Backfire: How a Stupendously Ignorant Tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Undermines Single Payer Healthcare

Before we delve into her new “argument,” I’d like to make a point about why the conservative commentariat sometimes seems fixated on Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. First, she entered the national spotlight as a media fascination and darling — a young woman of color who shook up the Democratic Party from the left by defeating an establishment fixture. She wasn’t randomly plucked from relative obscurity by right-wing writers or pundits for sport; she was elevated by a mainstream media that loves covering, and sympathizes with, rising liberal stars. And please recall the DNC Chairman referring to her as “the future of our party.” Second, because of the attention lavished upon her, she has built a massive online platform. Among the dozens of newly-elected Democrats arriving in DC to serve in the next Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has, by far, the largest social media following. . .

Things Conservative Pundits Do:
✅ Name-Call
✅ Echo conspiracy theories
✅ Mock others intelligence, appearance, story, identity, values
✅ Defend Trump no matter what, incl. distractions

Things Conservative Pundits Don’t Do:
❌ Discuss actual solutions to improve the country https://t.co/aBrs3uTjhG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 25, 2018

. . .

She also pretended that an obvious spoof video was insidious fake news, and somehow ‘proof’ that Republicans are ‘scared’ of her, or something. And don’t forget the time she claimed Ben Shapiro’s offer to debate her was tantamount to “cat-calling.” In other words, she’s a lightning rod with a very large press and social media following — and she’s leaning into the role. Which is why when she says things like this, a forceful response is warranted:

$21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions “could not be traced, documented, or explained.”

$21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T.

That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.

And that’s before our premiums. https://t.co/soT6GSmDSG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 2, 2018

This astoundingly false talking point is rooted in a story from The Nation, a left-wing magazine, which attempts to track the Pentagon’s various accounting maneuvers, gimmicks, and tricks. Ocasio-Cortez, who either didn’t read the piece or lacks basic reading comprehension skills, gives her followers the distinct impression that by merely recouping $21 trillion in military accounting errors, the US government could fund two-thirds of “Medicare for All,” i.e., single payer healthcare (reminders: existing Medicare is going insolvent, and the realistic ten-year price tag for single payer is closer to $40 Trillion). This represents a distortion so ludicrous that it can be comprehensively debunked from multiple angles, starting with this one:

Wow. You claim $21 Trillion in Pentagon Waste? The entire Pentagon budget from 1789-2018 has totaled $18 trillion,

Come on, This is embarrassing. https://t.co/ezdhqWQFyc

— Brian Riedl (@Brian_Riedl) December 2, 2018

(Read more from “Backfire: How a Stupendously Ignorant Tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Undermines Single Payer Healthcare” HERE)

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