Just because the rich can afford to pay more in taxes doesn’t mean they aren’t paying their fair share.

While some call for a more progressive tax code in which the rich “pay their fair share” in taxes, it is almost always left unclear exactly what is meant by “fair share.” Is it fair to ask the top one percent of income earners, who earned 15 percent of wealth in 2011, to pay at least 15 percent of the taxes? They actually paid 24 percent of all federal taxes, with an average federal tax rate of 29 percent.