Also, VAT is high in Germany.

Who pays vat? Less than 10% of my monthly outgoings are on VATTable things, and most of that expenditure is because I bought a new car rather than a second hand one.

Based on that chart, the effective tax rate is not near 42%. It actually appears to be closer to 31-35%, which is almost exactly what the $100k person in NYC would pay.

I think the issue that most non-US citizens fail to realize or comprehend is that most people in America don't pay any tax at all. The labor participation rate is 61.5% and then half of the people that do work still don't pay any effective taxes due to all the credits and deductions. A minority of earners support the entire tax base.

...and then, of course, we frivolously waste the revenue we do generate.

I am a US citizen, and I've lived abroad. Americans are being fleeced, and the entire mindset is that infrastructure is a cost, rather than an investment. It's crazy that we spend so much on "defense". The words of Eisenhower's parting address were not heeded.

But, regardless. If I were in charge I would fire the entire management of Amtrak and all Metro rails and just put the Germans, Swiss or Japanese in charge of it.