It is always interesting to see your own country through the eyes of an "outsider". It becomes even more interesting if the eyes belong to somebody born and raised in the USA.
Of course taxes are on his mind but health care comes second. A good read. for anybody who is Dutch
And while the top income-tax rate in the United States is 35 percent, the numbers are a bit misleading. "People coming from the U.S. to the Netherlands focus on that difference, and on that 52 percent," said Constanze Woelfle, an American accountant based in the Netherlands whose clients are mostly American expats. "But consider that the Dutch rate includes social security, which in the U.S. is an additional 6.2 percent. Then in the U.S. you have state and local taxes, and much higher real estate taxes. If you were to add all those up, you would get close to the 52 percent."
My friend Colin Campbell, an American writer, has been in the Netherlands for four years with his wife and their two children. "Over the course of four years, four human beings end up going to a lot of different doctors," he said. "The amazing thing is that virtually every experience has been more pleasant than in the U.S. There you have the bureaucracy, the endless forms, the fear of malpractice suits. Here you just go in and see your doctor. It shows that it doesn't have to be complicated. I wish every single U.S. congressman could come to Amsterdam and live here for a while and see what happens medically."
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