The Tax System & I'm getting

pleasingly plump. When I was much younger we coined this phrase which we used to describe those of us who were heavier than what those health charts indicated. I mean no one could possibly get down to their "ideal" weight, or could they ? Lately, everyone has been commenting about their New Year's resolution to eat healthier. ( SonjaM & RichardM, to name a couple) . I mean we changed our lifestyle a few years ago and started to eat healthier, less carbs, less soda (soft drinks), more fish, less red meat. All told things were going along fine until the past few months when I started to eat more junque food. I gained a few and it seemed harder to get rid of the extra luggage. Then came Christmas, Turkey, desserts and tons of Hollandaise sauce made with butter and cream puffs with chocolate topping.

The other day, our son said to me that my jeans were falling apart. Well, I know they were getting frayed, with some holes in strategic places but I thought it was the style. I mean, I have seen many younger people wearing jeans with holes in them and half tattered and ripped, and also sneakers with toes poking through. I never really embraced the jean revolution in the past preferring to wear corduroy but they never held their shape, or those twill pants which were considered between jeans and slacks.



I only discovered jeans about 20 years ago and now I wear them all the time. I just get the cheap, non-brand name ones from the big membership C+ store. I keep thinking that one day I may splurge and get a brand name label, but so far I haven't been tempted but the cheap ones are thinner and seem to wear out faster. I took a photo to show you my current tattered pair but then I wasn't sure I had the GUTS to show you my GUT, and I am holding my breath, otherwise you could imagine another inch or so in "expanded" mode.


(Pleasingly Plump)

There is also a worn through hole in the rear of my pants, but I couldn't twist around enough to capture an image of it.



The rear cuffs are also getting badly frayed but you don't notice from the front . I am most usually without shoes so the cuffs get dragged along the ground .




--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found the following on a forum a few months ago which you may find interesting. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did .


THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER


"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 ball. " all $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 ? 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 a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," 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 benefit than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax 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 sat down and had their 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 government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally 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.