Using our tax dollars to pay for the things our country needs is not giving away “free stuff.” But, that's the line we keep hearing in response to our push to expand social programs.

When we talk about things like free college, expanding Social Security, or expanding Medicare to cover all Americans, the typical Republican reply is that we simply can't afford such big ideas. But, those same people never bat an eyelash when we spend astronomical amounts on war, tax cuts, or corporate welfare.

According to recent article over at USUnCut.com, expanding health care, investing in new public works programs, offering free college at public universities, and enacting paid family leave would cost our nation an estimated one and a half trillion dollars.

But, we could easily pay for such programs by eliminating the big government handouts to Wall Street, Big Oil, defense contractors, and other corporate welfare recipients. And, that doesn't even consider how much the progressive proposals mentioned earlier will stimulate our economy by putting more money in the pockets of Americans who will go out and spend.

Ever since the Reagan presidency, we've been told that government is the problem and that slashing taxes is the solution. Then, the rich and the powerful rigged the system to make sure that government is still large enough to hand out corporate welfare and that taxes only cut for those at the top.

The fact of the matter is that We, The People are the government, and we get to decide how to spend our tax dollars. We can either have a government that supports the billionaires, or we can have a government that works for average Americans.

The only “free stuff” we can't afford is the pile of conservative talking points designed to make us believe that we shouldn't want a government that works for us.