http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/b...-for-the-irs-common-sense.html?pagewanted=all
"Relatively few taxpayers pay an enormous percentage of the total federal income tax, and most of them are people who work for a living and have adjusted gross incomes of $100,000 to $500,000, which is the sweet spot for tax revenue.
They account for 20.2 percent of total returns but pay a whopping 44.9 percent of total tax. The average tax rate for this group ranges from 11.9 percent for those with less than $200,000 in adjusted gross income to 19.6 percent for those with $200,000 to $500,000. Above those income levels, the rate rises to close to 25 percent and then declines to 22.6 percent for taxpayers earning more than $10 million.
The I.R.S. doesnt break down the data for incomes above $10 million, but the results for the top 400 returns suggest that the rate continues to decline as incomes rise. The top 400 paid an average of $49 million, or 18.1 percent of their adjusted gross income, in federal tax lower than taxpayers in the $200,000 to $500,000 bracket. They reported an average $14.1 million in state and local taxes, bringing their total income tax level to about 23 percent of adjusted gross income, far below my rate. And not one of them paid more than 35 percent of their adjusted gross income in federal tax."
The part I bolded there is the real problem. Doctors' salaries get hit particularly hard, but the people earning stupid money get huge breaks.
I don't know how much you make Blade, but I'm guessing if it isn't below $500k, it isn't much higher.
We need more tax brackets, and yes, with higher rates. It won't fix the budget, but it's a start. Why not have a $1e6, $1e7, $1e8, $1e9, etc brackets? Someone earning $1e9 should be paying 70%.
Doctors vote Republican because we are the ones getting screwed by the current tax code, but Republicans write laws for people earning much more than us. Doctors don't have a strong voice in politics, because we're too rich for Democrats and too poor for the Republicans.