Posted on 12/04/2018 2:29:57 PM PST by yesthatjallen
The Washington Post "Fact-checker" column awarded Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) "four Pinocchios" on Tuesday after she said in a tweet that a "$21 trillion mistake" by the Pentagon could have paid for about two-thirds the cost of a Medicare for all bill.
“$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," she wrote to her 1.46 million followers.
The column said the tweet was wrong on a couple of counts.
First, it same it made and apples and oranges comparison, in that the $32 trillion estimated to pay for providing Medicare to all citizens was over 10 years, while the errors in Pentagon spending highlighted by the future lawmaker were over 17 years.
More importantly, the Pentagon errors cited by Ocasio-Cortez, which came from research by Michigan State economics professor Mark Skidmore, represent missed transactions that include both inflows and outflows and not a lost pot of $21 million that all went out the door. It includes assets and liabilities, a point the Washington POst said was missing from Ocasio-Cortez's tweet.
In another tweet, Ocasio-Cortez said that her real point was that people only demand fiscal details on health and education. And her office in an email to the Post faulted the fact that people only worry about how something will be paid for when it is for "investing in the physical and economic well-being of our citizenry."
But the Post said this was not enough.
"Ocasio-Cortez is not the first Twitter user to mangle information from a news report," the Post writes. "But it’s unconvincing to try to pass this off as a rhetorical point being misread. She cited the $21 trillion figure and said ‘66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.’
"That’s a direct comparison. It’s badly flawed. The same article she referenced on Twitter would have set her straight. The tweet is still up, probably causing confusion. So we will award Four Pinocchios to Ocasio-Cortez."
The Post has always applied Pinocchios in rating public statements, ranging from one to four Pinocchios depending on the degree of the lie, with four being the most egregious.
Ocasio-Cortez's tweet has been retweeted more than 26,000 times and liked more than 72,000 times.
I think she believes every word she speaks to be the absolute truth and wonders why others disagree with her.
I have to ask myself where her family members are. I’ve never seen one or any friends speak for her ...Do they all know she’s loonier than a loon and keep their distance? I’ve said before that probably any one of us would be able to shake the trees and come up with SOMEONE who knew us WHEN. Same is true of Hillary and obozo - nobody ever comes forward to claim a former friendship or relationship with either.
And total defense spending during the period audited was about 1/2 the $21T figure. So basically, every single $ going into the defense would be "missing", and then counted as "missing" again when paid out. More likely, the report isn't worth the paper it's written on.
If a hungry cannibal cracked open Ocasio-Cortez’s head there wouldn’t be enough inside to cover a small oyster cracker...
Very good point about the family and friends … and we could add college professors and classmates. Isn’t it interesting how the news media can’t be bothered to look into her background and associations.
She is too young for all that to be lost in the fog of time. I can only assume many are embarrassed, and want to distance themselves. She probably is keeping her family under wraps lest they blow her fake proletarian cover.
“So basically, every single $ going into the defense would be “missing”, and then counted as “missing” again when paid out. More likely, the report isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
That may be the case, TO US. But when you see the way that even TRUMP SUPPORTERS immediately bought into it, one realizes that the report was BRILLIANT, in the sense that the Democrat-controlled House will use it to try to destroy the military.
They are going to have to come up with a whole new group of Pinocchios to handle the stupidity of Ocasio.
No doubt Cortez’s head lives where the buses don’t run.......she’s the likes of twisted nightmares as are those who voted for her.
Demorats are pretty clear they’re all about putting up minority and other culture representatives now and in the future. Thus changing ‘the face’ of governing bodies to appeal to all the future immigrants they’ll be bringing in if they’re ever in full power again.
The Pentagon keeps better track of their money unlike most other government agencies (Department of Education *cough*, *cough*)
The Post is going to need more than just four Pinnocios for this girl.
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