The wealth gap in America is wider than it's been in a century, while the rich pay lower effective tax rates than middle-class workers thanks to capital gains treatment and loopholes. We need progressive taxation to fund infrastructure, healthcare, and education — services that built America's prosperity in the first place. Countries with higher top marginal rates haven't collapsed economically, and the money has to come from somewhere if we're serious about fixing America's problems.
Higher taxes on the wealthy just punish success and kill investment, jobs, and economic growth — money in private hands creates more value than government bureaucracy ever will. We've tried massive tax increases before and seen capital flight and slower growth as a result. The real problem isn't that rich people don't pay enough; it's that government wastes what it gets and never actually solves anything.
