It’s no secret that the two dozen or so 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are promising a slew of new and expanded government programs that are often “universal” and “free.” Americans should be skeptical when they hear these buzzwords, which are code for “rationed” and “expensive” when Democratic presidential candidates talk about “Medicare for all,” the so-called Green New Deal, and free college.

Democratic presidential candidates will list their new proposals without any pay-for aside from “taxing the 1 percent,” then proceed in the same breath to criticize Republicans for growing the deficit by way of tax cuts. That’s right, 2020 Democrats have the audacity to blame the federal government’s ballooning deficit on the notion of middle-class Americans getting $1,000 on average in tax breaks thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Not only do Democrats have it wrong on the primary drivers of the deficit, but their argument that Republicans have caused the deficit by cutting taxes is made completely in bad faith.