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It would be nice if they raised taxes on the super rich here. Currently they pay far less than the middle class in taxes.
I don't know if it's true that they pay far less generally than the middle class, but it is unarguable that they pay far less than they have historically. The only serious debate we've had about raising taxes in this country for the last few years had been about letting the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule, and only for the top tax brackets. That would take us back to the same top tax brackets used during the Clinton years, and they would still be about half of what the top rates were when Reagan was elected president. It's hard to argue that such a step is socialism or that it would prevent economic growth. We should be so lucky to have an economy like we had when Clinton was president.
And all through the 50s and the early 60s the top marginal income tax rate was above 90%. Yes, when Eisenhower was president, millionaires were seeing some of their income taxed above 90%. Damn that communist Eisenhower! No wonder the 1950s were a time of economic stagnation in America. Oh, wait...
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I agree 100% on the capital gains tax. It's nothing but a special, discounted, alternative income tax for people who don't actually work for a living.
I wonder if there's an analysis somewhere of how much of the income of the wealthy qualifies as capital gains and how much that affects their total income tax rate if capital gains are counted along with regular income.