They do. Someone with a salary of €400,000 would take home approximately €242,000 after income tax.
Up to €10,777: 0% tax rate
From €10,778 to €27,478: 11% tax rate
From €27,479 to €78,570: 30% tax rate
From €78,571 to €168,994: 41% tax rate
More than €168,994: 45% tax rate
According to The EIU, the cost of living in Paris is similar to San Francisco.
This just seems like hand-wringing for the pitiful state of the rail system in the USA. A country can have many dense population centres separated by large distances, making HSR viable and worthwhile, but still have low population density overall - just like the USA. The only real obstacle is political will/public support.
Western China has around half the population density of the USA but is already served by a 1,900km HSR line.