In "The Rich Pay Their Fair Share" (op-ed, Oct. 7), Andrew G. Biggs
and Kent Smetters point out that 26% of all federal taxes (including
income, payroll, corporate and death taxes) are paid by the top 1% of
individual earners. According to the data they used, 1.1 million
taxpayers are in the top 1% of earners. Similarly, the top 6% of
earners (5.6 million taxpayers) pay 42% of all federal taxes.

It is grossly imprudent for the federal government to depend on only
1.1 million taxpayers or 5.6 million taxpayers for 26% or 42%,
respectively, of its tax receipts. California learned after the tech-
stock bubble collapse in 2000 that overdependence on a relatively few
"rich" taxpayers leads to a fiscal crisis when the top earners'
sources of income quickly dry up. What happened in California can
happen at the federal level. Politicians like Barack Obama, who try to
win votes by increasing the federal government's dependence on the
wealthy while at the same time squeezing the very same people for
additional tax receipts, are leading the nation into a fiscal dead end.