Whether or not a tax increase can raise revenue is irrelevant. The real question here is twofold: 1) is an increase in taxes possible?, 2) will an increase in taxes scare off investors?

The Clinton tax rates worked, but not because of some hand-waving economics. It worked because the Asian Economic Crisis scared tons of foreign investment out of Asia in a flight to safety, which fueled the dotcom boom and flooded government coffers.

But in this day and age, I think California is prescient for the US. Dems don't have the backbone to overcome Republican fury at tax increases. And yes, years of high taxes have caused a mass exodus of investors from the state.  

First if you increase the tax rate for higher income, I will generally agree that the guy on Wall Street won't stop working hard.  He will though, evade taxes, and I mean all taxes including those outside the income tax as best he can.  His taxable income will be reduced by means of high priced tax lawyers, accounting, different income type distribution plans and some helpful congressmen  which are always able to be found.

Still it will hurt him or at least make him feel like he is hurt, and his further reactions will be  more important to America, I think, than any net increases from taxing him more.

We talk about needing investment in America, about how the jobs will come back because of private business which seems to me to mean private investment.

That still hardworking guy on Wall Street will be much less likely to invest his current income and his savings in the US Main Street.  That I guarantee.  

I will give you another example of a rich guy avoiding taxes.

The NY courts just recently had a suit by NY against a former New Yorker that claimed he shouldn't have to pay NY state income taxes anymore because he stayed in NY less than half the time, and had another residence in another state, and therefore was not a resident of NY.
The state lost the case in it's own courts because this man had his people track his exact time each day that he was in the NYC, and exactly when he crossed over the state line each day.

At least that's what the IMF says.

According to this link we'd need to "Double" our taxes to get out of the spending hole we've dug.

That's if we don't spend another cent of money.