American Tax System - Freedom or Tyranny?

[minn_stat]

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/228/

I want to know how those of you with a more liberal bent feel about the general idea of nearly 50% of Americans voting to elect representatives who promise to raise taxes on others, while contributing nothing to tax coffers themselves.

Of course, this is somewhat mitigated by the politicians often handing the money back to the rich (Example 1A being the bailout) anyways, so the end result is primarily just more power for the politicians.