[Rodney King]

That's ridiculous. Hong Kong is much lower.

[daveoverpar]

By 'free nations' I hope you don't mean France. If we tax any higher we would be a Socialist nation. And that means no longer being free. The only people who should be getting benefits are those unable to work for themselves, ie children and mentally and physically disabled. Everyone else needs to be off their lazy butts.

[nationuntonation]

Try http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/international/gdp.cfm
for the tax burden of the OECD countries. The figures are for 1999, so will have changed a little by now; note that developing countries (eg Mexico, at 16%) tend to have a low tax burden, and you may or may not consider it a relevant comparison. But Japan, in 1999, had a slightly lower burden than the USA: 26.2% v. 28.9%. Other OECD countries are higher than the USA.