Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complained Tuesday about people who continue to refer to Medicare for All and tuition-free public college as “handouts.”
The freshman congresswoman claimed during a weekend town hall that “Nobody else is giving us a damn thing. We build this on our own.” (RELATED: Maxine Waters Faces Dissatisfaction From Progressive Freshman Democrats)
.@AOC: I’m tired of this idea that #MedicareForAll and tuition free public colleges are some hand out from somebody else. Nobody else is giving us a damn thing. We build this on our own. pic.twitter.com/k8IL6Gfq8I
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) December 10, 2019
“It belongs to us anyway,” Ocasio-Cortez began, adding, “I’m tired of this idea that Medicare for All and tuition free public colleges are some handout from somebody else. Nobody else is giving us a damn thing. We build this on our own. We fund it, we establish it, we fight for it, we create it, and no one should be able to take it from us as they have been.”
Estimates suggest that Medicare for All would add some $32 trillion to the federal budget over the next ten years, and Ocasio-Cortez gave no indication of how she intended to fund that. Tuition-free public college would also add to the federal budget, but again Ocasio-Cortez gave no information on how that added cost might be defrayed.