I for one LOVE the tax code in this country. My wife and I will make +110k this year. We will pay about 3.5% in taxes. We both contribute heavily to a 403b and 457. We do not even have to contribute to social security and no state income taxes either!
Our tax code rewards middle class savers and punishes consumers. IMOP that is exactly how it should be. You basically choose your tax rate. How can it get any better than this?
First of all, at $110K household income you are above the 80th percentile and thus not actually "middle class." (I think a lot of people on this site fail to realize just how poor the real American middle class actually is: the 20th percentile -- the dividing line between middle class and "the poor" -- is just barely above $25K.)
Second, you can't assume everyone even at your income level is as lucky as you when it comes to taxes. My wife and I might end up making a similar amount of money this year (it's too uncertain to tell yet), but while you have two reasonably-good jobs with excellent benefits (allowing you to defer $83000), our income comes from one good job (mine) and a patchwork of relatively crap jobs (hers) and only I get benefits. That means we're only eligible to defer one 401K, one HSA, and our IRAs for a best-case total of $35650. That's a difference of several thousand dollars in taxes on the same gross income.
He has a valid point though, we have options in the US. We can tailor both our lifestyles and locations to shift the heavy tax burden away. Optimization of taxes is HUGE. It is amazing the difference between the low burden/high burden states.
AK, SD, WY, TX vs NJ, WI, NY, CONN
There is a substantial difference.