Indeed. Just think of the social safety net and universal healthcare we could have in the US if we taxed the highest marginal income rates appropriately.
EDIT: And how much more holiday/vacation time we'd have if it was mandated at the federal level.
Raising the tax rates to 45% would (optimistically) generate 250 billion in the first year, which is ~20% of just medicare and medicaid. Which is only to say, improving access to health care and making it sustainable in this country is a much more complicated problem.
that's very socialist approach - excessive taxation on everything only gives rises to tax havens for wealthy ones. who would be targeted is not truly wealthy, but say upper middle class which isn't rich enough to use these kind of services, they are the ones spending most on services, which keep blue collar jobs, like it or not. This layer of citizens is necessary for healthy function of any society. If you strive to destroy them via excessive taxation (ie move them to low middle class over time), you are hurting economy in long run.
Don't forget truly rich have plenty of completely legal companies that advise them how to 'optimize' their taxes. Companies smarter and better equipped than your average lawmaker. I mean look at the presidential candidates - obviously both are doing it. Everybody rich is doing it.
EDIT: And how much more holiday/vacation time we'd have if it was mandated at the federal level.