I confess I didn't read the thread. But his initial post set me off by sounding liberal (or at least populist).
I know it sounded that way at first, but you must be aware that many super rich don’t pay taxes at all. The trick is getting them to pay taxes, period.
It is those less than super rich who bleed.
Only once in my life did I ever make a bit over $50,000 and that was due to overtime. I worked my fanny off and what did I have to show for it - I ended up paying about 58% of my income in taxes!
That included ALL taxes. I lived in Oregon at the time and because I was single and a renter, I had to file a 1040ez form. I added up all the taxes from city, county, state and federal - even gasoline taxes - and the amount was sickening.