 punishing the achievers the goal of the us government the link from ann coulter s site intrigued me earn 5x more and pay 49x more in taxes so i followed the link to john lott s blog and there it was the punishing effects of the us tax code on achievers complete with screen shots from turbotax and appropriately the post started with a quote from bill clinton about how those who benefit the most should pay the most i m not sure what he s talking about since those who earn the most benefit the least they don t receive government largesse like the lowest earners do but it s bill clinton and he s know for uh stretching the truth  