Maybe idiot is the wrong word, but that's doubtful. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez admits America is wealthier and more successful than it's ever been, but then bemoans how poor people are still poor. Except not as poor as they used to be. So in order to make more people seem poorer than they are, maybe we should raise the poverty level itself to include people making $38,000 a year. Let the gravity of this sink in for a second as you watch my favorite socialist explain it all:

Let me sort this out, tell me if this makes sense. America is wealthier than it's ever been. That's a bad thing for AOC because it means some people have more than most people. As is the socialist way. But even the poorest in America are, according to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the video above, less poor than they were. That's a conclusion I'm drawing from her insistence we widen the poverty net to people making more than what is currently considered poor in America.

Here's how AOC came up with this number of $38,000 a year. No, she didn't come up with it all by herself. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, poverty is defined as $12,490 for a one-person household with roughly $4,420 per additional person, in the lower 48 states. Alaska and Hawaii are more expensive. Alaska because it's cold as tits and remoteAF, Hawaii because it's warm all year round and everyone would rather be there than Alaska. Sorry.

According to The Balance:

Agencies help families who earn more than the federal poverty level. For example, some programs offer subsidies to families that are 150% of the federal poverty level. For a household of four, that would be 1.5 x $25,750 = $38,625.

So that's where the numbers come from.

Now here's my issue: wealth inequality isn't a problem. Why? Because there isn't a limited quantity of money. If Jeff Bezos makes one billion more next year that doesn't mean I'll make ten thousand less. The rich are not making money at the expense of the poor. Socialists and Democrats look at wealth as if it's a set quantity, like a cake. Gay wedding or straight. So if one person has half a cake, the rest of us have to split the other half amongst ourselves amid much squabbling over who gets a corner piece. It's not so. Wealth is created, it expands. Jeff Bezos may own a cake factory, but it's not the only cake factory in town. Damn, now I'm hungry.

In fact, what does it say about our country's wealth trajectory if AOC wants to raise what it means to be poor?

The second point, $38k a year probably doesn't sound like a lot to live in any of the five boroughs of New York City. Nor would it get you far in San Francisco, Los Angeles or Seattle. But $38k a year is hardly poverty in other parts of the country. Especially if you don't have student loans or a car payment.

Once again I find myself saying the poor in America aren't poor anywhere else but America. America's poor have houses, a color television, at least one car. Check out this article from Forbes:

In fact, America’s bottom ventile is still richer than most of the world: That is, the typical person in the bottom 5 percent of the American income distribution is still richer than 68 percent of the world’s inhabitants.

Now check out the line for India. India’s poorest percentile corresponds with the 4th poorest percentile worldwide. And its richest? The 68th percentile. Yes, that’s right: America’s poorest are, as a group, about as rich as India’s richest.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a spoiled brat, and some might argue so is everyone else in America bitching about needing more stuff without working for it.

So no, we shouldn't raise the poverty rate. What we should do is point and laugh at people who want to RAISE THE POVERTY RATE to make the point that OMG, our poor people are so not poor we need to include people who make $38,000 a year who are still getting free stuff from the government.

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