(1)
Your opening argument, which you repeat endlessly, seems to be that taxes themselves are a burden.
And that is baloney.
Taxes are an obligation that we all owe as citizens of this country. As far as "first crack", if you signed up for health insurance through your employer, the health insurance company has first crack. The 401k or other retirement plan you pay into has first crack. The mortgage company or the electric utility or the cell phone company have to be accounted for before you play golf or see the latest Marvel contribution to serious theater. You don't complain about those.
Feel free to claim "exempt" on your W-2 or claim so many deductions that zero tax is taken out, so that you can avoid the horror of the government getting "first crack" but when the IRS tax wo/man comes knocking after April 15, you better have a check ready. When I was working, the fact that taxes were taken out first meant I didn't have to worry about them later.