I don’t believe you are including the payroll taxes in those numbers, which is (I believe) 7.65% on both employee and employer side from dollar 1.
I am not going to take your word for it that no one pays at the 39% bracket. If they don’t, I’m not sure how you can say the people in the top brackets are paying less.
Cruz is a devotee to Milton Friedman, whose considered to be anything but a crackpot. Personally, I think Friedman doesn’t take enough of the cultural/societal factors into consideration, as he focuses almost exclusively on dynamism, efficiency and growth on a macro level. But for a starting point, you can do much worse.
You don't have to take my word for it, but since the 39.6% bracket doesn't kick in until taxable income exceeds $413,201 (for singles) and $464,851 (for couples), which places one in the top 1% of earners, and since it only applies to taxable income earned above this level, it's safe to state that no one pays an effective tax rate of 39.6%.
Milton Friedman was a great economist, and far from a crackpot. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, is an attorney and, in my opinion, a political con artist, always eager to capitalize on any falsely drummed up controversy.