You forgot debt. When someone lives in debt, they create wealth for others and create poverty for themselves. Why is no one paying attention to this point?

The basis for taxation is NOT wealth redistribution. It is to undertake common projects (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLgEnDGkG4) roads, lighting, waterworks, sewage, libraries, etc. Why? Because most things are more efficient when done as cooperative/combined efforts, and some just become viable altogether. Once you have these common infrastructures you are faced with the challenge of what to do with people who cannot pitch in; which is resolved by unequal loads.
You want to remove unfair taxes? Do away with sales taxes, heck, and even income taxes below $100k.
Apply only capital taxes (making money without working for it) and property taxes beyond a threshold (on second car, x number of square feet per person, inheritance beyond $5M, etc), raise them as high as needed to cover the costs. Keep the costs as low as possible. Simple.

It is not only solely the gap between the rich and the poor but the distribution of wealth in the U.S.. Pareto observed a century ago that 80% of the land was held by 20% of the people. In the U.S. today, that ratio is 98:2 and moving toward 99:1, an unsustainable economy.

 But consider also Schumpeter's gale - creative destruction - which would lead one to conclude that the imbalance will be remedied. Only the means is uncertain.

I'm not saying there isn't a problem with the widening gap between the rich and the poor, however, I do want to point out one thing. The article is misleading when it says the tax rates favor the rich, and many of the comments here echo this misunderstanding. Lower income people pay lower tax rates, or no taxes at all. Almost half of U.S. households do not pay federal taxes due to low income status. As you earn more money, your marginal tax rate increases. No lower income person is paying at a 35% income tax rate, but "wealthy" individuals are. The definition of a marginal tax rate is that the percentage you pay for each additional dollar earned goes up. This is still true today. $8700 of your earnings is taxed at 10%; from $8700 to $35350, you pay 15%; $35350 to $85,650 is taxed at 25%. If you don't make over $85,650 th..