Individual tax rates can vary considerably, but overall taxation is only about 2/3 as high in the US as in Germany, counting all taxes and sources. Germany's tax revenue is about 41% of the country's GDP, while all levels of U.S. government have tax revenue adding to only 27%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenu... (on Wikipedia but just reproducing a Heritage Foundation data set).
My own tax rates when I lived in the U.S. were hilariously low, but then I didn't make a lot of money either, and lived in Texas for part of the time. A household making even $200k pays only 24% in federal taxes if filing singly, or 19% if filing jointly, and that's assuming they take nothing but the standard deduction and none of it is capital gains, so it's quite possible for that to be even lower.
I do agree it's important to compare like-to-like. For example, my Danish taxes now are still higher than my US taxes would be for the same income, but not as much higher once you take into account that in the US I'd have to buy health insurance separately.
I've always argued this about NYC compared to the EU. Taxes hit you hard living. But as many people would guess, NYC is filled with bankers with deep pockets and thus the means to skirt around the tax rate.
As a programmer renting in NYC with a big salary and no investment income, Federal, State, and NYC taxes come to about 44%-46% of my income -- maybe 42%-44% since I tend to get a refund. Once you add in health care costs (both employee and employer contributions), it's probably pretty darn close to 50%.