http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/10/01/3574551/germany-free-college-tuition/ Abolish college tuition fees. Pretty progressive.
Europeans pay a ton of taxes for that cradle-to-grave health care, free tuition, and excellent autobahns. Income tax is very high, sales taxes are high, and value-added taxes are on everything. Americans bitch about bad roads, expensive public schools, expensive health care but they also bitch about the taxes that would fix much of that. There is always a balance to be had. Nobody gets something for nothing.
You can't be serious. Welfare. Obamacare. Illegal alien education and legal representation. Any other "care". The government has lots more where that came from.
Can't I? Missing the point entirely. Governments must find balance between benefits and taxes. Governments can't provide free education a health care without getting funding for it from taxes. Governments don't get something for nothing. Every civilized nation takes care of its indigents. What exactly is your complaint about that?
Your comment was that nobody gets something for nothing. That just isn't an absolute no matter how much context your provide. It was a nit picky point to make but it stuck out to me. That's all. And sort of funny because I find Germany to be one of the least successful societies in Europe.
Raising taxes to pay for all those services Euros get would be like cable TV where you pay for a couple of hundred channels but only watch 10 or 12. I don't mind paying taxes for the roads because I use the roads. I don't mind paying for our national defense and military. I paid my own tuition and have paid for my own health care. I shouldn't be taxed on services I don't use. Nobody should.