Another bit of chicanery is floating around the Internet again, this time about the Bush tax cuts. It begins by saying, "Let’s put the proposed tax cuts in terms everyone can understand".

Then the floater proceeds to explain it all by using a completely invalid scenario. The scenario holds that ten men, one very rich,  two more that are rich but not top dogs, a few middle classers, and the last four quite poor. They decide to go out to dinner and pay according to how they pay their income taxes. The meal costs $100, and the four poorest pay nothing at all, the fifth pays $1, the sixth $3, the seventh $7, the eighth $12, the ninth $18, and the tenth $59. Then the restaurateur decided to cut the cost of their meal by $20, leaving the bill at $80. Wanting to continue according to the way they paid income taxes, they worked it out again, with the $59 man getting a $7 cut out of the total  $20. This irritated several of the participants and they ended up by beating up the $59 man. As a result, he didn’t join them for the next meal, and the cost to each man was a lot more.

Although a clever little story, it is no compliment to the college scene where it apparently arose. Common sense, sometimes a little short in academia, tells us that it is farcical to assume that 10 men of such diverse financial standing would be dining together. In this country 65% of the wealth is owned by 5% of the people, and this $59 man is in the top 1%. He, no doubt, attended an ivy league school, and associates only with other people of wealth; and he and his family didn’t get where they are by paying for the lunch of poor folks. In fact, most likely he paid his $59 in tax only after exploiting every loophole in the book.

For the most part in these tax cuts the government is not giving back to taxpayers money that they paid in in an earlier year, but  allowing them to pay less taxes in the future. So the argument is not about who gets money back, but who pays for the operations of government in the future. Also it should be noted that this rich man has millions of dollars in income left over after paying his $59, so the tax he pays takes no food off his table, in no way affects the roof over his head, or any other significant aspect of his fortuitous life. He should be proud that he is in a position where he can contribute this much to the support of the greatest country in the world!

Kermit C. Moss
PO Box 1136
Monticello, AR 71657

PH 870-367-2486

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