BAR STOOL ECONOMICS

BAR STOOL ECONOMICS

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.

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 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 pay $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!

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 and beat him up.*

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine satdown 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.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.*
Professor of Economics, **University** of **Georgia*

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

And that's what will happen if Obama get's in.

Fire Jump

So I did this awhile back....



And then Sammy, my friends' son in the 1st grade, drew this and brought it home to papa JJ one day.


Its not a coincidence...Sammy was there watching me do the jump!

David & Felicia's Engagement Party

Felicia's boss threw her and David an awesome engagement party this weekend. We had so much fun!

The usual suspects - my best girlfriends :). It was so great to see everyone.
Amy and I are Felicia's maids of honor in her wedding next year - can't wait!
Doug had a strange obsession with the "unicycle" art in the backyard.

He also brought Felicia and David a lovely engagement gift - a kiddie cop toy kit. Felicia decided to model it for all of us.
The happy couple. I LOVE David's expression in this one!
Ummm, yeah. I really can't explain what is going on here...

Kevin & Whit

Quote of the Day

In my 5th grade Language Arts class, during our discussion about the story that we've been reading this week...

Student: "Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Perry!" (waving frantically)

Me: "Yes?"

Student: "I just wanted to let everyone know that I think I ate too many plums for breakfast today and I have REALLY bad gas." (simultaneously holding his stomach with one hand and pinching his nose with his other)

Me: "Have you ever heard of giving someone 'too much information?' "

Student: "Oh..."

Wow. Welcome to the wonderful world of 10 year old boys!

He's Getting My Vote

Island Run '08

AP and I went up to Seattle for the weekend.  The main reason was for my dad, Greg, and I to fire up the vintage iron and roll out to Vashon Island to take part in the Vashon Isle TT.  This little event has been going on now for 26 years, and is kind of a secret society of vintage bikes as no publicity about the event is let known to the general public.   You have to subscirbe to some obscure British vintage magazine or know a friend who knows a friend, kinda deal. 

Anyways, luckily my dad's subscribes to some, if not all of the obscure vintage motorcycle magazines, and we knew when to go.  Oh yeah, we also got to spend time with the new additon, Greg adn Erin's daughter Quincy. :-)

Getting set up for the ride.

Oh, and I have invented a new cardio routine.  You wake up early, put all your leathers on, and then proceed to try and get 3 out of the 5 bikes available started and ready to roll.  Some of the activities include push starting down hills, then going back up the hill, to jumping up and down to get them start (calisthenics!)

The Ferry ride over...

Our own Burger joint to eat at, they had a table waiting for us if you can believe it!

ATK lives on!

Some really cool bikes were parked downtown on main street throughout the day...

But last of course, some wake board action shots from Saturday morning...

Chris Carruthers, the man, the myth...

....the legend

Toe-side front side

And of course, me...

And my wake jumping ability.  Its been 5 years people!

I am all that is man!!

Fun times.  September in Seattle is my favorite!