We need to remember that for all (pretty much) of human history, the wealthy have always horded their money and used the poor as serfs to increase their own profit. There is absolutely no proof to be found that money trickles down. The American experiment of taxation, with high taxes on the wealthy used to improve infrastructure and education, resulted in the strongest economy the world has ever seen.
What America Isn’t, Or Anyway Wasn’t – NYTimes.com
Marlene Dotterer 
I can’t read the article because it wants me to subscribe, but YES. America has always been a bottom-up economy (at least, when it was healthy and functioning). Top-down economies don’t work, have NEVER worked.
Remember that song (think the late 40’s or early 50’s) “Ain’t We Got Fun”? It says “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer”.