I remember a scene from "The West Wing", when Rob Lowe's character is talking about the fact that at his last job, he made hundreds of thousands per year. He was taxed at six times the national average; however, the fire department didn't come to his house six times faster, the water doesn't run from his tap six times colder, etc. He said that he paid his share and the share of six others. The vast majority of federal income taxes are paid by the highest wage earners.