Heard that one Marty. Unfortunately, it assumes the cookies just magically appear at the center of the table -- which is the real problem. Here's how it really goes with two more players -- the government and another CEO.

A tea-party member owns a local cookie shop with 12 cookies on the shelf. The government comes in and takes 6 cookies so that the CEO of the multi-national Cookie Corp. can be subsidized to employ more domestic cookie-making union members. The tea-party member complains that a small business like his cannot compete when the CEO and union labor are the priority -- so he complains to government. The government then takes 5 more cookies so the Wall St. CEO can be made more liquid in the hopes he will loan money to the tea-party member. The tea-party member is finally able to get his loan to compete with Cookie Corp. but it costs him his last cookie as collateral. The tea-party member is forced to go out of business and becomes an involuntary union employee of Cookie Corp.

I will have a Belikin -- put it on klcman's tab.