Tax Cuts Explained
[A friend of mine sent me this. Not sure on accuracy, but I found it interesting. Can anyone shed light?]
Because it’s the election season, let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.
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 curved ball (or is that a curved beer!). “Because 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 me!”
“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 man 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.
.
[Later that night I got this following response from a Blog Reader]
Shawn,
I thought you might enjoy the following site:http://www.factcheck.org/
It is one of the few sites I have been able to find that seems truly interested in facts rather than political party line.
It is one of the few sites I have been able to find that seems truly interested in facts rather than political party line.
.
I thought your example of taxes was very interesting. Let me ask you a question.In your example, men 1-4 drink for free.The tenth man, the wealthiest, leaves because everyone beets him up.It’s been my experience that the tenth man doesn’t walk away and drink somewhere else. He buys the bar and takes his friends’ money.I think currently that too much of our income goes toward useless taxes, by us I mean those of us in the ubiquitus middle classSo I can appreciate the spirit of your example.However, the moral of your story seems to be that if we don’t play nice with the wealthy, they may find greener pastures to distribute their bounty.
I thought your example of taxes was very interesting. Let me ask you a question.In your example, men 1-4 drink for free.The tenth man, the wealthiest, leaves because everyone beets him up.It’s been my experience that the tenth man doesn’t walk away and drink somewhere else. He buys the bar and takes his friends’ money.I think currently that too much of our income goes toward useless taxes, by us I mean those of us in the ubiquitus middle classSo I can appreciate the spirit of your example.However, the moral of your story seems to be that if we don’t play nice with the wealthy, they may find greener pastures to distribute their bounty.
My question is that as citizens, people who have inherently profitted from our free market society, doesn’t moving that money over seas and avoidence of those taxes constitute an act of rebellion, even treason?
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Don’t miss-understand me, I’m not saying people who handle their money well are crooks. It just seems to me that if I have drawn the correct lesson from your example, I am supposed to act in such a way so that the wealthy among us aren’t frightened into avoiding their national duty in the form of taxes, while I, not being of that august body, will be left to catch the bag.I have moral issues with this assumption since it effectively holds the wealthy to a different set of rules than the rest of us.Can you help me with this?
.
I’m working through some difficult decisions in this election and I would enjoy hearing what you have to say on the matter.
[And here is my response, off the cuff]
When I post things it’s not so much a statement as a question.
I usually relate things to my own business. Quite simply, I think that those with means and ability will avoid paying their taxes after a certain point. As far as I can tell, our forefathers were throwing tea in the harbor over 1% taxation. I’ve found a few instances where the rebellion against paying taxes was over paying ANY at all.
Back to my business. My business has grown tighter. Because of the huge amount of taxes I both collect and pay to the multitude of government agencies I had to shrink the size of the studio. Ironically, a group of tax accountants took over the vacated portion. They’re a great bunch of professionals, but it’s a bit ironic that they grew while I shrunk. The fact is, that they don’t produce anything, except fill out papers to be sure that the money from individuals and businesses flows smoothly into State coffers.
If these burdens were lifted, the money would not disappear. I could afford a better space, give my workers a raise, hire new workers and/or generally improve and expand my business.
My basic problem with “liberal” philosophy is that they seem to think that you can get something for nothing. I always snort in derision when I hear “these tax cuts are going to cost the government X dollars”. That’s like saying running from a mugger is going to cost him the $20 in your wallet. If I protest having my crops hauled off by force and threat, their lower lip starts to quiver, “but think about the poor.” Dammit, I do think about the poor. I pay more to charity than to taxes. What I’d really like is to decide how to use my own money; how to best administrate it.
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The current Republican administration is ten times as bad, since they have done even worse by printing trillions of dollars to finance their wars. I believe it is a horrific betrayal of the american people.
The supposition is that a distant politician is going to be a better, more just, more moral administrator of the crops than the person who actually planted them, harvested them, sacrificed for them. That if the government doesn’t do it by force, common citizens won’t do it.
