I tend to look at the tax system in practical terms...like beer

How about you

For those who think the tax system is unfair:   Our Tax System Explained in Beer! Language even a liberal can understand (maybe)
Democrats idea of redistributing wealth. MUST READ!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all
ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes,
it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce
the cost of your daily beer by $20. ‘Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so
the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could
they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair
share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the
sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by
roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each
should pay. And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings). Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men
began to compare their savings. ‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!
"Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!!
"That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!
‘
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!!!
‘The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had
beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the
bill!!!!!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how
our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the
most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for
being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they
might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier. David R. Kamerschen, Ph..D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia. This is a great example. It is important that the wealthy keep their money circulating in our economy. If we tax them more, they quit spending. This affects people like you and I even more. Sales go down. People lose wages or are laid off because the demand for goods and services decline. Its the American worker and overall health of our economy that loses.  

Yeah, I actually read most of this and would like to reply.  It's only in recent years that the rich have been paying a fairly higher share.  But, just look at the number of wealthy immigrants who become US citizens because our tax system does not tax them as much as most other countries. 

When I read about the 4 men who drink free of charge, I know that doesn't represent a true percentage of the poor in this country.  We will always have poor people among us and it is our responsibliity to watch out for them and to extend a hand to those who are unable to help themselves.  Now, to those who can help themselves but want to bleed the system, we have to find an equitable way to deal with them.  Why should the poor be going out to drink every day?  ( I'm not stupid--I know this is an allegory). 

The problem for most of my adult life has been the unfair taxation of the middle class.  I'm 59 now and have been an independent most of my life.  I pick and choose who I vote for based on their proposed policies.  Sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong.  I usually vote Democrat for president but did vote for King George Bush (the younger) twice because of his stand on abortion.  Our power is so illusive with all of the groups offering money to our politicos.  We vote for who we think represents us and then hope and pray that they will do what they promised.

The idea that money not being spent by the wealthy is harmful to the economy is largely false because they are not going to put the money in a mattress or in a vault.  They are still going to invest it and that money will be loaned out to make them more money.  The wealthy don't spur most of the economy as much as the rest of us do.  If you make prices too high or tax me too much, I have a monthly budget to worry about.  Then I have to cut down on what I can spend.  They usually don't have that problem.

And, the argument goes on and on.  Even though I understand some of it, I can humbly say that there are many more people in this country who are either smarter than me or know more about the economy than I do.  We elect some of them to represent us in public office and they can't aggree among them what the best solution is.  We would just exhaust ourselves if we tried to do the same.