The "free stuff" rhetoric sure has convinced people that that is the reason our country is in debt. Nobody mentions social security or the size of our military or the stupid neverending wars.
People pay for social security in their paychecks. That's not "free" when you have paid for it all our lives. Wars are debatable, but we are the world superpower because of our military. It's one of the things the Constitution required the Federal Government do. Things like healthcare and social security are NOT. Being the world's economic superpower and the world's military superpower isn't a coincidence. They go hand in hand.
We have bailouts and corporate tax cuts that could add to the tax base as well.
Corporations don't pay taxes. All they do is pass it on to customers. Just a liberal talking point. Raise taxes on corporations and they raise their prices and you pay. If they can't raise prices anymore due to the market, they ship jobs overseas to lower overhead. Either way, bad for us. Corporate and small business taxes should be ZERO.
Also, our cities are planned poorly making them bankrupt.
The bigger a city gets, in general, the more liberals it ends up being. Almost all the dense urban areas vote Democrat. So, if you are complaining about bankruptcy and poor planning, that should tell you something. Major cities are almost all runs by Democrats and are drowning in crime, debt, and mismanagement.
Do some people expect the government to finance their lifestyle? Sure. But that is a stupid talking point created to make people think the "other side" is lazy.
Yes, it is lazy for any able-bodied person to expect someone else to finance their lifestyle and take care of them. Lazy and entitled. That money from "the government" comes from the taxes paid by hard working Americana trying to take care of their own family. Last thing most of them need is to "finance the lifestyle" of someone else. Screw them and their "lifestyle". If they want a "lifestyle", get their ass to work and pay for it.
Acknowledging that healthcare is too expensive, there should be certain safety nets for families, and there should be an attempt to make opportunity available to everyone does not seem unreasonable.
There is. Nobody is dying in the streets.
You know what taxes do pay for? Sometimes great things. Most left-leaning people I know do not expect anything to be free.
Most left-leaning people I know expect most things to be "free". None of them understand the definition of "free". Most have a very superficial understanding of what they are even endorsing. Just going with what they are told because it feels "free".
I had to break the bad news to a liberal friend the other day that Medicare for All wasn't "free". They didn't even understand that you have a monthly payment for medicare. But it sounded good when Bernie said it. They were shocked to realize they would have another monthly payment and that their work coverage would go away. Suddenly, free wasn't so free anymore.
However, "freedom" has not worked for all people. I don't think there is another country in the world that provides a better opportunity to be successful. Innovative, motivated, creative people can hit it big. But there has never been a greater gap between the rich and the poor in this country, and it's not because people are lazy. If advocating for "quality of life" makes me a socialist, then whatever. No offense, but the "freedom" states don't do much well for the general population.
There is no excuse anymore. Libs don't want equality of opportunity. They want equality of results, regardless of the work or effort put into it. If someone has more than me, that's not fair. I should have it too. That's not the way the world works. You can advocate for "quality of life" all you want, but that's not what Dems and libs want. They want to be remain a child their entire life and have hard working adults pay for them through "the government". They want to shed all personal responsibility and hand their existence off to bureaucrats that they expect to create fairness.
That's why Bernie was so popular. Free everything, even for illegals. But he lost because the politicians knew they would lose too many independents and the few moderate Democrats, because many of them understand that somebody else ends up paying for "free", and most realize that the price tags were going to be so big, that it was going to be them. He might have had a chance if Pocahontas had dropped out before Super Tuesday, but the power that be in the Democratic party made sure she stayed in to get Joe the win.