I heard a clip from Hillary Clinton lamenting a single mother who just had her hours cut. I think that’s funny because if there is an increase in the Payroll Tax, the absolute first thing I’m going to do is cut Sarah’s hours. Fact: right now I can’t afford to give my workers a raise because of the tax burden.
The other supposition of the philosophy of the left is that businesses don’t like profits. If we tax the hell out of corporations they will just take it out of the profits. That’s just plain silly. Every time you buy a product, like say a light bulb, part of the cost you pay is for the various taxes on the business that makes them (not to mention the lawyers and liability insurance).
In short, you can’t get something for nothing. There’s no such thing. The government can’t spend a single dollar without first taking it from someone else. This whole business of redistribution or the printing of money creates only an illusion. The only way to create real wealth is to actually roll up your sleeves and create something.
An entrepreneur actually creates something that wasn’t there before. I am a toymaker. Models arrive in pieces and leave as an improved product. I create something.
More to come.
[And here is a further response from my friend again]
Ah,That makes more sense.
Discussing money is both more simple and entirely more complicated than it first apears (particularly where taxes are concerned.)I would say, rather than stating that the left feels that they can create or get something out of/for nothing, that my issue comes more from the fact that these ideas seem to come from the idea that I am supposed to help everyone, that my money and my taxes should be used to provide for all the less fortunate and improve everyone’s quality of living.
We absolutely need to make sure that certain basic needs are met, but we also need to make sure that as a country we are encouraging the less fortunate to stand up and become more fortunate. I can’t tell you how angry it makes me when I see polititions aproving billion dollar programs that don’t appreciably change my quality of living and yet increase my taxes simply to give someone else an increase in there’s for no cost to them.
.
Based on what you’ve said I’d think Obama is your man. Not only does his program stand to cut taxes for most americans, he also is endorcing a pay-as-you-go initiative which would force congress to cut from one existing budget line if they choose to spend more money after the first budget is aproved.If I could find a phiscally responsible liberal, or a socially concious conservative, I’d vote for either of them.
.
The problem I’m finding is that candidates now are so tied up with party lingo and platforms that those parties define them to a large degree. I’m not even asking for a tax cut (though god knows I’d like one.) I just want someone in office who will use my money responsibly.
[My response back]
Dear M,
I think I am with you on this one. It’s a sad, sad day when the democrats are starting to look like the fiscally conservative ones.
.
If McCain gets into office who knows what countries we’ll be invading and fighting. After reading his book Faith of my Fathers it’s clear he just does whatever the hell he wants.
.
I’m still doing a lot of reading and studying. It may not seem like it, but I may still come around to Eric’s point of view. I admit that other theories might turn out to be right.
.
Of course, it hardly matters what they’re saying now. It’s all a farce. The real objective is to part the commoners from their labor (through inflation/printing of money, income tax, and lawsuits). There is a class of people who are not producing anything of value. The system is designed to protect that group.
.
Imagine a settlement where only barter is allowed. Let’s say a complex community of 10,000 people. A man walks into the pie shop. Give me two cream pies, please, he says. The pie shop owner asks what he has in value to give in exchange. Oh, nothing, he says, I’m on my way down to the lake to relax for the day, I don’t really have anything to trade.
.
I don’t think a reasonable person would give him the pies. In fact, I think this individual would be driven out of town on a rail in short order because the deception would be readily apparent. His sloth would be on display for all to see.
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The system of paper money we have currently is extremely adept at hiding this man behind layers upon layers of exchanges that we accept as fair. In fact, the entire banking system is a farce designed to make a switcheroo of valuable and tangible goods for paper. But it’s paper that can be in turn switched out for other goods. It’s like a game of musical chairs, but every round a commoner is dropped off into poverty. Four lawyers retire to Villas in Italy while four hundred workers are ruined.
.
I’m not talking about welfare moms here, or food stamps. While I believe those programs would be better administrated by private charities run on donations, I am talking about the bailouts. Those are one thousand times worse.
