I also don't mind paying a lot of taxes. But I wish I could pay more than the tiny amount I pay to my state, and less than the huge amount I pay to the federal government, so that I could have a louder voice in how the money is being spent. I can't see how we would transition from where we are now to that system, though. I wouldn't want to see state taxes massively raised before massively lowering federal taxes, and I wouldn't want to see federal taxes massively lowered before we have replaced a lot of critical federal programs at the state level. So I've settled on being ok with paying lots of taxes the current way, where a lot gets "wasted" on things I would prefer not to pay for, but a lot also gets spent on things I believe improve my life.