How Tax Cut Works

You've heard the cry in the past "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 day, 10 men go out for dinner. 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.

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 restaurateur suggested reducing each man's bill by roughly
the same percentage, thus:

* The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (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, 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 for even half of it.

That, boys and girls, 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.