There's a certain shallow logic to your observation that "In a democracy, having those who pay almost no taxes outnumber those who do has an inevitable result." Of course, and I'd say that it's by design. Democracy decentralizes and equalizes political power for the protection of the citizenry, and it indirectly accomplishes the same goal when it comes to economic power. Those who use their wealth in ways that are perceived as damaging to society can count on a corrective backlash through the mechanisms of democracy. Most recently, for example, the Enron/WorldCom/Tyco ad nauseum scandals resulted in the burden of increased regulation typified by Sorbanes-Oxley.

Further, consider your characterization of the gap between the middle class and the wealthy. It's quite real, and getting worse. The worse it gets, the more pressure will be on the wealthy to reform and consider the impact on American society of such practices as offshoring. Wealthy corporations and individuals seem to feel little sense of responsibility for their country, and democracy has ways of making up for that moral deficit. It's feedback designed into our system from the very beginning.

Why should economic power be above democracy, Tom? We've had too many conversations about the intersection of wealth and political power for any claim that wealth is on a separate plane to have any credibility. And given that intersection, against the background of Republican tax cuts for the wealthy and corporate arrogance as typified by Halliburton fleeing to Dubai to avoid taxes on its sweetheart nobid government contracts, I'm afraid that your complaint about the wealthy being somehow at a disadvantage in our society moves me not at all. Cry me a river.