to work before they could start causing trouble . There would be no health care,no pay without work,no special grants,and all educational material would be written by the state to reflect our god given status . On top of that I would have a 500 foot solid gold statue of myself and the worlds biggest palace . Sounds perfect, Sign up for communism TODAY, There are currently numerous openings for hand maidens . . . who will of course get pefertial treatment after the revolution sweeps the land . Muhahahaha . . . . and to think I have work I should be doing Me thinks I may have more success rowsing a crowd of Macdonals workers rather then this group . . . .	Metla (12)
356848	2005-05-20 02:39:00	Now if i was in charge... No one would be allowed to own a compay, they would all be state owned and people would do the job (for life) that my department assigned them to.... Sounds very familiar Metla, do I detect the asperations of a Robert Mugabge or a Saddam Hussein clone???? :rolleyes:	Cptn Hotshot (3904)
356849	2005-05-20 02:54:00	The worst law to enter the books is limiting a company's liabilities to the Company assets. Shareholders own the company and they should also be liable for any unpaid debts.	KiwiTT_NZ (233)
356850	2005-05-20 03:24:00	But the original story had the numbers all wrong. The first 4 poorest paid $10 each the 5th paid $15 the 6th paid $20 the 7th, 8th and 9th paid $25 each The richest one (who was collecting the money) put $50 in his pocket and paid the rest to the cashier. He didn't get rich by paying taxes.	Graham L (2)
356851	2005-05-21 00:44:00	But the original story had the numbers all wrong. The first 4 poorest paid $10 each the 5th paid $15 the 6th paid $20 the 7th, 8th and 9th paid $25 each The richest one (who was collecting the money) put $50 in his pocket and paid the rest to the cashier. He didn't get rich by paying taxes. And that folks is the view of a commo.	Cicero (40)
356852	2005-05-21 09:41:00	Now now Tom, one of the nice things about PF1 is that we can all hold diametrically opposed views but still get along. I don't actually get Grahams point but what the heck. Perhaps he is assuming that all money in an economy is manufactured by the government first before it reaches the people. If only :rolleyes:	Winston001 (3612)
356853	2005-05-21 10:02:00	Now if i was in charge... No one would be allowed to own a compay, they would all be state owned and people would do the job (for life) that my department assigned them to, A figure would be decided upon that reflected what a days work was worth (probally about $40) and this would never change. Everyone would be equal in my glorious paradise,and thanks to my secret police criminals would be locked up and executed before they commited crimes.And children would be put to work before they could start causing trouble. There would be no health care,no pay without work,no special grants,and all educational material would be written by the state to reflect our god given status. On top of that I would have a 500 foot solid gold statue of myself and the worlds biggest palace. Sounds perfect, Sign up for communism TODAY, There are currently numerous openings for hand maidens...who will of course get pefertial treatment after the revolution sweeps the land. Muhahahaha....and to think I have work I should be doing Me thinks I may have more success rowsing a crowd of Macdonals workers rather then this group.... HHMMMM Well I am assuming you will be needing a right hand man, so i will volunteer for that, I also think we could increase income by exporting the unemployed to work in places like japan, i would also go further and outlaw boy bands, girl bands etc and have members of them publically disembowled at public celebrations and as for the existing politicians	Morgenmuffel (187)
356854	2005-05-21 21:15:00	Now now Tom, one of the nice things about PF1 is that we can all hold diametrically opposed views but still get along. I don't actually get Grahams point but what the heck. Perhaps he is assuming that all money in an economy is manufactured by the government first before it reaches the people. If only :rolleyes: And that view (that all money in an economy is manufactured by the government first before it reaches the people.)is the view of a commo. I might add,I can get on with a commo,but that doesn't change the fact.	Cicero (40)
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