[ACPlayer]

I thought we were comparing maximum tax rates. I dont know but doubt that the guy flipping burgers in Sweden is paying 50 percent plus in taxes.

Thanks for the reminder, I did not include the 15 percent plus we pay in FICA and medicare - including the poor sap at the bottom end of the tax schedules.

Sales and property taxes may or may not have to do with income but they are still taxes that we pay to the govt for the services that the govt offers. So, yes that is part of the tax burden.

For your information, our govt is already in the business of national healthcare via medicare and medicaid. We just dont cover everyone with it.

Fortunately, I have essentially retired, so I dont need any vacation time. From your post (and the fact that you pay less taxes now) I suspect that you are at the higher end of the income scales and are thus seeing the reduction in net taxes. The middle and lower classes are seeing higher net costs for the govt services (paying for a school extracurricular activity costs more for the poor as a percentage of income).

I strongly suggest you consider that we are not living in a low tax state, just in a state that is not spending the money on social services for the working population but on military and welfare programs for the non-workers. The incentive to work or provide jobs in the middle income levels is fast disappearing.