A Flaw in the "Restaurant" Analogy for Federal Income Taxes.

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We've all heard the story of the 10 men eating at a restaurant and how their bill would come out if it was paid according to the current income tax system in the US. In the analogy: * The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. * The fifth would pay $1. * The sixth would pay $3. * The seventh $7. * The eighth $12. * The ninth $18. * The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. I was thinking about that the other day, and I have to disagree with it. I don't disagree with the outcome, but I don't think the person who came up with it went quite far enough. The flaw is, each of the men paid according to his income, but they all got the same food and service regardless of what they paid. When it comes to taxes, "the rich" pay the bulk of the total tax bill and "the poor" pay nothing. However, "the rich" recieve only the basic services and infrastructure for their money, while "the poor" get the same services and infrastructure "the rich" get.. but then they also get benefits and programs that are unavailable to "the rich". So, here's my addendum to the analogy... * The first four men (the poorest) pay nothing, but the waiter takes their order at the table, and brings their food to them, also refills their drink promptly. * The fifth would pay $1, the waiter takes his order at the table, and brings his foot to him, he gets his drink refilled as often as he asks, but he has to ask. * The sixth would pay $3, the waiter takes his order at the table, and brings him his foot, but he has to get up and go to the fountain for his drink. * The seventh $7, has to go to the kitchen to order his food, but the waiter does bring it out to him, he has to go to the fountain to get his drink, he isn't allowed refills. * The eighth $12, has to go to the kitchen to order his food and to get it, but the waiter will inform him when his order is ready for him to pick it up. Drinks cost extra, and he has to get it himself. No refills. * The ninth $18, has to cook his food himself, bring it out to the table and he can only have water to drink. * The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. No services offered. He can have whatever he wants, but he has to personally hire a cook, waiter, bartender and someone to do anything else he wants done. He also has to tally his own bill, unless he hires someone else to do that to. Ok, Now we have a valid analogy for our current tax system.