I get so annoyed over the way that term "progressive" is misused by leftist demagogues. It refers, of course, to rates that become progressively higher at higher income levels. It is not meant to imply that those that favor such rates are forward thinking, unlike the Neanderthals who favor a regressive rate structure. I know you know this but I had to rant. :)
It seems to me that a "flat tax" would be every man paying the same amount. Everyone pays $3,000. per year, for example. A flat tax rate, on the other hand, seems seems quite effective at soaking the rich, if that is one's goal. At 10%, the man making $10,000 pays $1,000, and the man making $10,000,000 pays $1,000,000, a thousand time more! Where is it written in stone that fairness demands progressive rates?
Of course, since the Commies are now calling themselves "Progressives," they're starting to become consistent when they call the income tax "progressive."
Now if we can henceforth refrain from using word "progressive" in any of its older, positive connotations, we may eventually get people to hear it as a political curse word.
Something like that has already happened with the terms "Socialst" and "Communist." The collectivists, the mass killers, can continue to scurry under the latest high-sounding appellation, but if we remain vigilant we will eventually flush them out, every time.