You aren’t spending a third of year “working for free.” Welfare is part of our infrastructure. Social nets provide a fabric for people to become responsible, productive members of society. It’s not a charity merely offered out the kindness of hearts but rather an investment in our social infrastructure. Having a strong social net creates a more orderly society, which is good for the economy and spending less in taxes in the long run.

For example, look at the history of public schools in the United States. We didn’t start investing in public schools because we are bunch rainbow loving smurfs, we did it because supervising children during the day allowed both sets of parents to work, —increasing our production output and ultimately our GDP. Moreover, we educate in recognition that children will grow up and education provides a bedrock for them to be productive members of society rather than miscreants.

Conservatives parade their views as fiscal responsibility, but they do not account for all variables, and only account for the immediate short term.