The problem isn't so much that the taxes are high, it's that the money is wasted. I think that if Americans saw a (domestic) example of high taxes being used in a productive manner, they would be much more open to the idea of a Scandinavian style cradle-to-grave system.

But as long as the states with high taxation are poster children for governmental dysfunction, there will be a palpable opposition to taxation. And that's why people who live in states like Texas (where there is no income tax, personal or business) enjoy having a small government so much.