This is en example of why Federal taxes are so undesirable. If a state raises taxes too high, you can simply leave because you have a choice whether or not to stay there. If the Fed taxes are raised too high there's no escape.
KoRn:
Not any more. I spend some time at a conference in the Netherlands this fall and the Dutch papers were full of talk about the flight of the rich out of their country. Seems it is reasonably easy to move your base with our electronic communication possibilities. The big investors, think Rupert Murdoch, don't have to stay any place. Of course the people they leave behind starve and then vote against the remaining rich and loot them and then they leave and then . . . .
McVey
Well, that depends. Two "distant friends" (like "distant relatives" without the genes) are planning to retire early, one to Kenya, the other to the Crimea. Their portfolios, which would require them to continue working here, can sustain a very comfy lifestyle elsewhere.