.
I was reading yesterday about the Fed “pumping 70 billion into the economy”. Really? That’s amazing! They left their offices for the day, rolled up their sleeves and created 70 billion worth of goods that could be used to tangibly improve the lives of their fellowmen?! Why these must be gods on earth! That’s a real fish and loaves miracle.
Never Say Argh
[Here’s a kind note from a client that brightened my day]
Shawn,
Ok I’ll have them sent out asap.
Thank you very much for Hard work and trying to make these project run as smoothly as possible, I think you and your team a BTP are a really wonderful set of folks and you have an awesome product. It’s really a good feeling from a client point of view to know that even if there are problems with a project your willing to go the extra mile to make me feel satisfied.
Being a cable guy myself, and coming from an environment that is usually thankless no matter how much work I put in. Its extremely gratifying to see someone work as hard as you do. I just wanted to thank you in my own way. I hope the email helps for when your in those crappy spots and everything in you yells “ARGH”!
–Luke
That’s Pep
Hey, here’s my new favorite song for the week:
Here are the lyrics:
vigor vim vitality and punch
the ability to act on a sudden hunch
nerve to tackle the hardest thing
feet that climb and hands that cling
a heart that never forgets to sing
that’s pep (3 times)
sand and grit in a concrete base
a friendly smile on an honest face
a spirit that helps when another’s down
knows how to scatter the blackest frown
love’s it’s neighbor love’s it’s town
that’s pep (4 times)
say “i will” for you know you can
look for the best in every man
meet each thundering knockout blow
come back with a smile ’cause you know
you got the best of the whole damn show
that’s pep (6 times)
you know thats pep
I used to listen to Devo a lot as a young man of about thirteen. Good memories.
Fifth Amendment and Busted!
A friend of mine sent me this link. It was quite educational.
http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-plead-5th.html
And then I found this one:
Forge World Order
I’m making a Forge World Order sometime this week.
Forge World
If you would like to commission something, please contact me for a quote. Advantage to you: you get free Express shipping. FW is good about getting Express orders out right away.
I should note that this is ONLY for if you want to have us assemble and paint the model, too.
When giving a quote I will usually give two levels at least: Wargamer Standard or Extra Love (this latter is what Forge World models deserve).
If you want to get the price in USD, the exchange rate is $1.79 per British Lb. So, multiply by 1.79. Here’s a converter:
http://www.dollars2pounds.com/
Note: the pic above is from the Forge World site. We didn’t paint that.
Sunday September 14 2008 Restraining Bolt
No sermon, no politics today.
At this moment I am drinking Ovaltine and watching Return of the Jedi with my daughter. She should be in bed, but Mommie is asleep and I think Kenna’s “nerd education” is very important.
I am very sad because I had a few projects rejected and I will be sorting that out on Monday. I am constantly worried about customer satisfaction. It’s not as easy as it looks to run a company like this.
Anyway, I’ve started brewing up a crazy scheme to go live in a yurt. I would just love to own my own life instead of spending half my time paying interest to the bank. Like an indentured servant. So, I call the yurt idea “Plan Y”. This morning I was joking with my wife that she’d be in the yurt, no running water or electricity, baby in one arm, cooking a can of beans on a little camper stove (still actually in the can, with the lid peeled partway off), pregnant and muttering “I can’t believe he knocked me up again”, and at that moment a giant gust of wind tears the yurt off the foundation and it rolls away across the desert.
No, Tamie doesn’t like Play Y at all.
In yurt-related update, I met up with old pal Greg M. at church today and picked his brain a little bit about that. He works at an architect-type firm and he told me about all the insane zoning laws and permits that make it so the beauracrats can control every single aspect of your life and bleed you dry while doing it.
Yeah, but I won’t get started on that.
The yurt would be solar and eco-friendly. Pretty sweet. Something is clicking inside my head.
My lovely wife fried up some chicken tonight, along with some mashed potatoes and corn. That’s the good life.
