jhight
Slightly longer answer: I've done this for a while (a decade plus) and suffered through my own periods of undercharging and making just about every mistake in the book, business wise. However, I always did decent work and was reliable. That's what matters most. Over time, I corrected my under billing using the technique described in my answer above.
Or more specifically, I would recommend charging weekly or monthly (up front, ideally), depending on the nature of the project. And each larger chunk of time they reserve, the greater the discount. So your monthly rate would be cheaper than your weekly rate, and both should be much cheaper than your hourly rate.
But, even if you continue charging hourly, you should charge progressively more until you meet sufficient market resistance. You determine your rate.
Personally, I only do small side projects (different language/platform) and I don't offer less than week billable periods, and my rate for that equates to $200/hour.
Other than the shitty boss, the other problems were silly (hours, commute, meetings). Were you really surprised by the commute? This is something you should've known beforehand.
Some jobs suck, either try to fix it or leave. But don't act like a baby.
I'd venture a guess that complexity of taxes is more related to health of the economy than the particular system of government.