May, 2011:

Last week I wrote about a cafe run by Irving, Ralph, and Saul. Some patrons ate more than others, and some were charged more than others.

5 of the 100 customers picked up nearly 60% of the total tab. 40 of the customers paid almost nothing. A few paid nothing. A few were paid to eat at the cafe.

Here is how it looks on a chart:

You can probably figure out where this is going. But, before you get ahead of yourself, let me ask you this. Is this distribution of the total tab, in any imaginable way, fair? Let me add into the mix that the five customers who picked up 60% of the tab were served far less than the other 95 customers.

It may be difficult for all to agree on what is "fair," but no one could make a cogent argument that this was fair.

Why, then, does the Obama administration and the mainstream press keep complaining that "the rich" do not pay "their fair share"?

This is how U.S. federal income tax payments, based on income, were distributed in 2003:

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