I thought California's plan to treat capital gains like regular income might work on spreading taxes out more among the wealthy and abolishing capital gains up to 300K of income. I'd also index it for inflation because if we become a third world country where inflation has skyrocketed, we could all be millionaires but broke. That way Warren Buffet and other billionaires could be happy they are now paying their fair share to support all the rest of us poor and middle class folks. Businesses could get special tax breaks for depreciation on equipment etc. if they don't already get special tax treatment. Tax revenue might flunctuate wildly like it does in California but it would provide more revenue.

This is all talk about raising revenue through a tax increase though. The real discussion should be on how to grow the economy and increase tax revenue based on increased overall growth. If raising taxes on the rich helps overall growth, then raise their taxes, if it doesn't then it needs to be reconsidered. The idiots we elect seem to ignore the consequences and don't seem to understand. Hopefully one day we'll have enough people on the right path. The US is bankrupt but we can't declare bankruptcy and we can't cut spending enough and raise taxes enough to get out of the situation. We need a lot of growth in the overall economy and cut back government spending in measured moves to get out of the situation. Tax revenue will automatically go up if the economy grows.

There is a minor problem with gleefully taxing the rich. Unless everywhere within realistic range to move is in a similar tax range, all it does is drive them off. If they qualify for the tax, they more than fall into the range who can just relocate and the rich just hate taxes...... 3% in PA or 6.5% in CT is one enormous difference for people at that level.

Of course the loop holes are still so large and numerous, we could still all drive rush hour traffic through without slowing down. The rich have the cash to spend more avoiding tax than it would have taken just to pay it our of sheer principle...and do regularly if the stories on the subject have any truth to them. Taxing our way out of fiscal disaster won't do much more than turn this into a self sustaining downward spiral at this point.

I'm not sure what solves it at this late stage...but higher taxes have rarely ever had really positive economic outcomes...and that's when we aren't on the edge of a bottomless pit before the kick upward. Oh well....

Rich people don't have incomes, their properties are owned by trusts and companies.

However the middle class does have income, and transfer more and more money from the middle class who work for it to the poor who don't have to, and over time you'll have fewer middle class people and more and more poor people.