Taxes

The Tax System - Explained With 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. "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 th em 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

Making Cycling News

I'm in a photo on cycling news. its no Stefano at the front of the break, more of me sitting in the field. Here you go:

http://cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2008/jul08/superweek08/superweek0814/2008_SWrace14_05

Another Finish in the book

Cedarburg = Dropped with 23 of 75 laps to go.

Whitnall Park = Finished in the group!! Yea!! Its small miracles here folks.

In an unrelated note, the house passed a housing stability bill to the tune of 800 BILLION dollars. Yea, that's Billion with a B. That brings our national debt up to 10.6 TRILLION! That's a lot of money. Where does this money come from? Well, some from taxes, but like any every other trend in America, we borrow. Mostly from China. If our country was a privately held company, we would have been purchased, hostilely taken over, or whatever you want to call it several times over.

One the Board

With a finish that is!! Road race, little hills, i finished. Nothing more to say about that. I was off the front at one point for a few with a handful of riders. That's my only stab at glory. Cedarburg race tomorrow night.

Lazy Weekend, Racing Tomorrow

This weekend I didn't race, which was fine by me. Saturdays course never suits me very well, plus there are usually 3 different stoppages for ambulances during the race. Sundays race was way down in Chicago, and we know how i feel about that.

I also took this weekend to give my bike some much needed TLC. As everyone knows, my equipment spans the spectrum from custom, to ghetto. This weekend it took a drastic swing toward the ghetto side. My custom crank set up hit a large snag when it starting ejecting chain ring bolts. Normally those things just loosen, but these things flew off. I lost two bolt and the spacers that come along with them. Luckily I am at Super week, and not a hilly stage race, cause you only need your big ring for super week. Simple solution, bolt the little chain ring directly to the big one to keep the big ring from moving or flexing. So far two rides no problems. I'll keep you posted.

Nolan also showed up today. He is going to be up here for the next 7 days racing with me. And when i say with me, i mean in front of me.

Superweek Shorewood Race

Well, not much to say.

I was rolling good, sitting top 20 with about 12 laps to go, then the bottom dropped out. The stomach tightened up, and the legs locked up. Quads, Hammies, and Calfs, all at once. I was excited about that development. I tried to limp through a couple of corners and not give it any gas. That worked okay until i was at the back of the field. With 4 to go i pulled the plug. It was frustrating to race for close to 2 hours, then crap out towards the end. Such is life.

Missing my Wife in Milwaukee

I would say one of the lousiest things about cycling is being away from home for extended periods of time. No much else to say there.

I have been trying to keep busy by getting some things in order. It seems like "paperwork" always takes a little longer than you think it would. I have also recently acquired a new device that i am still trying to get up and running. And when i say "I" i mean waiting for a development team to get finished with development so i can download, then upload, then unlock. Make sense?

I have also been doing a bit of riding when i haven't been racing. I rode 40 miles into a head wind both ways (don't ask) and thought i was going to fall off the bike. I start racing tomorrow night. This race was a decent one for me last year.

Flashback to Last Year: I was rolling mid-pack, my usual spot, when i went up the left side in an effort to get to the front. I made it up to the front at the exact same time Brian Jensen decides to go off the front. I somehow manage to grab his wheel and hung on for the ride. A half lap later coming around the corner to the start/finish line, i was thinking how this was about perfect. The race was almost over, i was off the front, and was about to get paid!! As i came through the finish area my heart sank as i looked up at the lap cards and saw something like 28 laps to go. No dice. We were pulled back and i managed a meager finish.

Another Jessica tidbit, she is a Bloody Mary connoisseur. Below is the bloody mary she had on Sunday. It had everything you could ever want, including cheese!!

Weddings

So everyone knows that Jessica and I are professional wedding go-ers. We are kinda like wedding crashers, but we are usually invited. We usually dance, but its takes the right song to get Jessica moving. That song is Brick House. A little unknown fact about Jessica!!

In other news, i may start racing tomorrow. The race is in the outskirts of Chicago, which i don't like, and apparently the course is not much wider than a golf cart path, so it seems like i need to start up front.

Up in Milwaukee

Sitting up in Milwaukee waiting for the wife to finish getting ready to goto a wedding reception. Megan Otte's brother was married a few months ago at the beach, and is now having the party back home.

This also starts the next segment of Superweek. Again, Megan Otte has opened up her house to let me and any teammates who want to come up a place to stay.

I may start racing on Monday.

Proctor / Ill State Crit

I am not the Illinois State crit champ. The race was supposed to be 90 min, it ended a little before the 2 hour mark. I followed a couple of early moves that put me in the hurt locker for the next half hour. While i was in the aforementioned locker, the winning break of 5 went. I settled in for a field sprint. With 3 laps to go i started to cramp, but was able to limp home for a solid 25th place. The last few laps about 13 other guys were able to roll up the road. It would have been nice to have the legs to roll along, but that's just not my style. The greatest part of my day was the 3.5 hours I spent in the car with my wife, each way.

Okay, Math Time
$46 - Entry Fee
$55 - Gas
$15 - Food on the road

116- Total Spent to race
57 - Prize money

$59 in the hole, but then again, I'm not in this for the money.

Till Next time, Stay Classy WashMo
Brian