I just laugh when statists tell me taxes are the price we pay for essential government services. But that would imply that in taking your money, the government is obligated to offer a value greater than what you're giving up, otherwise, in a free market, you would be free to refuse to buy and see if you can get better somewhere else. And if you did buy it, and were not satisfied with it, you should get a refund. Ever tried that with government?

The government doesn't exchange value for value like companies do on the free market. It just takes whatever it wants and returns whatever it feels like, whether you like it or not and it'll always be more expensive than the market. The only reason you might think otherwise, is that some people are forced to pay for it.