Stupid Things Ocasio-Cortez Says: Megathread

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Stupid Things Ocasio-Cortez Says: Megathread

Post by AZGrizFan »

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/08/08/o ... re-america
Democratic socialist congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed in a podcast interview that the upper-middle class no longer exists in the United States.

Speaking on the "Pod Save America" podcast, the political newcomer was asked about Democrats who say her far-left promises would be a bad political move.

Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying the average age of a House Democrat is 65 years old, and that not enough money is being invested in younger candidates.

She went on to say that older national Democrats were in their "political heyday" in "90s politics," and campaigning to an American middle class.

Ocasio-Cortez said a more moderate upper-middle class no longer exists in America due to deregulation of Wall Street and the "gutting" of working and middle class people.
Except it does. And its growing. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Contrary to her statements, the American upper-middle class is actually growing, according to the Urban Institute.

Its report found that "the size of the upper middle class grew from 12.9 percent of the population in 1979 to 29.4 percent in 2014."

In terms of shares of total income, the middle class controlled a bit more than 46 percent of all incomes in 1979, while the upper middle class and rich controlled 30 percent. By 2014, the rich and upper middle class controlled 63 percent of all incomes, while the middle class share had shrunk to 26 percent.
This retard will literally say ANYTHING to get elected.
Last edited by AZGrizFan on Sun Dec 09, 2018 9:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Gil Dobie »

Got a bunch of Angry Millennials looking for someone to vote for.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Winterborn »

She is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Ibanez »

AZGrizFan wrote:http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/08/08/o ... re-america
Democratic socialist congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed in a podcast interview that the upper-middle class no longer exists in the United States.

Speaking on the "Pod Save America" podcast, the political newcomer was asked about Democrats who say her far-left promises would be a bad political move.

Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying the average age of a House Democrat is 65 years old, and that not enough money is being invested in younger candidates.

She went on to say that older national Democrats were in their "political heyday" in "90s politics," and campaigning to an American middle class.

Ocasio-Cortez said a more moderate upper-middle class no longer exists in America due to deregulation of Wall Street and the "gutting" of working and middle class people.
Except it does. And its growing. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Contrary to her statements, the American upper-middle class is actually growing, according to the Urban Institute.

Its report found that "the size of the upper middle class grew from 12.9 percent of the population in 1979 to 29.4 percent in 2014."

In terms of shares of total income, the middle class controlled a bit more than 46 percent of all incomes in 1979, while the upper middle class and rich controlled 30 percent. By 2014, the rich and upper middle class controlled 63 percent of all incomes, while the middle class share had shrunk to 26 percent.
This retard will literally say ANYTHING to get elected.
:ohno: :ohno: :ohno: What's more depressing is that people voted for her.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Winterborn »

Ibanez wrote: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: What's more depressing is that people voted for her.
Not surprising since people voted for Trump and Hillary. Just a continuation of the trend.....
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Ibanez »

Winterborn wrote:
Ibanez wrote: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: What's more depressing is that people voted for her.
Not surprising since people voted for Trump and Hillary. Just a continuation of the trend.....
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by ∞∞∞ »

She said "moderate" upper-middle class. I don't know if her statement is true or not in that context.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Ibanez »

∞∞∞ wrote:She said "moderate" upper-middle class. I don't know if her statement is true or not in that context.
I'd like to know her basis for that. There are plenty of moderates in every class.

They get drowned out be the extremists on both sides. Probably b/c they're moderate and not shit house rat crazy.

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One of the lessons Democrats seem to have learned from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat is that they need to mobilize their base. If younger minority voters had turned out, she might not have lost. But there’s another reason Clinton lost. She failed to engage the center. One needed only to watch the first nights of the Democratic convention to know why: she focused almost exclusively on identity politics.

The result? The center stayed home. Clinton lost the independent voters Obama had won. In North Carolina, six counties that voted for Obama cast ballots for Trump, and Clinton’s losses in a number of other N.C. counties were significantly larger than Obama’s. It wasn’t just that Clinton didn’t energize the base. She lost the middle.
Moderates are there...the DNC is just ignoring them.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by 89Hen »

Ibanez wrote: :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: What's more depressing is that people voted for her.
Keep in mind she got less than 16,000 votes in a district where 178,000 people voted in the last full election (Crowley won the 2012 primary with over 50,000 votes). I'm pretty sure any decent looking chick could get 16,000 votes without ever opening her mouth.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by kalm »

She either didn’t word it well or there needs to be more context. The quotes initially point to an argument that the aging upper middle class (she also might be regerencing Democratic establishment) is not supporting the younger, more progressive wing. Hence “moderate upper middle class no longer exists)...which also doesn’t make sense since any shift toward Wall Street degregulation would be a move from the progressive left toward the middle.

