As someone who has lived pretty firmly in both parts of the West: no, not really.

Denmark, where I live now, has the luxury of commanding massive taxes from its citizens to finance its projects, all while putting a pittance of its share to its military. Denmark is also much, much, smaller than the US so the red tape that would be apparent at the size of the US is less apparent at the size of 6 million people.

We also overspend on grotesque, predatory contracting firms, just as the US does, to finance our public projects.