America's Tax System in Relative Terms: Beer

This does a good job accurately portraying the American tax system. Honestly, I don't think it's necessary to tax the rich even more. They pay just enough. More, they may leave America and not pay at all. Less, we wouldn't have as much money. I think things ar okay. Tell me what you think of this portrayal of the system, and try to find any kinks or problems with it.

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 everybody'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 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 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 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 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, Lorraine, 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.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
-taken from an e-mail from a friend

Polls, etc.

Obama is doing fantastic in the polls. McCain is catching up, but its doubtful he will overtake him. These next couple of years will be interesting with a Democratic Executive and Legislative. Nothing ever good comes when a single party controls both the Presidency and Congress, be they Democrat or Republican. Expect to see alot of bills passed within the first two years as Obama begins his administration of change. Whether that change will be for the best or worst, nobody knows. I hope we won't have to learn the hard way.

Wow.

Obama is going to win the election. As much as I hate to say it, I honestly think that is the reality of the situation. Obama is dominating in the polls, McCain isn't. And honestly, Bush hasn't been doing so hot the last four years, and that public discontent is going to rebound into Barack's waiting arms. I can't say I'm happy. But look on the bright side, right? Maybe we'll have a really cool civil war/anarchical apocalypse and everything will be like The Day After Tomorrow. Excuse me while I go buy ammo for my guns and cling to them bitterly.

Say what you will, but Palin can speak!

I got the chance to watch Sarah Palin give her speech yesterday at Suplizio Field and I must admit that it was a damn good speech. The crowd was totally into it, people were cheering, and it was fun. She has life to her, and to be honest, you have to admire the woman. What she's doing is a pretty impressive feat. I commend her and found myself agreeing with much of what she said.

The Last Debate

Even though Barack Obama has performed equal if not better in previous debates, I believe that McCain finally did what he had to do. McCain was significantly more aggressive in his debating and called out Obama on numerous issues. It was nice to see John McCain stop being so nice and show a little more "fire in the belly."

Obama's Citizenship: Legitimate?

It seems like the longer our friend Barack is exposed to the spotlight, the shakier his foundations become. Here is a news flash for a lot of people, and I'm surprised Democrats aren't a little more outraged: Barack Obama is having a lawsuit filed against him under the charge that he is not a natural born citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency. The case simply requires that Obama hand over the official documents (birth certificate, etc.), thereby proving his eligibility. To date, however, Obama has been unable to do that.
Before you jump on the argument regarding the so-called "certificate" posted on Obama's website, you need to understand that there are some problems with that as well. I have read numerous articles claiming that the image posted online justifies that Obama is a Hawaiian-born citizen. However, this is an image which many, myself included, believe is only to temporary placate Obama supporters. If it was a legitimate image of the actual certificate, why not just show the document in court and be done with it? That's what John McCain did. When his citizenship was questioned, McCain immediately produced his birth certificate, medical records, etc., none of which has been done by Obama. If Obama has nothing to hide, why make so much trouble with the courts? I believe more Democrats should be demanding explanations and proof. This is a guy whom many of you took time out of your day to help; don't you think he owes it to you to at least be qualified? He certainly does. Only time will tell the result of the case.
To watch a video about this issue visit this link (and actually watch the whole thing with an open mind):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA6_k3NtXZs
--One more thing: please do not fall victim to selective perception and disregard these ideas simply because you do not want to hear them. Do some research and search for the truth. Try to find something wrong with everything you read. Whether you want to or not, you will begin to find blank spots and rather confounding elements. The media never tells us everything.

A funny experience...

I just had the funniest thing happen. This lady calls me and says she's working for the Obama campaign. She asks me if this is my first election to vote in, asks me if I'm excited to vote, and finally who I plan on supporting. I answer John McCain. She asks why. I tell her. I talked to this lady for five minutes straight. I discussed issues like foreign policy, national security, gun control, abortion, the issues regarding Barack's experience and past. I backed everything up. Basically, I handed it to this lady (who seemed very nice, by the way). As soon as I finished, she said, "Well it sounds like you're a very well-informed voter. Good-bye." I hung up and had myself a hearty laugh. Use those dreadful things called "facts" and they back right down. Regardless of whether or not she meant to, this lady implied that she could not sway me in favor of Obama because I was "well-informed." Just a funny story I felt like relating.

