# Opinion: AEI's Matt Weidinger Says Democrats Promise 'Free, Free, Free Everything,' and So Did the Soviet Constitution

An American Enterprise Institute scholar argues that Democrats' post-election benefit plans would roll back work requirements and ignore the cost, and compares the pledges to the Soviet constitution. The arguments and figures are his.

- Section: [Opinion](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/opinion/)
- Published: 2026-11-03
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/opinion-weidinger-democrats-promise-free-everything-so-did-the-soviets-washington-examiner/

This is a summary of an opinion column in the Washington Examiner by Matt Weidinger, a senior fellow and Rowe scholar in opportunity and mobility studies at the American Enterprise Institute. The views and figures are his, not RightNewsRightNow's.

The starting point. Weidinger begins with an Oct. 27 New York Times article on what Democrats plan to do if they win back Congress. He says it describes expanded federal benefits and says little about whether recipients must work or how the benefits would be paid for without larger deficits.

What he says is coming. He writes that leadership would start with "shock and awe" benefit expansions: revived premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, more Medicaid spending, more food stamps and tax credits for people who earn too little to owe income tax, with factions pushing childcare and elder subsidies, Medicare for All and paid leave. He quotes Rep. Greg Casar, chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, saying "I want us to be passing so much." Weidinger links the pledges to the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America, which he says has captured ideological control of the party, and quotes the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel summarizing it as "free, free, free everything."

Work requirements. His central complaint is that many of the expansions would undo newly imposed work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid and food stamps. He cites a February 2023 poll finding two-thirds of Americans, including 64% of Democrats, support expecting able-bodied recipients to work or train, and notes that then-Sen. Joe Biden voted for the 1996 welfare reforms that Bill Clinton signed. He says poverty and dependence fell afterward and that the New York Times later called the reform "an obvious success."

The Soviet comparison. Weidinger notes that Dec. 26 will be the 35th anniversary of the Soviet Union's dissolution and says its constitution promised rising living standards, free medical care, housing and education. He recalls a Soviet joke, "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work," and ends by urging readers inclined to believe the "free" promises to question them. He also notes a New York DSA leader was gifted a $1.5 million Brooklyn rowhouse by his parents.

What we could not check. We have not read the New York Times article, the DSA platform or the poll he cites, and we have not verified his characterization of Democrats' plans or the effects of the 1996 law. The comparison with the Soviet constitution is his argument. The column does not include a response from the lawmakers it names.

## Source

Original reporting: [Washington Examiner (opinion by Matt Weidinger)](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/4789087/democrats-promise-free-everything-so-did-the-soviets/)