More on tax rates

Apropos of the Gallup poll showing Americans are happier with taxes, Ezra Klein has some charts comparing burdens under the progressive tax system.

I've always been in favor of a flatter income tax (ideally with negative income) so that after some minimum threshold everyone has the same portion of their wealth appropriated by the government.

My thinking is that in a democracy where the wealthiest disproportionately subsidize government services for those who are are not-so-wealthy, the not-so-wealthy will be less concerned about government waste. And when a significant portion of the public is relatively unconcerned about government waste, this leads to ever-greater economic inefficiencies -- because few things are capable of destroying wealth as efficiently as government programs immune from both market forces and public concern for waste.