spud_bliss

-CD41
Sunday Morning- No Doubt
Mickey's Big Mouth- Whiskey Daredevils
While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles
Faith- George Michael
All Apologies- Sinead O'Conner
Names and Dates and Times- Ani DiFranco
Rain on the Scarecrow- Johny Cougar Mellencamp
Another Drinkin' Song- Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Needle and The Damage Done- Neil Young
Teenagers- My Chemical Romance
Mexican Americans/Beaners- Cheech and Chong
Bathwater- No Doubt
Language- Henry Rollins
Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
They're Only Words- George Carlin
Berserker- Love Among Freaks
Vegas- Henry Rollins
Viva Las Vegas- Dead Kennedys
Liar- Rollins Band
Old Fashion Morphine- Jolie Holland
Big Mouth Strokes Again- Placebo
Irish Drinking Song- Flogging Molly
Factory Girls- Flogging Molly
Devil's Dance Floor- Flogging Molly
Irish Pub Song- Flogging Molly

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, 10 men go out for beer and the bill for all 10 comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, using the "progressive" tax formula, the billing would go 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, the majority of the drinkers voted democratically to do that.

The 10 men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day the bar owner surprised them. "Since you are all good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for 10 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 everyone would get his "fair share?"

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's bill, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink beer. That didn't seem fair.

So, the bar owner suggested reducing each man's bill using the US tax formula. Then he presented the amounts each should pay.

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

Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free. But outside the bar, the drunks compared their savings %u2013 without any sense of thanks.

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

"That's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only got a dollar back.It's unfair that the richest guy got ten times more than I got!"

"Yeah!" 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 did not get anything at all. The US system exploits the poor!"

Then 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 had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money from 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. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is friendlier.