>>What percentage of their should the rich pay? 50%? 75%?

They paid more than 90% during and shortly after WWII when it was seen as a civic duty and a source of pride. Whereas these days even increasing capital gains tax to more than 15% is seen as an infringement of rights...

Not by everybody, though. Last month Warren Buffett called for increased taxes on the rich. "My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress... It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."

Buffett said he he paid only 17.4% of his taxable income in taxes last year: if true, it wouldn't hurt for him and his buddies to pay a little more. Buffett also advocates extending Obama's payroll tax changes further to benefit small business and the poor and middle class who he says "need every break they can get".

Yeah, I know, "there is nothing to stop Buffett writing a check to the government" but 17.4% tax?! On a segment of the population that already controls most of the wealth and is accumulating it at an ever-faster rate? If other people think they're being stung with more taxes than they can afford, you don't need to be a mathematician to figure out why, or where this is going.