Paddy
This is one of those "say it in public enough, people think its true". The "rich" do pay the proportionate and overwhelming share of the American Federal Income Tax Burden. If you look at the taxpayer studies put out by the independent Tax Foundation, people (individuals) in certain income tax brackets (very high) pay over 90% of the total tax liability paid. So they probably arguably pay more than their "fair" share of the American Federal Income Tax Burden.
Where the burden falls disproportionately on the middle class (both upper and lower which is the majority of our Country) is in cost of living. That problem is partially caused by high tax States like New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois all of which have both high sales and property tax burdens and additionally by rising costs of real estate, transportion and also Labor nationwide. Additionally, this trickles down to high rent/occupancy costs for the markets which are selling to consumers, etc. Now, it is not all of these States to blame either as Companies tend to raise costs across the board to smooth out large jumps/costs in particular areas. Long story short, there are a lot of factors well beyond the Federal Income tax rates that dictate. In all reality, the Federal Income Tax rate is probably the least of our concerns and influence.
Not necessarily what is put in the press, and not as simple as some of the tidbits above, but the reality is, the federal income tax system really doesn't cause a lot of everyday angst for most Americans.
