What does the total amount of taxes have to do with anything? One should expect as an economy grows that taxes will increase.
It's a lot more relivent than the maximum tax rate which almost nobody actually paid back when it was over 90%. Even as a percentage of GDP taxes in 2007 were about the same as in the 1970s. As I said however, the real tax is the spending and spending as a percentage of GDP hasn't been this high (over 24%) since WWII.
After all, isn't that the whole underlying notion behind trickle-down economics?
Trickle-down is normally associated with Regan but during his presidency spending nearly doubled.
When that paving truck comes down your street, or a hospital is built, or a government meat inspector is hired, or a hurricane tracking center is built, you're trying to tell us that taxes are just a pure negative drag on the economy?
Maybe not purely but on average, yes. Every dollar spent by the government is a dollar not available to individuals to build/buy the things they need most so unless you think that, on average, the government spends more efficiently than individuals then it's a net drag.
You have created this hopelessly oversimplified economic view
Just the opposite. I think the complexity is why the decision making needs to be as decentralized as much as possible rather than being left to government bureaucrats who, all too often, spend for political gain.