What is the free market? My definition of a free market is a marketplace that does not include Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Medicare, Medical, Social Security, Sarbanes-Oxley, anti-trust laws, state laws protecting the existence of car dealers, federal regulations preventing competition among health insurance providers across state lines, etc., etc., etc.
What you are left with, assuming a modicum of government intervention to ensure that the market remains free, is buyers buying what they want to buy, at a price they can afford, and which they agree to, and sellers selling whatever they can produce at a price that makes a profit. In other words, freedom, with all of its advantages and disadvantages.
Impinging upon that freedom by the government, should require a monumental burden of proof that such interference is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary.
This is not a description of anything remotely resembling the current situation, regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in power, but especially not if it is the Democrats, as many of us are now discovering.
What then of the social safety net? What about those of us who fall through the economic cracks? Those of us who, because of bad luck and/or bad decisions, are without adequate shelter, clothing, food, and medicine?
I have been one of those, at various times in my life. It’s a tricky question. The reason I am not in that predicament now is primarily due to the fact that I didn’t want to be there, and I knew it was up to me to do something about it, because nobody else was going to. And I was able to do something about it.
On the other hand, it is a drag to have among us people who are not doing well, many through no fault of their own. We should care for these people, without providing an escape for those who would rather not make an effort. That’s not an easy line to draw, really an impossible line to draw with complete accuracy. We should err on the side of compassion. By as small a margin as possible.
Who better to draw that line? The Democrats or the Republicans? On any particular issue, that would require a detailed breakdown of who is bribing whom, on both sides of the aisle. In either case, there would be zero advocates for anything resembling a free market.