# Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Cannot Afford to Move to Washington **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263 "2018-11-09T21:47:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/281 "2018-11-14T17:56:35Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > It’s certainly not terrible in DC. When my wife and I first moved here 20 years ago, we were making 75K between us, which is the equivalent of about $117,700 now\*. And we were able to live quite comfortably on that, bought a house, bought a car that wasn’t used, paid off our old debts, and started putting away savings, all in a year and a half. Are you really using your ability to buy a house on a $75,000 salary in DC 20 years ago to justify anything? DC housing prices have nearly tripled since 20 years ago. You’d have to have a 225k salary now to match the house buying power of your 75k then: > **[S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller DC-Washington Home Price Index | FRED | St....](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=m3yp)** > > Graph and download economic data for S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller DC-Washington Home Price Index from Jan 1987 to Feb 2024 about DC, Washington, MD, WV, VA, HPI, housing, price index, indexes, price, and USA. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/282 "2018-11-14T19:07:12Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > If your advice is that she should literally spend her life’s savings on rent, then you probably shouldn’t ever give anyone advice again. Regardless of one’s savings account balance, adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/283 "2018-11-14T19:11:07Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Regardless of one’s savings account balance, adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. So the troops in Iraq aren’t adults? Not cool. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/284 "2018-11-14T19:15:42Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Regardless of one’s savings account balance, adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. Would you consider Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy to be adults, per your meaning of the word? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/285 "2018-11-14T19:21:35Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Would you consider Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy to be adults, per your meaning of the word? …or the President? Or the Vice President? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/286 "2018-11-14T19:28:20Z")
Gotcha fail #116 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/287 "2018-11-14T19:37:16Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Shit, now I have to go in that thread in the pit and admit that spray painting an anarchy symbol on his driveway was a good idea. Note that the article is about when she argued against Amazon getting tax breaks while infrastructure was crumbling. Still, it is an oddly liberal thing for him to agree with, since Republicans tend to be all for tax cuts for rich people. I guess Trump hating Amazon does have some advantages. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/288 "2018-11-14T19:46:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Note that the article is about when she argued against Amazon getting tax breaks while infrastructure was crumbling. > > Still, it is an oddly liberal thing for him to agree with, since Republicans tend to be all for tax cuts for rich people. I guess Trump hating Amazon does have some advantages. Republicans hate Bezos. He agreed that Bezos shouldn’t have got a tax break. This highlights a rift in the Dems. It’s not an oddly liberal thing to agree on at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/289 "2018-11-14T19:58:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yes, what I said is quite different from what you posted. My posts have to do with the topic of the thread; yours are a _non sequitur_. I talk about how Ocasio-Cortez is complaining about how hard it is to get an apartment, you talk about how she thinks it is like high school orientation. You complain about how no one will float her a loan, I point out that she is about to start earning three times the median household income. > > _:shrugs:_ It turns out she has at least $30K to pay for an apartment, so this was just entitled whining from a socialist about how inconvenient being an adult is. > > Now she can run off and take the bold, daring, courageous step of protesting in Nancy Pelosi’s office. Gosh, isn’t she brave. > > As someone said on the radio this morning, she wants to turn the federal government into Berkeley. Oh well, it’s only Wednesday - she will say something else stupid before too long. > > Regards, > Shodan Cite for whining, entitled or otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/290 "2018-11-14T20:38:00Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So the troops in Iraq aren’t adults? Not cool. :mad: Ok, you got me. The vast majority of adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. Out of the 435 Representatives that were elected last week, why is she the only one I’ve heard even talking about this subject? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/291 "2018-11-14T20:41:40Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Out of the 435 Representatives that were elected last week, why is she the only one I’ve heard even talking about this subject? She said one thing about it. Ryan, McCarthy, and a handful of other members of Congress have been living in their offices for years or decades, rent-free, precisely because of the cost of living in DC. But you see a “democratic socialist” (or whatever she calls herself) make a comment that she’s going to delay moving to DC for a month and a half, and the Fox News crowd and their viewer lose their freakin’ mind? What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/292 "2018-11-14T20:54:24Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Ok, you got me. The vast majority of adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. > > Out of the 435 Representatives that were elected last week, why is she the only one I’ve heard even talking about this subject? Here is one of many articles about it: [‘I can’t afford an apartment’: Congressmen sleeping in offices cry poverty](https://nypost.com/2018/05/01/these-politicians-are-sleeping-in-their-dc-offices-to-save-money/) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/293 "2018-11-14T20:59:21Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Here is one of many articles about it: [‘I can’t afford an apartment’: Congressmen sleeping in offices cry poverty](https://nypost.com/2018/05/01/these-politicians-are-sleeping-in-their-dc-offices-to-save-money/) That link seems like it requires reading. I’m only aware of things that vacuous blond women have read to me thru my TV. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/294 "2018-11-14T20:59:27Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Ok, you got me. The vast majority of adults are expected to cover their own housing costs. > > Out of the 435 Representatives that were elected last week, why is she the only one I’ve heard even talking about this subject? You’re not very well informed? As I mentionedd, Chaffetz mentioned the cost and about 50 members of Congress live in their offices. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/295 "2018-11-14T21:03:58Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > That link seems like it requires reading. I’m only aware of things that vacuous blond women have read to me thru my TV. That’s too much work. I’m just going to read half the headline and form my own version of what the rest of the article says. Now, why does Paul Ryan sleep on a bag of money? Doesn’t he know he can use that to buy a bed? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/296 "2018-11-14T21:05:56Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You’re not very well informed? As I mentionedd, Chaffetz mentioned the cost… Male and Republican, so doesn’t count. In order for me to get outraged about perfectly normal behavior I’m gonna have to see evidence of a female, minority, or Democrat doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/297 "2018-11-14T21:09:07Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > That link seems like it requires reading. I’m only aware of things that vacuous blond women have read to me thru my TV. Alternatively, one could read about this on the Straight Dope. I can read the thread to anyone in the style of a vacuous blond woman on TV, but that will take a long time and have the disadvantage of me presenting multiple sides of an issue. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=850612](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=850612) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/298 "2018-11-14T21:11:02Z")
It’s even mentioned earlier in this very thread. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/299 "2018-11-14T21:11:34Z")
I’m baffled by AOC or the reasoning attributed to her. This is like someone who just won a lottery jackpot griping over how to make ends meet and pay the bills between now and the time the check actually is cashed. It’s an utterly tiny problem in the matter of things. Granted, $174k isn’t a hundred million bucks, but it makes the financial cost of the interim almost inconsequential. Just get a loan and pay it all off in a short time. Or, if the credit card limit is high enough, put all expenses on the credit card, then pay it all off in a few months, too. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/300 "2018-11-14T21:18:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Granted, $174k isn’t a hundred million bucks, but it makes the financial cost of the interim almost inconsequential. Just get a loan and pay it all off in a short time. Or, if the credit card limit is high enough, put all expenses on the credit card, then pay it all off in a few months, too. …I’m baffled that you are baffled. AOC has made no secret that she is dealing with this. She even told us how she is dealing with it in the original quote. She doesn’t need to get a loan, she doesn’t need to put it on her credit card, she has been saving money and will handle it. Did you not read what she originally said? Have you not read the thread? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263.md?page=16)