>Whereas the 1% folks never said gimme gimme gimme. They either inherited or just took. Perhaps 1% of them got it the honest way, three or more generations ago.
>
>I think that Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson would all qualify as 1%-ers. Please tell me what they inherited or just took.

These are excellent example of talented people who worked hard and achieved well deserved success.
You can add Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and lots more to your list.
In a much smaller way, I'd add my son Glen who started his own engineering business from scratch with non-stop sweat equity, imagination and hustle and is doing well.
I'll gladly add Mitt Romney to the list. Staples is one of the most brilliant ideas for a business that I've seen in my lifetime and Mitt gets a lot of the credit for getting Staples off the ground.

Problem 1:
Mitt, Tiger, Phil, et al pay the same or even a lower tax rate than my son pays.
That was not always the case. Joe DiMaggio was the highest paid athlete of his time. His tax rate was above 80% and he was a wealthy man. These people in some case pay less than 20%
They need to pay higher tax rates. They'll still have plenty of money.

Problem 2:
Look at the Forbes billionaire list.
There are two Walton heiresses and many other who inherited their billions.
For every Mitt or Phil who earned their millions, there are thousands of Waltons, Woody Johnsons et al who get no credit at all for the money, as you correctly gave to the people you mentioned.
I have no problem with them being comfortable. But those billions should be taxed at very high rates as they once were.