The economic liberalism reminds me a lot of a case of paranoia. The American Economy seems to have a strong fear of control, to fullfil the "idea" of capitalism.
Here's a newsflash for you: the USA does not practice Capitalism. It practices a mixed economy, where some tasks are left to the government, and some are taken care of by private interests.
The fear of taxes comes from this. An average American has grown up with the idea that each and every one would be better off on his/her own, without any help from no one.
(yes I know that is a double negative, I used it on purpose, don't you think it is funny?)
Here in Norway we pay quite a lot of taxes. And if someone doesn't pay their taxes, society despises them. I find that great. And every Norwegian can see that our Postal service was better when it was state owned than now, when it is private. Most agree that the hospitals still must be owned by the government. Weird, huh? No. We've seen it work. We've seen it diminish the (unfair) differences between people. And now, the UN says Norway is the best place in the world to live (criteria: health, school, poverty, care of the elderly and so on). Now that's a shame.