Rich people are, politically speaking, an easy target.
After all, there are much fewer of them than members of the middle class. So laws that attack wealthy individuals are much easier to pass than laws that affect the more numerous middle class. But it's a funny thing the way laws designed only to affect the upper crust of society end up coming back to haunt us all. Now of course, income tax affects almost everyone, and has a devastating effect on the lifestyles of the middle class. This was a response to the vocal and often paranoid cries about the very rich avoiding income taxes through shelters, credits and other tax-avoidance schemes.