What you call “free stuff” ... which is actually compensation to the working class for the labor it provides ... is a small part of the budget.
Last year, SS, Medicare, and Medicaid were 47% of federal spending.
It's projected to be 60% in 2020. *
"Other Mandatory" spending is primarily spending on other entitlement programs." **
40% of federal outlays in 2018 were for the "free stuff.
*
https://www.thebalance.com/current-federal-mandatory-spending-3305772
** "Also known as entitlement spending, in US fiscal policy, mandatory spending is government spending on certain programs that are mandated by law.
Entitlement programs are social welfare programs with specific requirements.
Entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare make up the bulk of mandatory spending. ... Other mandatory spending programs include Income Security Programs such as the Earned Income Tax Cred, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Unemployment Insurance. Federal Retirement programs for Federal and Civilian Military Retirees, Veterans programs, and various other programs that provide agricultural subsidies are also included in mandatory spending. Also included is smaller budgetary items, such as the salaries of Members of Congress and the President."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_spending
Social security is not a “Ponzi scheme” because it does not rely on “investors” to fund the payouts ... those could be funded entirely via income taxes without any payroll tax whatsoever, the current funding mechanism is not the essential part of the program.
"
How Social Security Funds Are Invested
When excess funds accumulate, they do not sit idly by. Instead, they are invested into special government bonds and made payable in the future to the trust fund. In short, the government borrows money from itself and issues itself a very unique IOU, which must be repaid from future tax receipts.
The government bonds themselves are considered to be U.S. Treasury debt securities and are interest-bearing, much like Treasury bills. Unlike other Treasury securities, however, these are not made available on the open market and have no market-based pricing tools. These securities are pegged to the interest rates earned by medium- and long-term Treasury bonds."