And she then refers to the lower middle classes being “gutted” which is also confusing.

If she meant that wealthy establishment Dems (see the selfish boomer argument) have got there’s and are now out of touch with younger generations, their future, and a move back toward populism that would make sense.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Winterborn »

kalm wrote:She either didn’t word it well or there needs to be more context. The quotes initially point to an argument that the aging upper middle class (she also might be regerencing Democratic establishment) is not supporting the younger, more progressive wing. Hence “moderate upper middle class no longer exists)...which also doesn’t make sense since any shift toward Wall Street degregulation would be a move from the progressive left toward the middle.

And she then refers to the lower middle classes being “gutted” which is also confusing.

If she meant that wealthy establishment Dems (see the selfish boomer argument) have got there’s and are now out of touch with younger generations, their future, and a move back toward populism that would make sense.
Or she is just talking buzz words and doesn't understand what she is trying to say at all.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by kalm »

Ibanez wrote:
∞∞∞ wrote:She said "moderate" upper-middle class. I don't know if her statement is true or not in that context.
I'd like to know her basis for that. There are plenty of moderates in every class.

They get drowned out be the extremists on both sides. Probably b/c they're moderate and not shit house rat crazy.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opini ... 91060.html
One of the lessons Democrats seem to have learned from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat is that they need to mobilize their base. If younger minority voters had turned out, she might not have lost. But there’s another reason Clinton lost. She failed to engage the center. One needed only to watch the first nights of the Democratic convention to know why: she focused almost exclusively on identity politics.

The result? The center stayed home. Clinton lost the independent voters Obama had won. In North Carolina, six counties that voted for Obama cast ballots for Trump, and Clinton’s losses in a number of other N.C. counties were significantly larger than Obama’s. It wasn’t just that Clinton didn’t energize the base. She lost the middle.
Moderates are there...the DNC is just ignoring them.
Dude, the DNC is completely controlled by monied interests and moderates.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Ibanez »

kalm wrote:She either didn’t word it well or there needs to be more context. The quotes initially point to an argument that the aging upper middle class (she also might be regerencing Democratic establishment) is not supporting the younger, more progressive wing. Hence “moderate upper middle class no longer exists)...which also doesn’t make sense since any shift toward Wall Street degregulation would be a move from the progressive left toward the middle.

And she then refers to the lower middle classes being “gutted” which is also confusing.

If she meant that wealthy establishment Dems (see the selfish boomer argument) have got there’s and are now out of touch with younger generations, their future, and a move back toward populism that would make sense.
If you can't understand what she's saying, and you're no idiot, then there's no way younger, less informed people know what she's saying.

A little polish goes a long way.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by kalm »

Ibanez wrote:
kalm wrote:She either didn’t word it well or there needs to be more context. The quotes initially point to an argument that the aging upper middle class (she also might be regerencing Democratic establishment) is not supporting the younger, more progressive wing. Hence “moderate upper middle class no longer exists)...which also doesn’t make sense since any shift toward Wall Street degregulation would be a move from the progressive left toward the middle.

And she then refers to the lower middle classes being “gutted” which is also confusing.

If she meant that wealthy establishment Dems (see the selfish boomer argument) have got there’s and are now out of touch with younger generations, their future, and a move back toward populism that would make sense.
If you can't understand what she's saying, and you're no idiot, then there's no way younger, less informed people know what she's saying.

A little polish goes a long way.
Agreed.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by kalm »

Winterborn wrote:
kalm wrote:She either didn’t word it well or there needs to be more context. The quotes initially point to an argument that the aging upper middle class (she also might be regerencing Democratic establishment) is not supporting the younger, more progressive wing. Hence “moderate upper middle class no longer exists)...which also doesn’t make sense since any shift toward Wall Street degregulation would be a move from the progressive left toward the middle.

And she then refers to the lower middle classes being “gutted” which is also confusing.

If she meant that wealthy establishment Dems (see the selfish boomer argument) have got there’s and are now out of touch with younger generations, their future, and a move back toward populism that would make sense.
Or she is just talking buzz words and doesn't understand what she is trying to say at all.
Very possible... :lol:
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by AZGrizFan »

kalm wrote:
Winterborn wrote:
Or she is just talking buzz words and doesn't understand what she is trying to say at all.
Very possible... :lol:
She's still trying to figure out what color to use, FFS. :dunce: :dunce: :dunce:
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by 89Hen »

Ibanez wrote:A little polish goes a long way.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by kalm »

89Hen wrote:
Ibanez wrote:A little polish goes a long way.
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I had the same thought!

