Paul Krugman dissects the complaints of the rich nicely

This article deserves a read but this part, in particular, gets to to the root of the problem succinctly:

You see, the rich are different from you and me: they have more influence. It’s partly a matter of campaign contributions, but it’s also a matter of social pressure, since politicians spend a lot of time hanging out with the wealthy. So when the rich face the prospect of paying an extra 3 or 4 percent of their income in taxes, politicians feel their pain — feel it much more acutely, it’s clear, than they feel the pain of families who are losing their jobs, their houses, and their hopes.

via Op-Ed Columnist – The Angry Rich and Taxes – NYTimes.com.