As you can see, the poorer you are, the more state and local taxes bite into your income. As you get richer, those taxes recede, and you're mainly getting hit be federal taxes. So that's another lesson: When you omit state and local taxes from your analysis, you're omitting the taxes that hit lower-income taxpayers hardest.
So do you want more wealthy people in your state or less? Do you want more wealthy people in your city or less?
When Lebron James left Cleveland, many speculated it was because we do have a higher state tax on the wealthy. He came back, but look at what we lost while he was gone.
Lower income people pay higher state taxes? Well they can leave anytime they want. In fact we'll just ship them to your state.
You're too fixated on "higher income" and "lower income." The middle class and lower class are those who do the work. Some rich kid who inherited a bunch of money doesn't do anything. A rich man's money wouldn't mean anything without someone to provide those goods and services (the working middle class and poor). Money is used to help the economy move along and help allocated resources. Lazy rich people who inherited the money are just a side-effect. Technically, they're worthless, but the government respects the money system (even if those deadbeats benefit unfairly) to keep the economy working since money could lose value if the government makes it a habit of taking it from people it deems worthless (even if in this case it would be correct).
If somebody gets money legally, WTF would you care how they got it? Why should those people be treated any differently than those who worked for their money?
Do you think lottery winners should be treated any differently? They didn't work for their money either. They just gambled a couple of bucks and got lucky. Or what about those who make out in casinos or at the race tracks?
The people who "do the work" get paid for the work they do. The people who inherit a company and continue to provide jobs and taxation are the people who give them the work.
Nobody is paid by how hard they physically work. People are paid by how much profit their work creates, their talents, their experience, and their market worth.
The Decline of Inherited Money