Even setting aside the deceptive propaganda around this, “they” meaning right wing voters of modest means, still have two problems with tax funded services of any kind. The government may not be “taking money away” as in making it vanish, but they are taking away the choice of how that money should be spent. Conservatives see a moral hazard here where their taxes will pay for the poor lifestyle choices of others - and actually they are right, just not the way they think they are. It’s not abortions for slutty brown women they should worry about but metabolic syndrome brought on by their own white neighbors horrible diets that will burden the system most.

Their other problem is they don’t want to benefit from this kind of public good themselves. They see it as “taking charity” and although white people accept plenty of advantages, they like to stay proud about it. It doesn’t help to say “look, you’re getting something here.” So there just isn’t any way of making them comfortable with the setup, even when it isn’t being grossly distorted to them.

The whole “I don’t take no charity” is a very old American value and part of a complex system we have for giving people ways to feel superior to others. We don’t have a formal class system in this society but we service the same instincts in a hundred other small ways. Farm subsidies? Of course! Do you know how important farmers are? Healthcare supports? What… so I can pay for abortions for some illegal immigrant who couldn’t keep her legs closed?

We’re terminally stupid here and everything is about feels I don’t see how we’ll ever get past all this.