Supporting Obama is a New Thing for most Dems

I was just thinking...its interesting how so many leaders within the Democratic Party had little or no faith in Obama before he was chosen to run and now they all claim to support him. Even Biden said he did not believe Obama was well-prepared enough for the presidency, even stating "I would be honored to run with or against John McCain because I think the country would be better off." Now that Barack has been selected, it seems as though a large number people (many Democrats) who had spoken out rather vehemently against him have endorsed him. If you don't believe me, watch the words come out of their own mouths:

1. http://www.gop.com/DVO/
2. http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=HPIB,HPIB:2006-18,HPIB:en&q=obama's%20visit%20to%20iraq&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#q=biden%20i%20would%20be%20honored%20to%20run%20with%20or%20against%20john%20mccain&emb=0

FYI...Barack Obama is not a Christian, not a Muslim!

So I went to search for some material to prove that Barack Obama's past is being blown out of proportion by the Republicans (mountain-out-of-molehill kind of thing), and I found a great website: http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/biographies/barack_obama_biography.php
I checked out the 6 major lies about Obama. The first one corrected the myth that "Obama's a Muslim". The truth is, he isn't. The site says, "For more than 20 years Barack Obama has pledged his devotion to the Christian faith, as well as attended regular Sunday service at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago." After reading this, I checked out the church and leading pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Just type the search into youtube or visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc2FCJ7zWEQ
Wow. It's this "faith" to which Obama "pledged devotion" and "attended regular Sunday service?" Great. Now I feel better. If you plan on telling me that 20 years of a candidate's life is irrelevant to their qualifications for the presidency or that I'm just trying to dig up whatever dirt I can find, you must be kidding. I am not trying to make up a history that isn't there. On the contrary, I will be infinitely relieved when someone can prove that these issues are irrelevant and unrelated. Despite my hopes, I believe Obama will win the election. Help me sleep easier at night, and prove my suspicions wrong.

More Bailout??!!

News just in: Bush and his cronies have decided that since the first bailout attempts failed, the solution is to loan more money. The Federal Reserve has just allocated another $billion-plus loan to AIG in an effort to bail it out. Are you kidding me? I told you from the start it was a bad idea; now our taxes are going to pay even more to bail out these corporations.

Barack Obama

Sometimes Barack Obama scares me. I read the bit in the book on selective perception and so will try to avoid it as much as possible. Certain unsettling elements of Obama's past do, however, exist. Anyone denying this is also falling victim to selective perception. I have been doing a bit of research over the candidates. John McCain, other than his stint in Vietnam, seems to be pretty much your stereotypical politician. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is rather mysterious. His past has some serious gaps in it and associations with people who are definitely not the kind of people a president should be associated with. John McCain seemed pretty up front. The more I investigated Obama, the more concerned I became. Look, I'm not saying Barack is an unqualified candidate. What I'm saying is that if you plan on voting, you should do a little background checking of your own. This link is a series of videos covering the more disturbing elements of Barack's past. Yes, they are biased, but that bias only goes so far. I could not find anything similar on John McCain, and I looked. Whether or not you agree with this, the simple fact that it exists merits a deeper investigation into Barack's past, if only to prove his innocence.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=barak+obama+history&hl=en&emb=0#q=Barack%20Obama%20%26%20Friends%20Sean%20Hannity%20Special%20&hl=en&emb=0

The Debate

Neither candidate had an outstanding performance during the debate last night. Both, however, were well spoken and seemed well-informed. Watching the debate made me think about how I really don't like either candidate, although I believe John McCain to be the lesser of the two evils. I disagree with Obama on every level and just about as much with McCain. But given the choice, I would vote McCain, although my vote would be more to keep Obama out than to put McCain in.