We Go To Pittsburgh

Beer and Taxes

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

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 ball. "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 men would 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 ? 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 a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

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

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," 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 benefit 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. This new tax 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 their 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, is how our tax system works.

Happy Father's Day!

From, Your Children

Happy 1st anniversary!

Friends

Someone Watching Baseball

Someone was watching baseball last night. A pop fly was hit behind first base. Pedroia, Drew, and Gonzalez were converging on it at full speed. Someone yelled, "DON'T HIT EACH OTHER! OH, MY GOD! TALK!!"

Someone is really cute.

Train's Comin'!

A Visit from the Amish

An Amish man from Lebanon clip-clopped up the drive way today. A few minutes later another one came up. They are interested in buying the farm. They don't like to have pictures taken of themselves, so I took them of their rigs. The guy in the above picture was here for three hours.

Stupid Dog

John Sebastian Frey 1926-2011

Grandpa Frey died Monday night after battling Parkinson's disease in his later years. He never complained about his affliction. He did as much as he could for himself for as long as he could. He was grateful for the efforts of his family to keep him home and comfortable as long as possible.

He grew up one of ten children in a small house in Corning. He played football, served his country, and graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law School. He was proof that hard work will lead to success.

He was highly intelligent and had a remarkable memory. It was never necessary to say things to him twice, and he remembered every thing ever told to him. He disliked telling jokes, saying, as his mother did, that one should only tell jokes about oneself. Yet, he always got the joke. He was delighted by his children and grandchildren, and they are his legacy.

It was an honor to help care for him in his last years. I will miss him.