> As soon as you have enough money to afford it, you'll pay a tax lawyer to get that down to about 15% or something

You need a lot of money before that's an option. By that point, you have enough to be one of those citizen-of-the-world globe-trotting types with vacation homes that double as convenient tax shelters.

That is to say, the American middle class pays quite a bit in taxes. Even the poor working class pay a flat 12.4% in payroll taxes, maybe 7-8% in sales taxes (depending on locality), and varying amounts in service taxes (fees, tolls, etc.). That's assuming they make too little to pay income tax.