What I don't get is how the big earners in the USA- the already rich 1%, and corporations, are able to get away with paying
less of their income in tax than the middle class- which is the bedrock of any advanced economy. That really sucks.
As far as 'how much is enough' goes, well it depends on what you want from your government. Want decent domestic security? Well, the cops, fire dept etc costs money. Want a strong Defence establishment? The Pentagon costs big bucks. Want the kids to be edumacated? That costs money. Decent roads to get the kids to school, and goods to market- more money.
A libertariam philosophy might dismantle many of these arms of central government, and have the services organised and provided on a decentralised rather than federalised basis- but you'd still have to pay for them, just to a different set of people.
I recall Rick opining that it is the 'Demicrats' that get most of the bounty from the federal government, and that just isn't true- the red states collectively receive more in entitlements from the Fed gov't than they pay in taxes, at the expense of the (mostly) more affluent blue states. At Local & State level though, wouldn't know.
Hers is a comparitive chart of government spending as a % of GDP for the 20 largest world economies, in 2010-
File:2010 National Spending per GDP comparison.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The US sits at the lower end, certainly among the advanced economies. Right now, I think your blossoming government debt is a considerably more pressing issue.