Thanks for the quick response. It's not just taxes. It's about personal freedom. I live next door to a bankrupt city(Chicago) with the most restrictive gun laws in the country and we have the highest murder rate. Government just isn't and never will work in my lifetime here. My wife was alerted to the Free State Project (
http://freestateproject.org/) and it sparked our interest. At a time when our kids are grown and gone to opposite ends of the country to pursue their own American dream (or what's left of it) it is a good time for us to consider places to live that are more in line with our values of freedom and personal responsibility. We have not limited our search to the USA but staying here would be our desire if we can find a place that still respects the tenets that our country was formed on.
"The Government that governs best ... governs least."- Thomas Jefferson
“A democracy is always temporary in nature;
it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.
A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover
that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates
who promise the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that every democracy will finally collapse
due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship”- Alexander Tytler 1787