Of course, it’s not really free, because we paid for it with our tax dollars.

Bernanke spoke to the fallacy of "taxpayer dollars" at the federal level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bjDAZazWU

Greenspan also speaks to the reality of creating money at the federal level. His remarks were aimed toward Social Security benefits, but they apply to all federal spending for the public purpose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNCZHAQnfGU

I know we've discussed this before, but it bears repeating. There is nothing the federal government can't "afford" as long as it is available and priced in US dollars, which it creates on demand. Nothing has limited our society more than the misconception of taxpayer dollars at the federal level.

Many of the benefits we received during the Trump Presidency were cancelled far too soon by the Biden administration and the hope of reversing climate change was shot down by Manchin's false concept of spending in deficit contributing to inflation. If we can't get the basic mechanics of our monetary system right we certainly aren't going to have a prayer of surviving what is coming.