Property taxes also aren't egregious if you don't live in an expensive house in an expensive area.
The problem is that most of ya'll have been conditioned to think "that's not good enough for you" even when you can't afford more. Then entitlement kicks in where you think you deserve more before others who have less and before you know it, Bernie loses the nomination and we're stuck with a trump presidency.
Take cars, for example. Americans don't export their cars on the same level as Japan or even South Korea because their cars are shit.
I have a friend who used to sell rental car insurance and he'd tell me that it's the American cars that always break down.
I'm American and looking around my room, the vast majority of products are coming from other nations. My bass guitar. My speakers. My controllers. My laptop. My mouse. My headphones. Etc etc.
Buying AmericanTM is just propaganda for useful idiots. I guarantee you most people who are afraid of foreign products or tout American-made quality are simply talking from a lack of experience. They're afraid of what they don't know and don't want to have an experience that might show them they're wrong.
I rest my case.