The debate about taxing the super-rich is as pertinent and contentious as it has ever been, thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement pushing the issue of income inequality to the forefront of American politics.
Myriad reports demonstrate the low real tax rates for millionaires and billionaires in the United States. Bloomberg wrote this month that the top bracket of taxpayers have seen their effective tax rate decrease since 1995. Another recent report from the Internal Revenue Service shows that 1,500 millionaires paid no income tax at all in 2009. The snowball effect -- the wealthy tend to become even more wealthy -- has caused the income gap in America to widen dramatically.
It's not just protesters on the street voicing frustration with this. Last week, a group of millionaires lobbied Congress to have their federal taxes raised.
Still, many in the Republican Party strongly oppose any tax hike on wealthy Americans or corporations, arguing that these individuals and organizations are the "job creators" and that raising their taxes would stunt job growth throughout the nation.
It's worth noting that an icon among the trickle-down economic believers, President Ronald Reagan, said in a 1985 speech that loopholes enabling millionaires to avoid taxes were "crazy" because they allowed the "truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share."
But here's a look at what Republicans are saying these days:
Before You Go
