I have seen where it has gotten them. Citizens are generally happier than here in the US, even with higher taxes. Don't believe me? Read here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-white/taxes-happiness-countries-_b_894590.html
firstly I am skeptical about anything the huffingtonpost has to say, just like you likely are of anything on Fox News.
Secondly, happiness has no bearing on running a country. Sure they're happy, right until their country goes bankrupt. Ask the citizens of Greece how happy they are right now. Take a look at the huge amounts of deficit the rest of the EU is racking up. They are on a path to fiscal meltdown, even with 60%+ taxes.
You need to focus less on making people happy through government, and more on getting government out of the way of peoples happiness. It is not a governments responsibility to make sure you are happy and taken care of, it's your own responsibility and as more people become dependent on government that fact has gotten lost.
The Bill of Rights doesn't guarantee that you are happy, just says that every person has the right to pursue their own happiness free of government being in their way, right now the government is in impeding my pursuit of happiness.
thirdly, why should the rich have to foot my bill? Wealth redistribution through taxes is decidely un-American. If you recall we fought a small war over unfair tax practices. WOuldn't you consider taxing one individual more than another unfair? Aren't we all supposed to be equal?
Why are you so oppsed to the reduction of government? Government produces nothing of tangible value, nothing to be resold, nothing to add to our overall economy. In short, we should have as little of it as possible.