Tamie and I took a walk around the neighborhood long about twilight tonight. Griffin came along, pedaling furiously on his little trike. He is ever so cute. He’s a delight to have around. I think it was like 71 degrees, with an ever so slight breeze, and the smell of flowers and fresh-cut grass in the air.
I am extremely optimistic about the future. Not just me and my family, but the country and the world. The light is growing stronger.
Friday September 12 2008 He Wore a Hat and He had a Job
Picture: a converted Daemon Prince. See vid and stills.
At this moment it is 10pm. I am listening to Devo and acting as guard for the nocturnal shenanigans of my beautiful children.
First off, I am booking projects for October currently. If you want something done, it’s best to get started now.
I still have that biker army and only a few bites so far.
My day began at 6:50am, typing away in the pre-dawn hours. After seeing the kids off to school I headed up to the MTC where I translate Spanish. I was actually on time for a change. My translation is slow, ponderous and with limited vocabulary. After chatting up the elderly Sisters in the international office I headed back to the studio where I changed into my casual duds.
I found Sarah diligently working away in the packing room. We cleared digital photography, unpacked the packages, got the work orders ready for painters and so forth. Really just another day of joking around and solving problems and working with great miniatures.
Anyone want to know what’s on my mind? Taxes, politics, faith, and miniatures battles. The usual. My wife is “nesting”. We had a long discussion tonight about how it is going to be in the next three months. We’re going to do Christmas about two weeks early so it has almost no chance of falling near the birth of the baby girl. She also wants me to pick up slack on this thing called housework. Whatever that is.
I am sick to death that I am a collaborator in the robbing of my workers on behalf of the government. It simply isn’t anything less than that. I plan on playing it by the book, though. Both parties have been complicit in the looting of the country. The blame and the solution lay with the common man– get off your duff and vote for a third party.
Once home, I picked up my daughter and we went out for ice cream. Then I took Jonah to the father-son campout up at the reservoir. We flew kites, fished, and ate dutch oven dinner. But we didn’t stay the night. Mankind didn’t build all these houses so we could sleep in a tent.
While up at the campground for Father-Son thing, Jonah informed me he needed to use the bathroom. Where’s the bathroom? It’s down there, he replied. Well, I’m not walking all the way down there and you’re not going by yourself; there are a lot of bushes around here why don’t you go take a whiz over behind that one? So, he heads on over, drops trou’ and starts watering the bush. I rush over and stand behind him so people can’t see his egg mcmuffins. After hiking his trousers up I tell him, “usually people go around *behind* the bush!”
The following projects are under the brush and are expected to be completed in the next 5-10 days:
Orks and Angels 01 JC
Kroot 01 SS done
Inquisition 04 RT plus penitent
Emperors Children 10 EB
Daemonhunters 01 and 02 FL
Steel Legion 02 ES
Daemonhunters 01 FL display
Daemon Prince 01 PC done
Eldar Fleet 01 SR
Brettonians 01 JC +he mage about half done already
Daemons RY touchups done
Pirates 01 BC
War Machine 01 AR just barely getting started on Monday
Wednesday September 10 2008 Onward Ever Onward
Hey all.
My main and only concern is booking projects for October. We’re about 15% full right now.
My main and only concern is booking projects for October. We’re about 15% full right now.
I have an Ork army on hand and ready to go.
I also have this Space Marine Biker army:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI7k9_u0BqI
Is it possible to have bikes as troops choices with the new codex? If so, this would make a rocking army. If you have an interest in it, I can start working up a quote and some ideas. Cost of materials would be $250, which I think is at least half off.
Personally, I think it would be a lot of fun to create a new chapter, maybe switching around the white scars color scheme. I think that dark red with silver accents and bone white skulls would be really really cool looking on the table. But what would be a good name for the chapter:
Brazen Skulls (work on brass skulls as icons– too Khornate?)
Lions of the Emperor (use lion icons et al from the new High Elf range– key modifications can make the army)
And, of course, I can get any order, any project underway from scratch. You just need to let me know what you want done!