:lol:
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by ∞∞∞ »

kalm wrote:Dude, the DNC is completely controlled by monied interests and moderates.
This.

Go to any meeting and you'll see a mostly older, moderate crowd. And they still think that trying to win the hearts and minds of everyone is the way to go, even though that's not today's political reality. But the younger and more progressive crowd has been pulling moderates a little more leftwards lately (Trump is helping too). The Sanders bloc did a helluva job as well

Honestly, this is one item I envy the GOP for: they have a unified message. The Democrats are all over the place; wishy-washy messages are worse than none at all.

Let the moderates decide: GOP or DNC, but make the message clear.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by JohnStOnge »

I think that if the "middle class" is properly defined it's not possible for it to grow or shrink as a percentage of the population. And it cannot cease to exist. By convention you'd define it as the middle 68 percent of the distribution. In a normal distribution that's every element within 1 standard deviation of the mean. So you wouldn't be taking about the size of the middle class. The size as a percentage of the population is constant. Instead, you'd be talking about the average income of the middle class, the percent of income controlled by the middle class, etc.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by JohnStOnge »

Ok I looked at the article and I have to say it's a bit unfair to her in that the headline is "Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class 'Doesn't Exist Anymore in America" but the actual text says this:
Ocasio-Cortez said a more moderate upper-middle class no longer exists in America...
Underline added for emphasis. I don't know what she means by "a more moderate." But saying that "a more moderate upper middle class no longer exists" is different than saying that an upper middle class no longer exists.

From that point on all the other stuff is moot. The fact that the Urban institute found that the size of the "upper middle class" increased does not contradict what she said and the author of the article is incorrect in writing "Contrary to her statements...."

She did not say the upper middle class no longer exists. She said "a more moderate" upper middle class no longer exists.

That does not mean I think she knows what she's talking about. But it does mean that the author of the article drew an unfounded conclusion (she was contradicted by the Urban Institute).
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Pwns »

JohnStOnge wrote:I think that if the "middle class" is properly defined it's not possible for it to grow or shrink as a percentage of the population. And it cannot cease to exist. By convention you'd define it as the middle 68 percent of the distribution. In a normal distribution that's every element within 1 standard deviation of the mean. So you wouldn't be taking about the size of the middle class. The size as a percentage of the population is constant. Instead, you'd be talking about the average income of the middle class, the percent of income controlled by the middle class, etc.
Yeah, I read that 75% of people consider themselves "middle class". It's a buzz word that you can use and a lot of people are going to think they're referring to you.

Ocasio-Cortez is an ignoramus, but I really don't think this statement is going to hurt her that miuch.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by Chizzang »

Was there ever a "More Moderate Upper Middle Class"
I don't even know what that is

:geek:

It's not the stupidest thing a politician has said in even the last 72 hours
So I'm not sure it's NEWS in that regard
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by JohnStOnge »

One more thing on this:

I looked up the Urban Institute study and completely disagree with the author's outlook on defining the "Middle Class." The study is at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/fil ... -Class.pdf. Here is some language reflecting the author's outlook:
Studying the middle class requires an operational definition of the group. This paper uses current
money income to define class because current income is closely related to all the factors associated
with social class and because data on current income are readily available. Although there are no
generally accepted income ranges for defining classes, there are many reasonable alternatives, and this paper considers several of them.

The paper focuses on how the upper middle and middle classes have changed between 1979 and
2014. I set class boundaries by using absolute income thresholds adjusted for inflation. This approach is analogous to how the federal poverty level is set. The federal poverty level is based on an absolute standard of need set in the 1960s that is adjusted for inflation each year. The advantage of this absolute approach is that the size of the classes can change over time. In contrast, groups of interest that aredefined by relative approaches that are based on fixed percentile ranges always stay the same size.Appendix A presents results from a variety of relative approaches to defining class divisions
That's ridiculous. If I ask you to determine whether the middle of things were at different times you are not going to do what he did. If I ask you what the average (middle) height of American adult males was in 1950 and what it was in 2018 you're not going to adopt a fixed value. You are going to realize that the middle is the middle at the time. You're not going to fix some height as an absolute value that is the middle whether it's 1950 or 2018.

The Urban Institute study is therefore crap. Everything that proceeds from it is nonsense because the author started off with that nonsensical approach to defining the middle.
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Re: Ocasio-Cortez: The Upper-Middle Class Doesn't Exist Anymore in America

Post by ∞∞∞ »

^Good catch by JSO. That's a horrendous, completely asinine method to define the middle-class.
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