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Ben Shapiro Asks Brutal Ocasio-Cortez Question After Socialist 'Icon' Pushes for Enormous Tax Hike

By Kara Pendleton January 5, 2019 at 11:11am

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist, was sworn in on Thursday and will now be pushing for laws that would force her far-left views on the rest of America.

One of her proposals — a massive increase in the top income tax rate — got called out by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on Friday.

In a few words, he made an important point for those who support and defend the rising Democratic star.

But why, they asked, do conservatives mock AOC? https://t.co/soVl14EeIQ

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 4, 2019

In the tweet, Shapiro referred to what Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview that will air Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

The 29-year-old said that in order to fund her extremist “Green New Deal” plan, everyone needed to pay “their fair share” in taxes — with rates as high as 70 percent.

“You know, you look at our tax rates back in the ’60s and when you have a progressive tax rate system, your tax rate, you know, let’s say, from zero to $75,000 may be 10 percent or 15 percent, et cetera,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “But once you get to, like, the tippy tops, on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent. That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder you should be contributing more.”

Do you think Ocasio-Cortez is a good representative of the Democratic Party?

Her plan would hit hard, with an almost doubled tax rate for top earners and a staggering rate of nearly 83 percent for her constituents, Americans for Tax Reform noted.

Currently, the top rate is 37 percent. Ocasio-Cortez’s plan would raise that as high as 70 percent.

Americans for Tax Reform also laid out the math for her constituents in New York City:

“New York State has a top income tax rate of 8.82 percent while New York City has a top rate of 3.876 percent. So under this proposal, her constituents would pay a top combined income tax rate of 82.7 percent.”

Can you imagine having the government keep 83 percent of your income while you get just 17 percent, or the impact such a tax rate would have on the economy?

But her concern is not with the economy or hard-working Americans. Her concern is only with pushing her leftist agenda.

This wasn’t the first time Ocasio-Cortez has made a questionable statement.

In a since-deleted tweet, she pushed for Obamacare enrollment while simultaneously stating that it was expensive and “a pain.” Meanwhile, she also argues for expanding government-run health care with “Medicare for All.” But if Obamacare is so expensive and difficult, how would that be a great idea?

Maybe a good question for the guardians of truth is if she says Obamacare is expensive, how is her Medicaid for all plan cheaper?

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 17, 2018

Ocasio-Cortez also has made numerous gaffes. One notable example is when, even though she was elected to Congress, she didn’t even know what the three branches of government were.

Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “If we work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress — Uh, rather, all three chambers of government: the presidency, the Senate, and the House.”

The 3 branches of government: executive, legislative, judicial. pic.twitter.com/8rPSpzottE

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 19, 2018

Much like Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez is the gift that keeps on giving to Republicans.

That’s why some Democrats are less than thrilled with her rise to media stardom. Former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill didn’t understand what all the hype was about in regard to Ocasio-Cortez, since she hadn’t even done anything yet.

“I’m a little confused why she’s the thing,” McCaskill said.

Former Clinton adviser and Fox News Contributor Doug Schoen, a Democrat, echoed McCaskill’s sentiment.

“I hope Nancy Pelosi gets to her and says she’d do better for herself to be silent for a while, because she is not the face or the voice of the Democratic Party that I grew up with, know and continue to support,” Schoen said.

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