Tax Laws 101!!
By admin | March 31, 2008
Ok—I’m totally stealing this from Dax Desai.com but honestly—it was the first time someone actually explained taxes really well! I don’t even drink beer–but understood this one! I’ve always wonder why people get so unhappy when we give “the rich” tax breaks…well…duh…because they are the ones that pay MOST of the taxes!! We are a Capitolistic society…it works…some people have more than other…if you want more…work harder! But get off the pity party of tax breaks for the rich, and make your own life better!
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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!”
“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 drinks, so the nine sat down 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
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Payday Distress!!
By admin | March 17, 2008
It seems this time of year all you hear about is money. Add an election year on top of tax season, and it’s money 24/7! Speaking of money, I was not thrilled to log onto the computer on Saturday to pay the bills only to find that my husbands paycheck had bounced! I’m sorry–the restaurant is a HUGE account–records show a transfer was made to payroll, that really was never made, and instead of ‘good faith’ cashing of payroll checks, the bank sent most of them back NSF! We are the lucky ones in that we have a savings account that we could transfer from to cover the shortage, but most of the line cooks and dishwashers don’t have that luxury. They live paycheck to paycheck and depend on their timeliness to feed their families. This is when a Cash Advance from a Payday Loan company becomes not only a convenience, but a necessity. There is a fee involved, and I’m sure many of them would rather not have to pay it, but when you are desperate, you don’t care. Luckily for them, Illinois Cash Advance offers many locations where these people can go and find the temporary help that they need. There’s even an Elk Grove Cash Advance location just up the street from the restaurant.
This problem should be taken care of today with new checks issued later this afternoon or early tomorrow morning. But if by chance this had been a bigger problem–it’s nice to know there are locations around the state to help out!
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Can You See Him??
By admin | March 14, 2008
I spent a good portion of the morning looking for Barrett! I know–he’s pretty visible in the picture, but he wasn’t at first. To make matters worse, he was either in his own little world, or just downright ignoring me! I would walk around calling his name and he would totally ignore me. Finally–the third or fourth time I walked by he happened to move!
Don’t you remember when your parents used to tell you not to sit so close to the TV? It starts around age 3!!
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My New Kitchen Tile!!
By admin | March 13, 2008
I wrote a couple of days ago about the back splash tile that I purchased for my little buffet area in my kitchen. It came yesterday, and I spent a few minutes putting it up today. Yes, I literally mean A Few Minutes! I bought the premixed adhesive–and I do have to wait several hours for that to dry before I use my premixed grout–but honestly, this baby could be finished before the hubby gets home! That’s generally how I ease him into my hair brain schemes. I could have said I wanted glass tile–and he would agree that it would look nice, but that would be where it ended. This way–he doesn’t have to even think about the dos and don’ts, it’s already done. And even without the grout (which is brown by the way) I think it looks really sharp!
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Chicago Catering
By admin | March 13, 2008
We are going to be having Grayson’s baptism dinner at Sweet Baby Ray’s in Elk Grove! We are going to be in the private dining room so it will be nice to eat the best food, pay the bill, and leave the clean up to someone else! As far as Chicago Catering goes, they’re the best!
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Good News For The Man!!
By admin | March 7, 2008
My husband is a blackjack junkie! I’m telling you, when we were in Vegas last November he would be at the tables until the wee hours of the morning. He would be coming to bed as I was getting up to start my day. I didn’t mind too much, he won more than I spent for the whole trip! But now that we are home, he spends a couple of hours playing blackjack online. There isn’t as much money involved, but he still loves it. He’s gotten the older boys into it as well. For the moment his claim is that it helps with their math facts–you know, addition on the fly!! As for me, I prefer something a little less pocketbook endangering! I’m all for backgammon ! It’s a game of skill as much as it is a game of chance. It basically comes down to the roll of the dice, and what you choose to do with what you get. Sometimes I play it safe the entire game and sometimes I’m a ‘renegade’–but most of the time, I just enjoy it. We have a backgammon board game in the house, but no one is willing to play with me, yeah, I’m just that good! So I will have to continue to get my ‘hit’ online!
For those of you who enjoy a good game, there’s more news on the blackjack/backgammon front! Now with a click of a button you can log in and play with the largest community of online gamers. Because of the fact that Backgammon Masters offers their platform in 14 different languages, they have attracted a global audience. You can literally sit in the comfort of you living room, and play with friends from around the globe! Bulgarian is the newest addition to the language list which includes other’s such as; French, German, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Danish, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Chinese, Italian, and the second language of this blog, Japanese.
Log in, and find out for yourself how fun it is to meet and greet friends from all over!
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The Newest Incarnation!!
By admin | March 2, 2008
Have you been over to Kater-Bug Cakes? It’s my new blog dealing with all things CAKE! Now honestly, next to Chocolate…is there anything more fun than cake? I have enjoyed decorating cakes and seeing how they come to life with just a little different technique here and there! Like this cute little creation…
It’s not perfect…but it sure is fun!
If you enjoy getting a little spunky with your creations as well–head on over and leave me a link to your favorite cake! I’ll even put it in the showcase for you so everyone can gush!
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I’m Weird!!
By admin | February 24, 2008
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You Are Fairly Normal |
 You scored 65% normal on this quiz Like most people you are normal in some ways… Why You Are Normal: You think fishnet stockings are trashy You prefer fiction to non fiction You would rather be pale than tan You’d rather have rats than cockroaches in your home If given the choice, you would choose to have more money over more time Why You Aren’t Normal: You would rather be a movie star than an astronaut You are no longer with your first love You don’t keep up with your horoscope You find the Chicken Dance to be the more embarrassing dance You prefer your family to your friends |
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Bike Equals Exercise!!
By admin | February 8, 2008
Do you ever sit and look out your window at the snow and wish it was Summer? Well, not even Summer, just warmer? That’s what I’m doing right now. It’s freezing here in the Windy City and I really can’t imagine it ever warming up again! I know it will, but for the moment–it’s a long ways away!
This year Grayson gets a new bike. All of the kids get one when they turn eight. Finally, a nice ‘big kid’ bike rather than the little one that used to have training wheels on it. Sitting here looking out at the snow I think I may just get me a lady comfort bike as well. The boys are still young enough to want to go hang out with mom and ride a bike with her! There will come a time in the not too distant future when that will be the ‘un-cool’ thing to do. So I better take advantage of it while it lasts! It’s also some good exercise and a great way to just get outside. When I lived in Japan, I rode a bike everyday. If we were going anywhere, some where close by or twenty miles away, we rode our bikes. It was great! I’m not willing to give up my car just yet, but now that we are living in the suburbs I can totally see me on a bike!
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Happiness Is…
By admin | February 6, 2008
My sister in law forwarded this to me in an email, and I have to say, I was touched! Not only does seeing a man get emotional get me all warm and fuzzy (most men won’t do that) but this man shared some of my same thoughts and opinions. And to quote him…Whether or not you are of our faith, or a different one, or not any faith at all–you can learn a lot from the example of this man! I got all teary–but it was Happy teary!!
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