" Joe, why are rich people rich? Well, yes, some inherit it. But the vast majority work for it." Hardly. 69% basically inherit their wealth(http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/16/nation/la-na-estate-tax-20100717), 4.2% marry into it, and 26.8% make it in other ways.

So what sort of people exist in the 26.8%? It's an eclectic mix representing many different sorts, from top crime lords and corporate executives to superstars among the entrepreneurial, film, and music crowds, and the biggest lottery winners in history. Steve Jobs of Apple Computer was one of the entrepreneurial breakouts of these, long ago.

So, it could be said about 1/4 of all rich people have actually worked for their wealth. So your point that most of the wealthy worked for their wealth is wrong. How are you "punishing" hard work when the majority of the wealthiest Americans never actually worked to first attain their wealth, they were given it?

Funny how you keep mentioning just "federal taxes" since there are state and local taxes that people also pay. Sales tax takes up a much higher percentage of a poor person's income.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)

>From the book Outliers:

While writing the book, Gladwell noted that "the biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work."[3] In Outliers, he hopes to show that there are a lot more variables involved in an individual's success than society cares to admit,[3] and he wants people to "move away from the notion that everything that happens to a person is up to that person".[1] Gladwell noted that, although there was little that could be done with regard to a person's fate, society can still impact the "man"-affected part of an individual's success.[1] When asked what message he wanted people to take away after reading Outliers, Gladwell responded, "What we do as a community, as a society, for each other, matters as much as what we do for ourselves. It sounds a little trite, but there's a powerful amount of truth in that, I think."[1]\

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/business/15rich.html

Fred, are you a Christian? Know the parable of the widow's mite?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesson_of_the_widow's_mite

Wonder if you were living at that time that you would be arguing the rich are just so much better than the poor because they "pay more" like you seem to be doing today.