All across America, the cry is, "We need more jobs!". But in truth, a better cry is, "We need more Jobs!". Don't look at me like I'm messing with you. I promise that what I just said will make sense in the end.
At one of the recent Republican primary debates, the question was asked how much out of every dollar that one earns do they deserve to keep. I can't remember what the answer at the debate was, but the correct answer is this - a person deserves to keep every bit of what they earn*. That such a question even needs to be asked is a testament to how far removed we are from our nation's founding.
(I will avoid the issue of church tithing as a matter affecting this issue. As my Pastor likes to say, it's all His anyway, but he lets you keep 90%. Even with the Almighty, he offers Free Will to allow us to make that choice.)
The problem with the question is that it confuses a level of taxation with the issue of who should the money belong to. The idea that individuals deserve the entirety of what they earn has no implication on taxes anymore than what one might spend on electricity or gasoline. Just as a person chooses how much of their "earnings" to allocate toward electricity or gasoline, they choose how much will be allocated toward taxation.
Obviously, the manner we go about choosing how much to pay in taxes is different on a certain level. As voters, we collectively determine the rates of taxation, whether property, sales, payroll or income taxes, we will choose to abide. But even once rates are determined, we still have a tremendous amount of discretion in how much we will choose to pay.