# Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, on How to Pay for Medicare for All **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514 "2018-12-03T18:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 40
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/781 "2019-01-28T15:08:54Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My bad, then. Somebody else counted for her, which no doubt explains it. If Ms. AOC had counted it herself, she would have come up with 156, and y’all would be saying “Close enough”. Translation: “I was wrong but I’m going to pretend I was right, and then in this entirely fictitious scenario I made up in my head you were all wrong instead.” Whatever makes you happy which, like Mr Farnaby, seems to involve thinking a lot about AOC. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/782 "2019-01-28T17:04:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My bad, then. Somebody else counted for her, which no doubt explains it. If Ms. AOC had counted it herself, she would have come up with 156, and y’all would be saying “Close enough”. > > Regards, > Shodan You are one truly sad human being, y’know that? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/783 "2019-01-29T06:52:57Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My bad, then. Somebody else counted for her, which no doubt explains it. If Ms. AOC had counted it herself, she would have come up with 156, and y’all would be saying “Close enough”. You’ve just been corrected for being unable to accurately count to 7. You’re not really in a position to mock someone else for their poor maths. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/784 "2019-01-29T07:27:25Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > You’ve just been corrected for being unable to accurately count to 7. You’re not really in a position to mock someone else for their poor maths. It’s not just that. He’s a devout Christian, married to a pastor. **Shodan** is the type of person that should pride himself on knowing this answer, especially given the fact that he tried to point out she was wrong. We’re not talking just counting on fingers, we’re talking about being wrong about the unassailable Word of God. To quote another part of the Bible, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” He missed the day where they studied Paul’s rather short letter to the church in Ephesus, when it was written, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/785 "2019-01-29T08:31:02Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > It’s not just that. He’s a devout Christian, married to a pastor. Which makes it wholly unsurprising that he doesn’t know what the Bible says. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/786 "2019-01-29T09:44:17Z")
The really bizarre thing here is that republicans think AOC is an idiot while she plays them like a fiddle. I realize the average republican’s IQ is best described as “below room temperature” (and we’re not necessarily talking about Fahrenheit when it comes to people like Shodan), but you’d think at some point you’d realize just how trivially she’s making you look bad and think, “Huh, maybe she’s not _stupid_, even though I disagree with her.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/787 "2019-01-29T10:28:54Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > The really bizarre thing here is that republicans think AOC is an idiot while she plays them like a fiddle. I realize the average republican’s IQ is best described as “below room temperature” (and we’re not necessarily talking about Fahrenheit when it comes to people like Shodan), but you’d think at some point you’d realize just how trivially she’s making you look bad and think, “Huh, maybe she’s not _stupid_, even though I disagree with her.” The gullible ones think she’s an idiot. The savvy ones are worried about young dynamic left-wingers with popular appeal and they’re starting the smear campaign now to hamstring her - and anyone like her - in future. So they lie and lie and lie, misrepresenting her remarks and portraying her as a babbling idiot while conscientiously ignoring far, far worse remarks from their pet president. They had nearly 30 years to work on Hillary, and it never hurts to start early. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/788 "2019-01-29T15:19:27Z")
No one who supports Trump in any way has any ground to stand on, disparaging AOC’s intellect. She’s far smarter than Trump and his coterie of incompetent evildoers. And she has her heart in the right place. But for a prominent Democratic elected official, she strikes me as significantly below average in the smarts department. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/789 "2019-01-29T15:22:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > No one who supports Trump in any way has any ground to stand on, disparaging AOC’s intellect. She’s far smarter than Trump and his coterie of incompetent evildoers. And she has her heart in the right place. But for a prominent Democratic elected official, she strikes me as significantly below average in the smarts department. I don’t buy this. At worst, she’s inexperienced (quite obviously) and not terribly skillful as to when she ought to say to herself “I’m gonna go learn about that topic before I make a definitive statement about it”. But she literally just got here. Way, way too early to be making any definitive statements about her intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/790 "2019-01-29T15:45:07Z")
Well, I said “strikes me”. So, sure: we’ll see. But 29 is not 21, either. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/791 "2019-01-29T15:54:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t buy this. At worst, she’s inexperienced (quite obviously) and not terribly skillful as to when she ought to say to herself “I’m gonna go learn about that topic before I make a definitive statement about it”. But she literally just got here. Way, way too early to be making any definitive statements about her intelligence. Uh, we didn’t need a whole lot of time to judge Trump’s intelligence. I think both wear their degrees of embracing of reason and logic on their sleeves. And it is not pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/792 "2019-01-29T16:12:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t buy this. At worst, she’s inexperienced (quite obviously) and not terribly skillful as to when she ought to say to herself “I’m gonna go learn about that topic before I make a definitive statement about it”. But she literally just got here. Way, way too early to be making any definitive statements about her intelligence. Oh, she’s definitely inexperienced, idealistic and somewhat naïve, particularly with regard to public messaging. But she doesn’t strike me as dumb at all. And she’ll learn. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/793 "2019-01-29T16:50:27Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Uh, we didn’t need a whole lot of time to judge Trump’s intelligence. > > I think both wear their degrees of embracing of reason and logic on their sleeves. And it is not pretty. We had years of idiotic statements to judge Trump’s intelligence. If you’re comparing AOC to Trump in terms of saying stupid things, I think you’re delusional. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/794 "2019-01-29T16:59:37Z")
