I do not think that E. Europeans faced more restrictions in their everyday life than the US-ers do. They were restrictions of a different kind, perhaps, but everyday life in E. Europe was remarkably free of fear that most US-ers face (e.g. fear of crime, fear of unemployment, fear of strangers, etc.). The only exception to that was the martial law imposed in 1981 (and lifted in 1983) in response to Solidarnosc.
I think this "lack of freedom" mantra is simply a ruse. Intellectuals frequently complained about it, but they were unable to to identify specific instances when they were denied freedom (other than having to deal with bureaucratic hurdles). But "blaming the system" is often used as an excuse of one's own ineptitude or perhaps frustration from unfulfilled personal ambitions. As someone aptly observed, E. European intellectuals had much more power and freedom than they thought they did, but not nearly as much as they wanted to have.
I also understand that there were difference between Soviet bloc countries in this respect. Common opinion was that Romania was more restrictive than most other Soviet countries (Joanna?) - Czechoslovakia (prior to 1968), Hungary and Poland - the least restrictive, and the rest of the x-Soviet block countries in between. As I understand it, x-USSR varied greatly due to its large size - it could get quite restrictive close to the power centre, but nobody gave a shit what people in remote parts were doing.
Wojtek