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All we show is that the rich have gotten richer by 200%(twice as rich) while paying only a 157% increase in taxes. IMHO, What the author did was maybe try to fool us by giving us the increase in the share of taxes paid by rich, while leaving out the increased share of income. We will not know for sure unless we know all factors. Am i right here? parsy.

What you are not taking into account is the "Rich" that are not really "rich".

I work my glutteus maximus off in a medical practice earning my living one account receivable at a time. Yet, I pay the same top rate for every Dollar I earn in the latter part of the tax year as does a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffet or a Michael Jordan.

The example you used was in the $1 million/ year club. The one account receivable at a time "working rich" will never see that level of earnings.

When I used to make around $X/year, I paid around $25,000/ year in taxes. Now that I earn slightly above double that amount of income, I paid $96,000 in taxes in 2001.

Personally, once I hit the time of the year where Uncle Sam takes 39.1% of every Dollar I earn, I would love to take the rest of the year off and take time to enjoy life. Unfortunately, you can't tell your patients that you are not going to see them until the next tax season starts.

The real "Rich" can afford to pay 39.1% on their millions of Dollars of income that they get each year.

For us "working rich" that put in 55 hour work weeks that also include dragging ourselves out of bed at all hours of the night for emergencies, the 39.1% rate is a stake through our hearts.

I like your terminology, the "working" rich. That is a very good distinction. I agree that doctors, lawyers, and small business people making in the $200,000-$300,000 category are very different from the guys making millions, and the guys having millions. I have read about some CEOs making millions per year and when you stop to figure out how much they make to show up for 8 hours, it is nearly obscene. I am beginning to think we need to bring back the 70% rates again. parsy.

Not to make you feel worse, Poly ol' boy, but that 39.1% rate is really 41.3%. You see, when you hit a certain income bracket, not only do they start taxing you more, but they also start taking away your deductions! So the real effect of this is that your tax rate is 41.3%