Very Good Analogy

The following is one of the best analogies I've ever read. I truly believe that it is this very mindset that got Barrack Obama elected:

Every evening, the same 10 friends eat dinner together, family style, at the same restaurant. The bill for all 10 comes to $100. They always pay it the way we pay taxes:

• The first four are poor and pay nothing.
• The fifth pays $1.
• The sixth pays $3.
• The seventh, $7
• The eighth, $12.
• The ninth, $18.
• The 10th, (the most well-to-do) pays $59.

One night the restaurant owner announces that because they're such good customers, he's dropping their group dinner bill to $80. Let's call that a tax cut. They want to continue paying their bill as we pay taxes. So the four poorest men still eat free. But if the other six split the $20 tax cut evenly, each would save $3.33. That means the fifth and sixth men would end up being paid to eat. The restaurant owner works out a plan: The fifth man eats free; the sixth pays $2; the seventh, $5; the eighth, $9; the ninth, $12; and the 10th guy pays $52. All six are better off than before, and the four poor guys still eat for nothing. The trouble starts when they leave the restaurant and begin to compare what they reaped from the $20 cut. "I only got a dollar of it," says the sixth man, "but he (pointing at No. 10) got $7." The fifth guy, who also saved a dollar by getting his meal free, agrees that it's not fair for the richest to get seven times the savings as he. No. 7, grousing that the wealthy get all the breaks, points out that he only got two bucks. "Wait a minute," the first four poor guys yell in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men jump the 10th and administer a severe beating. The next night he doesn't come for dinner. They shrug it off and eat without him. The customary $80 bill comes. Surprise! They're $52 short.Yes, those who pay the most taxes get the most back from tax reductions. But tax them too much — punish them for the wealth they may have — and they just might stop bringing their money to the table.

~Author Unknown

In the last week I've alienated a couple on and offline friends with my anger. Please understand that in the same week the nation elected a president who I believe is going to tax me out of my ability to retire (at least for some years) I received an announcement that the governor of the great state of California is going to punish me for my own state's woes by cutting my pay 5%. To put a 5% pay reduction into perspective, that is 3/4 of my gasoline money or about 1/2 of my grocery budget. And all of THAT news comes on the heels of a friend of 25 years blowing his brains out. Yeah, it's looking like a lovely year!

I make very good money (6 figures). But I got out of high school with nothing and got to where I am by hard work and sound decision making. I had little help from anyone. Now I must endure a political environment in which I'll be mandated to give up a substantial amount of what I've spent 24 years in the work force to achieve to "help" people who haven't paid those same dues. It's as if I'm to be punished for applying myself and working long hours (I average 14 months a year if you add up my hours).

Where is it going to end, folks?

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