I am somewhat sympathetic to the argument you are describing. Imagine if income tax was not automatically deducted from your paycheck, but required you to save

I am somewhat sympathetic to the argument you are describing. Imagine if income tax was not automatically deducted from your paycheck, but required you to save and physically send money to the IRS (like most 1099 contractors have to do). I think the overall feeling about tax for the bottom 60% of earners would be a little different, whereas now they see getting back some forced savings as a little reward. The government is highly incentivized to automate and disguise that activity further.