Obama Promises to Beat the 10th Man

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer, and 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 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 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 beer by $20.'  Drinks for
the ten 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 that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized
that $20 divided by six is $3.33  But if they subtracted that from every-
body's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up
being paid to drink his beer.  So, the bar owner suggested that it would be
fair to reduce each  man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he pro-
ceeded 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 pay $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.  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 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 any-
thing 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 sat  
down and had beers 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 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 somewhat friendlier.