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.
Wapo garbage should have given her 5 Pinocchios but instead, because CortexIdiot is a tard progressive, they subtracted one.........
So she lies like Obama.
That means the idiot Democrats will love her even more.
You truly cannot fix stupid with these people.
Normally when she gets caught making things up, she instantly goes into victim mode and makes counter-charges against her detractors.
“Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet has been retweeted more than 26,000 times and liked more than 72,000 times.”
And that is the MAIN POINT.
I was on a RIGHT-WING website and pointed out that total military spending since WW1 was still less than the $21T, which, by the way, would finance a couple of thousand carrier groups, along with all of their supporting aircraft (we have about 10 carrier groups these days).
Instead of saying “Thanks, I had no clue”, the reaction was something to the effect that “People need to GO TO JAIL” over this.
So yea, while we may be giggling at the Left for their stupid math, the retweets show they’ve won, yet again.
Perhaps it’s time to actually ENGAGE THEM (in a peaceful manner, of course)? Just maybe?
“I got four! I got FOUR! That’s good, right? And they can give me the fifth one any time now!”
AO-C’s version of “winning.”
A “Pinocchio” is like a Grammy award or an Oscar, isn’t it?
(Aw, cripes, do I really HAFTA include the “< /sarcasm >”?)
"A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots."
It takes a second to spread a lie and can take days or longer to try to correct the record and then there is no guarantee you ever can.
Once the lie is out there it's difficult to correct the public record.
She dyes her hair, right? g
Has anyone actually checked her education credentials? Are we SURE she passed the 8th grade, or are all her records sealed?
Don’t give this numb-minded fool Pinnochios...give her feedbags.
Her claim is so ludicrous it merits far more than 4 Pinnochios. How about 21 trillion Pinnochios???
She is an unfathomable moron.
Soon she will be boasting of her “perfect 4.0 average” ... Pinocchios, kinda like GPA, right???
Occasional Kotex....nough said.
The question is: Is she lying (and pretending she is stupid as a cover); or, so stupid she thought what she was saying was true. I give her five Pinocchios wearing dunce caps.
Sorry, you can’t be a liar if you don’t understand the subject you are talking about. Wrong, yes, a liar, no.
Wonder when she gets to pick out her new office at the Capitol. Do you suppose we’ll have to listen to her moan and complain that it’s below her station in life to accept anything but the absolute best office and location? And how she’ll be unable to afford to furnish it? Tough!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