Boy, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is all the nudniks want to talk about — and then they complain that the rational thinkers are talking about her. :smack: Joe Lieberman, the contemptible ex-Senator from Aetna Inc., doesn’t like AOC. For me, that’s a ringing endorsement! Calling this scumbag a “Democrat” is a joke. [Here’s an actual Democrat offering an opinion on AOC.](https://youtu.be/Jx1qmkH_X1w?t=228) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/795 "2019-01-29T18:19:22Z")
Joe Lieberman sucks hard. But it seems there is something of a feud brewing between not only AOC but other democratic socialists like Sanders, and the Congressional Black Caucus. I will always take the side of the latter group. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/796 "2019-01-30T09:35:27Z")
The way Kamala Harris got burned and had to immediately walk back her statements about eliminating private health insurers should be a warning to you all. Here’s the CNN story about it, including some instructive poll numbers: [https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/29/politics/kamala-harris-medicare-for-all-eliminate-private-insurers-backlash/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/29/politics/kamala-harris-medicare-for-all-eliminate-private-insurers-backlash/index.html) > [@](#): > > While many polls show the majority of Americans support a Medicare for all-type plan, they are less enamored with the idea of jettisoning their current insurance. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 56% of Americans favor Medicare-for-all, but that approval rating drops to 37% when respondents heard that it would eliminate private health insurance companies. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/797 "2019-01-30T17:04:14Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > And no: I was not at all joking in looking forward to the projections of milder winters up here in northern Minnesota. Bring it on! Yo Slacker, how’s the milder winter treating you today? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/798 "2019-01-30T19:16:48Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Yo Slacker, how’s the milder winter treating you today? 😃 While one specific polar vortex like that is not direct evidence in favor or against global warming, the increase in the intensity and how long they remain in a region are very likely due to the warming of the earth; in this case, of the polar region. > **[National Geographic](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/)** > > Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration. > [@](#): > > A paper published today in the journal Nature Communications once again linked a warmer Arctic to snowier winters—this time specifically in the northeastern U.S. > > The study comes on the heels of news that another nor’easter, the third in under two weeks, is headed toward New England. > > It’s consistent with study findings that abnormally warm Arctic temperatures make severe winters in the Northeast two to four times more likely. > > “Warm temperatures in the Arctic cause the jet stream to take these wild swings, and when it swings farther south, that causes cold air to reach farther south. These swings tend to hang around for awhile, so the weather we have in the eastern United States, whether it’s cold or warm, tends to stay with us longer," said study co-author Jennifer Francis in a press release. > > The research adds to theories that more extreme winters characterized by bomb cyclones and polar vortexes will be a more common climate change-induced pattern in the coming years. BTW that report was commenting on the freeze from the previous years and the last one. I remember a few years ago it was amusing to see a denier point at research from a colleague of Jennifer Frances that also pointed to the curious connection between the warming of the arctic and the cold mass of air from the pole moving south in a more persistent way. Being a denier, he insisted that the research from the polar scientist supported his view that the earth was not warming, or that the cooling showed what the winters in the Northeast did… something to the warming average, I think. Anyway, the very amusing part was when I cited a letter that showed that indeed the researcher and other experts do integrate global warming into their work, and that they do accept and use the previous research and data that shows that the earth is warming. The denier had to plant his face on the floor twice, first by attempting to ignore that the letter to the newspaper showed that his explanation -that the polar researchers dismissed global warming- as a big error of his, and then he planted it harder when he showed that he had ignored that the writer of the piece was the same polar researcher that made the very same paper that the denier attempted to use to dismiss the observed global warming. So, the increase in the warming of the earth caused by humans can also change weather patterns that increase seasonal cooling in some areas of the world. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/799 "2019-01-30T19:39:39Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Yo Slacker, how’s the milder winter treating you today? 😃 This morning it got down to -39 (not including wind chill), and I went outside in shorts and a t-shirt to see what it felt like. (Spoiler: it felt cold.) Today we are supposed to get a high temp of -20! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514/800 "2019-01-30T21:05:26Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > While one specific polar vortex like that is not direct evidence in favor or against global warming, the increase in the intensity and how long they remain in a region are very likely due to the warming of the earth; in this case, of the polar region. I was just being sarcastic, primarily in response to our Dipshit in Chief’s tweet yesterday that went something like " **Boy, shure is cold around here. Two bad we cant get some of that old fashioned global warming back! SAD!!!** > [@SlackerInc](#): > > This morning it got down to -39 (not including wind chill), and I went outside in shorts and a t-shirt to see what it felt like. (Spoiler: it felt cold.) Today we are supposed to get a high temp of -20! Thanks for the spoiler! 😃 BRRRR!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-ocasio-cortez-on-how-to-pay-for-medicare-for-all/825514.md?page=39)