I don't really agree with you characterization of where our taxes go -- federally, 64% of the government budget is related to mandatory spending, almost all of which is social security, medicare, and medicaid.

15% of the budget goes to the military. That makes the U.S. the largest military spender in the world.

15% of the budget may seem expensive, but it's not fair to compare it to Western Europe. NATO is a big reason why western europe does not need to spend more on their own defense.

I believe that's a good thing - it's in the United States' best interest to avoid rearmament in Europe, and Europe has never been at (relative) peace for so long as it has been since the emergence of the post-WWII consensus -- but they do in fact have more money for more non-defense discretionary spending than we do as a result. The Euro area spends 1.4% of GDP on military spending while being protected by an umbrella of security provided by the U.S., which spends 3.7% of GDP on the military.

Again, I think this is good for the U.S., we benefit from the liberal world order that we enforce, but I think it has to be taken into context when the EU is described as a great example of how to spend tax money on wise social programs.