~25% straight off the top (obviously changes depending on income). In CA another 10% for sales taxes. The 6-7% the employer pays that you don't even see.

On top of that the government inflates the currency every year by 3-5%

this isn't even taking into account the fact that producers of goods pay all these taxes as well, so that tax gets factored into the price we pay for the item even before sales tax. I'd say that another 5% for this is being conservative.

all told taxes suck 50% of our productivity out easily.

if you got a 50% raise tomorrow you think you couldn't afford private security, private schools for your kids and replacements for all other government services with greatly increased quality and lower prices?

"On top of that the government inflates the currency every year by 3-5%" Do you mean the inflation? Is so, this is more around 2%, and not directed by the government.

um...the federal reserve directly controls the interest rate paid by banks, which affects how much money is injected into the system. via the money multiplier new money disseminates out into the economy, causing inflation.

how is it not government?

The federal reserve does not control the price of oil for example. Controlling inflation is one of its function. Again: controlling it, not setting the inflation rate. For example, there are/were fear of deflation when the inventory was high, and the demand low. With a interest rate set at pretty much 0%, there is not much else the reserve bank can do.

So I stand by my statement, the government does not "inflate the prices by 3-5%" a year.

interest set to 0% certainly is inflationary since that means real interest is negative. government doesn't control the prices of commodities directly, but if the money supply was kept static you'd get continual mild deflation.