‘Math is hard isn’t it?’ AOC gets lesson in economics after sniping at GOP over minimum wage

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., graduated from Boston University in 2011 with a degree in economics, but following facts seems to come really hard for the self-avowed socialist.

The Republican Party posted a tweet on Tuesday calling attention to the fact that “60% of workers report living paycheck-to-paycheck,” this coming as President Joe Biden and the White House actively tout their economic accomplishments.

Eager to engage in partisan bickering, AOC chimed in — with a southern demeanor, no less — to effectively blame the GOP for a minimum wage increase failing to pass last year: “And yet y’all still voted against raising the minimum wage.”

Never mind that Democrats currently have a majority in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Interestingly, Ocasio-Cortez’s misleading tweet was flagged on Twitter with the appropriate context being added to show that when Congress voted on a bill to raise the minimum wage in 2021, it passed in the House despite 8 Democrats joining Republicans in opposing the measure — three Republicans voted in favor of the bill. However, the increase failed in the Senate, with 7 Democrats voting with the Republican caucus to block the measure.

Somewhat surprisingly, the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour and was last increased on July 24, 2009 — so much for looking out for the little guy, although only a tiny fraction of workers in the U.S. earn minimum wage and many states have set a much higher minimum wage.

But all that may prove to be too complicated for a poor Bronx bartender just trying to grasp the big world around her, and don’t think of explaining to AOC how much inflation, which Democrats own lock, stock and barrel, cuts into workers’ paychecks.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:

Tom Tillison

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