The former American Prime Minister, under ceremonial King Bill I, Newt Gingrich started out as a history professor. Thus he has seen socialists and socialism come and go in other countries.

History teaches us, and has edified him, in one constant truth: Socialism is a racket to put public sector leeches in charge of the economy and thus of everyday life. Not to say all public workers are parasites. But at the upper reaches of the federal government the sense of entitlement is so high that it almost encourages socialism as a self-protective device. Gingrich has got their number.

Gingrich: The Big Government Socialists who have taken over the Democratic Party love to talk about “free” programs: Free community college, free child care, free dental and eye care for Medicare, free public housing, free food stamps, the list goes on. Don’t fall for it.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ belief in socialism has now infected virtually the entire elected membership of the Democratic Party in Washington. This infection persists despite daily evidence that big government is not efficient or effective. At the federal level, consider President Joe Biden’s border catastrophe, his disastrous exit from Afghanistan, his record inflation, and now the crippling, policy-imposed supply chain woes.

At the local level, consider the collapsing urban schools, skyrocketing murder rates in Democrat-run cities, and massive theft of unemployment compensation money. There is an almost religious fanaticism within the left to believe that somehow more big government implementing more socialist policies will create a better future.

The left’s constant refrain of the word “free” is a key example of how misguided Big Government Socialism really is. None of the things the Big Government Socialists want to do are free. In a bygone, saner political era, they would be described as what they are: taxpayer-funded programs.

When you get a “free” school lunch, a taxpayer paid for it. When you get “free” treatment through Medicaid, a taxpayer funded it. When you go to a “free” government-run school, taxpayers funded the cost. When you discuss the lunacy of Big Government Socialist programs – whether from President Biden, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., or Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. – correct the conversation every time the word “free” is used. Insist on calling it “taxpayer funded.”

To dig a little deeper: Taxpayers fund government programs in three ways – borrowing, taxing cash and taxing through inflation. All three methods involve taking money out of taxpayers’ pockets and reducing the standard of living for Americans…

But government borrows, spends money on current goods and services, and has nothing coming back to repay the debt – except your future tax dollars. Sooner or later, you have to lower your standard of living to pay off the government’s debt.