The rich may talk about how much they pay in tax but their salaries are simply inflated to give them what they want in hand after tax. A lawyer charges several hundred dollars an hour in order to have the income he desires after the government has taken its cut. Effectively the client pays the lawyers income tax bill from his own after tax pay cheque.
Governments exist to serve the interests of the rich, and remain in power by redistributing wealth from the middle class to the poor class in order to buy votes. America has decimated its middle class and now has few people left to tax, with the mega rich using every loophole and artificial structure they can in order to protect their assets, and a growing poor and homeless class requiring increased welfare.
American manufacturing quality suffers as managers are only interested in cutting costs and getting bonuses in return before they move on. The Japanese take a long term view and try to improve what they make with each product cycle. Simply comparing Chrysler and Toyota cars makes this very obvious.