“Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Progressive tax structures are not about punishing the rich. They are a recognition that wealthy people – like everyone else – derive benefits from being in society. Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, Oprah, for example, got rich because people buy their products or watched them play basketball or on TV. Paris Hilton is wealthy because her great-grandfather built a successful business. Their successes are wonderful. But their success should not require me to subsidize their lifestyles.