This article from Yahoo! Finance asks more questions that it provides answers. But that is okay because it does point out the obvious problem about any talk of "fairness" when it comes to taxes or any other matter of public policy.
"The most important tax fairness debate of the last century took place during World War II, when lawmakers transformed the income tax from a rich man's burden to a middle class millstone. "
Fairness is subjective. It is in the eye of the beholder and might not have any basis whatsoever in reality. As the article concludes "We are just making this stuff up."
Taxing the rich: What's fair? - Yahoo! Finance
