this is by no means original, but I think it is funny
>
>
> >
> >
> > The Truth About Taxes
> > by Anonymous
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > "Since you are all such good customers, " he said, "I'm going to reduce
> > the cost of you 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 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.
> >
> > He pointed to the tenth. "But he 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
> > something important. They were $52 short!
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > Unfortunately, Liberals cannot grasp this straightforward logic!
>
>
> >
> >
> > The Truth About Taxes
> > by Anonymous
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > "Since you are all such good customers, " he said, "I'm going to reduce
> > the cost of you 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 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.
> >
> > He pointed to the tenth. "But he 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
> > something important. They were $52 short!
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > Unfortunately, Liberals cannot grasp this straightforward logic!
