Beyond Rhetoric: Are Progressives Asking for “Free Stuff” or a Fairly and Publicly Funded America?

We hear a lot about progressive democrats campaigning on platforms promising “free stuff” to voters: free healthcare, free college, free childcare, and so on.

Critics love to take these progressives to task, as if it’s some kind of “gotcha” moment, pointing out that obviously none of this stuff will be “free.” Or else they take progressives to task for promises of “free stuff” that can only be pie-in-the-sky utopian fantasies, grossly deceptive politicking.