Actually, wealth isn’t distributed so much as income. Someone who is already a millionaire may or may not have a lot of income. Progressive income taxes are way to keep anyone else from acquiring wealth. Those who already have wealth aren’t really hurt much by income taxes. Income taxes aren’t going to take away the nice cars, beautiful homes, etc. Consider the progressive income tax more of a Keep ‘Em Down tax.
Really? Well, I don't see them beating down anybody's doors to pay theirs. Why don't you ask the "wealthy" (which by an ever decreasing standard might include those who make 100K in a few years time) how they feel about taxes?
Consider a person with a $75,000 per year job who decides to take on another job to help pay for his children's education. Lets suppose his second job also pays $75,000. He is now working 80+ hours per week to pay for his kids' college. His total income is now $150,000 per year and he has moved into a punitive tax bracket. If his wife works they will be subject to the AMT.
Is that fair?
Many small business owners work 80+ hours per week. If they make $200,000 should they be punitively taxed for their work ethic?
The current tax code is designed to punish success and reward failure. Is that what we really want?