Bar Stool Economics by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.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.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Thank you Dr. Thought the folks so excited about a Democratic government might enjoy this piece. Pay special attention to the last paragraph.
And mom and dad, content to observe the family chaos...
And the newest great-grand-baby...
And Emily contemplating her first year as part of the festivities :) (Okay maybe not the best picture - but we love you all the same.)
And the awesome carolers who knocked on the door. A men's trio, a guitar and a violin - it was great!
For those of you who didn't make it - we hope to see you next year and you were missed!
Here's Mary and an angel and a shepherd...
And two more shepherds...
And the whole group... 
After the beautiful ceremony we went to Market Street Grill to help set up for their reception. They had a candy buffet...
And, I don't know about you, but this is what some of the men in our family do to help set-up for events like weddings and family parties...SUPERVISE. It is actually pretty impressive that they found themselves a table to supervise from because usually there is quite a bit of hovering... :)
Isn't her dress beautiful?
When we found the perfect tree one of the men at the lot came out to cut it down for us and then he loaded it onto the four wheeler and took it back out front. We got to watch and help just a little.
Then Oliver and I loaded it on top of our car. (You want the trunk of the tree in the rear so that the wind doesn't dry out your tree on the way home.) We cut down an 11' tree and then trimmed it to the perfect height when we got home. We learned, from last year's fun, to guess really well the right height to trim the tree the first time because last year we drug the tree in and out and in and out to try to make it short enough. Sure enough - first chop was a charm!
Then we strung the lights - this year the lights are white and we have a themed tree - Oliver's request. We were smart and wore gloves to string the lights because Blue Spruce needles are painful and poky. It we had kids they would not mess with this kind of tree. 
After stringing the lights we wound the ribbon around the tree and put up all our ornaments. The ribbon is actually sheer in real life - but I don't know how to work our camera yet and so it looks solid.
But, by all means, come on over and see our tree! I love sitting on our couch with nothing but the tree lights on and enjoying the season and a good book or good company. Come for some hot chocolate or a funny story - we would love to have you!
I just love paying off debt it makes me feel so free and it assures me that I am doing what I have been commanded to do!
After dinner we headed to a bowling alley to play for awhile. We have the baby, the balls and most importantly, the hand sanitizer. 
Amidst passing the baby around we bowled a pretty horrible game. Here is Evan...
Oliver...
And Holly...
By the tenth frame Kyle was ready to be fed and go home. Some really bad music, disco balls and white lights came on and he was not the happiest camper.
See, I told you, we all bowled really badly. I am sure next time will be better and then, maybe Kyle will be old enough to roll his own ball. 
This is Oliver's pumpkin on our porch...
This is mine...
And this is the Halloween sunrise out our back door! Gorgeous!
We hope to see you tonight with your tick-o-treaters! Have a safe and happy Halloween!
Then - these are the long awaited pictures of our downstairs house painting that has been happening for several weeks.
And, now we are moving to our upstairs... Here is our bedroom just waiting for a good coat of paint.
This is Oliver getting ready for some serious hunting. We had to go up and down every row and find the best ones.
Oh, what fun it was.
Then, with all the options in a wheelbarrow, we had to pick only four! No, we don't have kids yet, Oliver just loves pumpkins - and I love to barter with sales people so we got a great deal!
And this is our little friend Maggie who went with us (and her parents). She didn't love being in the wheelbarrow but she loved picking her pumpkin and playing in the dirt.
The new Draper Utah Temple will be open for public tours from January 15 to March 14, 2009. All are welcome to attend including children. Tours are FREE, but a reservation is required. Please review the information below:
I don't know about the rest of you, but Oliver and I can hardly contain our excitement about the snow building up on the mountains. WE LOVE TO SKI and just can't wait! (Well, we only get to ski one day this season unless we get free passes because we are trying to save for our month long vacation. So sad!)
