This is an interesting idea but it would have several problems in practice. In particular, it lumps the 'low end' earners of the top 1%--those earning $330,000

This is an interesting idea but it would have several problems in practice. In particular, it lumps the 'low end' earners of the top 1%--those earning $330,000 per year--in with those earning millions. This would create a significant drag on those people's income above that amount. Let's say there was a 75% marginal rate in a given year. They would need to earn $4 to keep $1. This strikes me as a similar idea to Warren Buffet's proposed tax on the rich (though his suggested bracket started at $1MM/yr). These taxes would effectively prevent people just entering this range from ever amassing as much wealth as the current crop of the super rich. I wonder why he didn't propose this tax a couple of decades ago? A simpler idea would be to have a straightforward progressive tax, such that the lowest quintile payed something, anything (maybe 1%) and it went up from there in uniform increments. As it stands, nearly 50% of taxpayers pay zero, and the top 1% pay 40% of the total income tax of the US. The tax system is completely broken. And it doesn't appear that it will be fixed in the foreseeable future.