The Official Presidential Debate Thread (Round 3)

Aren't politics and humor almost one in the same these days? You almost have to laugh to keep from crying.
I agree. However, I think it would be more entertaining to just have it all in one place.

:)

I agree. However, I think it would be more entertaining to just have it all in one place.

:)

You do have a point.

What do you think of this scenario?

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beers 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.'

Beers 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 they paid before, 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 pa y $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!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'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 beers, so the other nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important?.. Without the tenth man, the rest 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.

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

LOL...very Ayn Rand'ish at the end there. What's next? If the wealthy guy doesn't show up the next time will the poor guys strike? Call for a boycott of the wealthy guy's business?

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.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible
Great post. The wealth is already "spread around" pretty good.

Anyone else notice how McCain never defends Obama's explanation of his health plan? Does taxing your health care benefits count as a tax hike? Hell, even if you use McCain's own numbers (false numbers btw (http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml)) you're still in the hook for another 3.5K if your employer decides to dump your ass (8.5K average health cost minus 5K credit). And why wouldn't your employer dump you?

What I really don't get is taxing health care benefits and then giving the money back to us. The math is just abysmal and the numbers just don't add up. Just thinking about it boggles my mind. If anyone has a good grasp on his plan feel free to explain.
I got nothing. McCain's plan doesn't make a lot of sense to me either, but it's the lesser of two evils vs. Obama's plan.

P.S. I'll get to your other post later, my kid is ballin on Thursday nights. LOL.

I vote you guys start a candidate joke thread where you can post all your random, non-relevant clips and pics. Seeing them continually pop up in every serious political thread is a bit annoying.

Serious political threads don't really happen here anymore. I can't wait for this election to be over and maybe we can stop talking about politics on this board, because it's all pretty pointless. There really aren't any true discussions.

I had wanted to ask those that think McCain is the spawn of Satan if they think Obama will make a good President. I know they think McCain is an evil idiot who will destroy the country, but I'm curious if they truly believe Obama has what it takes to be successful. Are they for Obama, or just against McCain. But I don't really care anymore.

Just vote on the 4th.

Nothing wrong with mixing some humor in with politics.

There's no point in having a coronary over politics anyway especially not on this board, it's something you can't control. Unless someone here is a secret lobbyist/senator/governor/president/McCain/Obama

If you're looking for serious politics, head to a politics board. If you're looking for some back and forth banter between good friends with some ribbing mixed in, WP is a great board. Aren't we supposed to be based about Skins/Sports anyway? :D

D-Rave is correct.
No point in getting to excited as there is nobody currently running worthy of the office. Very sad indeed, this is the best we can do...........

Nothing wrong with mixing some humor in with politics.

There's no point in having a coronary over politics anyway especially not on this board, it's something you can't control. Unless someone here is a secret lobbyist/senator/governor/president/McCain/Obama

If you're looking for serious politics, head to a politics board. If you're looking for some back and forth banter between good friends with some ribbing mixed in, WP is a great board. Aren't we supposed to be based about Skins/Sports anyway? :D

Well it's heavily one sided humor. And I mean I don't even care about that really. And I know this is not the place to go for serious politics, especially when some of those here who say the funniest things are the ones trying to be serious.

And of course I think the board is great. All I'm saying is that this was all exciting stuff to discuss early on but as the months have dragged on it's mostly crap now. It's sort of like the never ending thread, but across many threads now.