I think you answered your own question. Direct taxes on things that aren't "means" aren't usually means-tested. That is to say poor people would pay the same as

I think you answered your own question. Direct taxes on things that aren't "means" aren't usually means-tested. That is to say poor people would pay the same as rich people. Some people don't have a problem with that. But pretending we're in a state with even a mildly socialist emphasis on taxes, taking most from income and redistributing across the whole system is a a much more efficient way of making sure the people who should pay more (I know, not everybody thinks that way) do pay more. We can't pretend that rich people don't also benefit from GDP improvements. A healthy economy helps the land/home/business/etc owners most directly.