Free market policies haven't been at the forefront since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. "W" Bush had flashes of free market principles, but they weren't his guiding principles. (To be fair to "W", fighting the GWOT was his guiding principle.)
Free market policies work. See the 1980s -- and even into the 1990s as the inertia of free market policies had not yet been completely slowed by the Clinton-Gore tax increases.
When Reagan was President 80% of Americans were working AND
paying taxes.
Today that number is about 54%.
Different time. Different nation.
And different approach.