I'm trying to understand the numbers. The media seems to be distorting them based on their bias. Average salary in the US is around $55K (single filer). They w

I'm trying to understand the numbers. The media seems to be distorting them based on their bias. Average salary in the US is around $55K (single filer). They would pay (IRS tax bands [0]) around 22% as well as payroll ~ 7.5% (self employed pay 15.3%) which is in total 29.5% (w2) or 37.3% (self employed) even before they get to the store. So for the average person, they've already lost (federally) ~30% (or 37.3%). Maybe I'm missing something here. Does the person on the street not realize how much they pay in federal taxes or is this just bad media reporting? [0] https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/federal-income-tax-brackets https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/federal-income-tax-...