They also control the creation of laws, mega bailouts, and largely write the rules that govern the rest of us.

The poor get to fight for the crumbs that fall off the table.

Try this for a start...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002237125

Not a lot of rich kids in the ranks, though.

The printing of our currency, public roads, rural electrification, government subsidized telephone wiring, satellite communications, police protection, military protection, the criminal justice system, fire and paramedic protection, an educated and immunized workforce, protection against plagues, public-funded loans, protection from business fraud and unfair business practices, the protection of patents and copyrights, research and development, collection and analysis of data, preventative economic policies by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Energy Management Agency, public libraries, agricultural and biological services, the National Weather Service, and public job training.

Do the rich benefit more? It would be logical to think they do since they are usually business OWNERS OR TOP LEVEL MANAGEMENT, while the poor and the middle class are usually only employees.

Who would tax us all for the money we need to fight two simultaneous ground wars?

I mean, for all the bad things government does, like Social Security, Medicare, National Park Lands, schools, unemployment insurance, oversight of Wall Street, etc., the government does some good things.

What about subsidizing oil companies with cheap "royalties" on public land? Did your friend forget about that? What about invading Iraq? Bush could not have done that if the government didn't have all that tax money. We would still be living in deathly fear of the mighty Saddam Hussein right now if there were no government.