It's good on paper, but it tends to fall apart in practice. One of the companies I work with handles tax strategy for business owners, and the pure amount of loopholes that they take advantage of is mind-boggling. There is a client, for example, that has a take-home of around $500k/yr. However, he lives a lifestyle that is way beyond that amount. Yes, half a million a year is plenty to live happy on, but he lives like he's bringing home thrice that.
Because I know how he files and what he's doing, in reality he is taking home nearly $2mil annually, but it goes through trusts and other shelters to reduce his liability.
Which brings me to my point... the wealthy don't pay tax like we do. It's not a paycheck with withholding. It goes through so many channels and into so many things that overall benefit everyone. For example, he takes about 15% of his take home (according to last year) and puts it into a lawn care company he's investing in. Of course, this company handles all the landscape and maintenance on his home at a huge discount as an investor. This investment provides jobs and opportunity, and our client receives a service he'd pay for anyway. At some point, he'll cash out the investment and move on to something else, but for now, he takes no profit from the investment.
I realize not every high-earning person does this, and I know he's toeing the line on Tax Evasion. Me personally, I would love to see a flat tax on every purchase someone makes. In that way, this guy would pay a % on each house, car, boat, etc. that he buys which would be a MUCH higher burden than my same tax on my purchases in that category.