factors in regards to having a high top marginal tax rate is that it keeps the CEO-to-average-worker ratio down. Gone would be the days when CEOs and other higher ups walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual compensation. They still get to be high falootin' rich guys (and gals) but they have to do so on a mere 10 million dollars a year.

That money is then either re-invested in the company, which grows and supports the economy, or it gets spent on employees in the form of wages or benefits, which also grows and supports the economy. Rich people getting richer is the worst possible way to grow the economy.  Middle class workers being healthy, spending money and sharing in the nation's productivity gains is how to sustain a vibrant economy.

If such sensible tax policies were ever (re)enacted we would hear a near-deafening squeal across the land from the distant ivory towers of the privelaged class but it would be music to the ears of the 95% of the rest of us. And after a few years we'd still have our precious rich to be proud of, but more importantly we might be able to give our children better lives than the one our generation is likely to live. That's something, also, to be proud of.