Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Tries and Fails to Answer “How Will You Pay For It?”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the winner of a Democratic Congressional primary in New York, reacts while talking to the media, Wednesday, June 27, 2018, in New York. Ocasio-Cortez, 28, upset U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in Tuesday’s election. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Candidate for New York’s 14th congressional district, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the gift that keeps on giving.

Nearly every week, the young, self-described democratic socialist says something that boggles the mind. Ocasio-Cortez, a Bernie Sanders mentee, does not live in reality. Though she has a degree in economics, something she is sure to remind us of any chance she gets, she lacks the ability to explain just how she’ll pay for her grand social plans.

That’s because when socialism is tried, it fails. (See: Venezuela)

During a recent appearance on the popular progressive podcast “Pod Save America”, the host asked Ocasio-Cortez to explain how she recommends the country pay for free education (pre-K and public universities), health care, and the like. Her answer, or lack thereof, says much about socialism and the incompetence of the one singing its praises.

“But how are you going to pay for it?”@Ocasio2018 responds: pic.twitter.com/tRvqkXYfIN

— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) August 7, 2018

The closest she comes to a sort of answer is, “Well, they pay for things like unlimited wars and tax cuts, so we can use those same things, too!” Huh? You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to sell socialism to even the Democratic masses, sweetheart.

After her attempt at answering the actual question, she quickly descends into a “…Democrats buy into conservative talking points” and “Too many people view politics as two-dimensional.” Meanwhile, the audience is still left wondering how she proposes paying for free schooling, housing, and health care. She absolutely fails to address the issues of the pocketbook, something that the majority of Americans on either side of the aisle are most curious about. To make Bernie Sanders sounds sane and controlled is quite the feat, but Ocasio-Cortez manages to pull that off.

It doesn’t seem as if Republicans are the only ones rolling their eyes at her, though. Democrats, of the non-socialist variety, are quite skeptical of the young candidate and her empty positions on issues, most especially economics.

Even Vox, as Leftist as you can get, published a piece (written by a Republican) explaining the toll that true democratic socialist policies would have on the country in America might be ready for democratic socialism. It’s not ready for the bill.

However, the democratic socialist agenda will face resistance not only from other lawmakers but from basic math. Their promises, which include free college, a single-payer health care system, guaranteed jobs, and more, would require astonishingly high expenditures that would cause the federal deficit to skyrocket. Once the costs become clear, most mainstream politicians and voters will surely balk. Making big promises is one thing; paying for them is another.

If democratic socialists and their allies are serious, they must move beyond slogans and figure out how to pay for these proposals, or scale them back to plausible levels similar to last year’s tax cuts (which cost a comparatively small $1.8 trillion).

The democratic socialists may do well in November. Yet upon arriving in Washington, they will discover that even their revolution cannot repeal the laws of math.

Are they serious? That’s a good question. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a young, Puerto Rican, American woman, looks like the ideal candidate until she opens her mouth. Only then do Democrats and Republicans alike offer confused expressions for her explanations.

Naturally, the candidate herself pointed to Republicans as the problem once they began to question her non-answer on the podcast.

Whenever the Right is being particularly feisty towards me, the first thing I do is check to see which bad news of theirs they’re trying to distract from.

Lo and behold ⬇️ https://t.co/P3dmJBe0ZI

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) August 8, 2018

Pointing out your inability to answer basic questions about funding your plans is “feisty”? Ok. (By the way, we can be concerned about Chris Collins while also highlighting your disastrous interview. Mutli-tasking is a thing.)

November 6th is only about three months away and if Ocasio-Cortez can’t win over Democratic hearts, then her Republican opponent, Anthony Pappas, might make up some ground. His bid for the seat is still a long shot, though.

If Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does make it to Washington, D.C., it appears that her grand design for a future of free everything will never see the light of day. That’s because it’s unsustainable policy driven by minds that are nestled in utopian ideals. In the real world, these plans fall flat.

Much like the candidate herself.

Kimberly Ross is a senior contributor at RedState and a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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