That's what I'm trying to figure out. It's a theoretical question . . .
LOL! We're going in circles. My position is that they do not have the power they are said to have. Money may buy fair weather friends, but it won't keep the taxman away. In fact just the opposite. Because government has no money of its own, it must target the earnings and productivity of the rich.
See, the problem would be lessened if the tax burden percentages were more evenly distributed. A flat tax, say. The rich would still rightly pay more, but the burden would be shared, so no one would have a free ride or a motive to unfairly pressure the government to rob the rich. It would cost everyone the same.