My girlfriend forwarded me an email that she received from a family member. It says, in part:
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a “We Deserve It Dividend.”
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a “We Deserve It Dividend.”
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife team has $595,000.00.
The email goes on from there, listing all of the useful things that “the people” could spend the money on (and thereby rescuing the American Economy). The author closes with the acknowledgment that “it’s a crazy idea that can ‘never work.”, but imagines a coast-to coast block party and reminds us again that “WE DESERVE IT” more than the Wall Street guys do.
There is so much that I could respond to in that email, but I’m going to keep it simple.
“Hey….Chain Email People? The guy who wrote it — and everyone who hit the forward button on this thing? Want to know *why* this is “a crazy idea that can never work”?
$85 Billion Divided By 200 Million People = $425 per person …. Not $425,000!
You are honestly telling me that “we deserve it” when moron after moron read this thing and sent it along without even thinking about it … or pulling out a fucking calculator?
Here’s a radical thought — maybe the Wall Street guys deserve it.
At least they can do some basic math!
This is intellectual Darwinism and you are the weak antelope in the herd, my friends. The Wall Street guys get up before dawn and bury their heads in Excel spreadsheets that devise newer and less detectable ways to put your money in their pockets. You, on the other hand, vote for the biggest redneck retards on offer — the guys you want to have a beer with — and still think you deserve $425,000 when they help their corporate patrons rob your house?
You don’t even deserve the $425.
hahahahahhahahaha, fucking brilliant!