The poor should pay less, the middle more, and the rich more still. That is what I think.  I do not think this will happen because I no longer think we, as a country, are cohesive enough, or big pictured enough, or even, really a country with shared values enough to agree on anything.

That is exactly what happens.  The rich pay far more than the middle class or poor.  50% of the working population pay almost 98% of all personal income taxes paid.  That means 50% of the working population pay less than 3% of all personal income taxes collected (yes, I know the 1-5% hold most of the wealth -- I don't care).  And the top 50% is paying more each year which means the bottom 50% is paying less.  I don't know if they even break it down past the bottom 50%.   

And as this article so vividly makes clear, the above numbers are only federal taxes.  The rich get soaked by state taxes too.  I'm starting to think Jra is on to something -- the left want to tax the rich until they only have enough left to "live" on, like the other 99% of the population.  Guess what?  There aren't enough rich people to support the various levels of government.