You get out what you put in. If only the bare minimum is paid in taxes, our country cannot improve. We pay more than what is required for upkeep so that (theoretically) our education system, infrastructure, and national defense can be improved. The problem comes when congressmen and women use that money to pad their pockets instead of getting anything done. For example, they voted to raise their own incomes while denying a raise in social security benefits for cost-of-living increases.