I am also resurrecting an old special for the month of September:
Hungry, Evil, or Dead
Give us Artistic License for a Tyranids, Necrons, Chaos Daemons or Vampire Counts and get 25% off on Painting and cost of Materials.
In the case of Chaos Daemons it needs to be a themed army of mostly one chaos god.
You can find a la carte pricing guides here:
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/downloads.php
OR you can just email or call me with your list. I can completely help you with any matter.
Political Video Dump
Oh, I could die a happy man to see this happen:
http://www.libertyamendment.com/
Here is an email I got from Eric Danley, my political counterpart.
Yesterday I spent the day up north in Wisconsin, Canvassing for Barack Obama. I’ve never hid the fact that I am an ardent supported of the Senator, but this is first time I really took that step into participatory democracy instead of just being a “Monday Morning Quarterback.” I’ve actually served as an election judge many times, but this was truly different. My team of 4 which included myself, my wife, an African American Cop from Chicago, and an African American Financial Auditor collectively knocked on 250 “targeted” doors. I think by targeted, they mean people registered to vote but not registered with a Party.
Most houses we knocked on were marked “not home” but there were many times where the residents were clearly visible and simply chose to ignore us at the door. Some tiimes we would be enthusiastically welcomed as the candidate of choice and other times we were politely told they were supported McCain. It was not our place to argue or convert, so we simply would ask what issues brought them to that decision and thank them for their time. A handful of times however the people we visited would throw our brochures at us, slams the door in our face, or all out verbally assault us or the candidate: “Oh god I don’t want that piece of $#@% in the office,” or “How dare you come to my door with his crap?” It may have been racism, or simply partisanship but to me it was truly sad.
I am a passionate believer in our democracy. I believe in our system, and our constitution. I have many times encouraged friends, family, and acquaintances to vote even when I knew their vote would be against my candidate. In order for a government to be truly representative, the electorate must be informed and participate. I guess thats what frustrated me so much about my day yesterday. Those people who could not spare 2 minutes of their time to be politely given a brochure and asked if they’ve decided on a candidate, but even more those people who were enraged by my choice to support a different candidate from their own. John McCain Loves America. Barack Obama Loves America. I love America. We are all citizens or this great nation and although we sometimes make different choices we all want the United States of America to be the greatest nation on Earth. So why can’t we have a civilized discussion? Its this great debate that makes this country a Nation By the People, and For the people.
I don’t know why I’m sending this to you, except that I know that you too love this country and we haven’t heard to much politics from BTP recently.
Eric
[Random thought from client]
Afther watching the political video dump in your blog I thought you might be interested to see the following if you havent already. Also if you havent already read the Creature from Jeckyl Island, a secong look at the federal reserve, I highly recomend it, its a fasinating read and endorsed by Ron Paul. cheers dan, good blog
p.s. tryed to put on comments on the blog but unable to get links to work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cESC0RaVnM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDAa-doSLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIA3UEDzAt8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ7LcplfkgY
Monday September 8 2008
Picture: an urban style Baneblade. This is an amazing kit and you can do variants for other races, too.
I spent most of the day with the Assembly crew working on that huge Ork army (we have two going concurrently right now. I took on the unpleasant task of texturing the bases on all 400+ models. It was really enlightening to work with those extremely talented people. We had a great time, I wish I could have recorded it all.
At this moment it is 4am. I am up with Griffin. He fell out of the bunkbed. He’s all right now.
When Tamie and I had our first child, we would absolutely freak out if the child were keeping us up at odd hours. Now, it’s very peaceful. We just go with the flow.
The following project is delayed on account of backordered models:
Wyches of Thoth 01
Just a reminder: I’m now booking project for October. Best to start early and get everything set up.
Now, not to throw a match in the gasoline barrel, but here’s a video I found interesting. It’s about politics. I’m not saying I agree (or don’t agree), only that it’s interesting. A sort of mental exercise.