NOT EXACTLY NEWS – New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez compared the standard of living costs in New York City versus West Virginia to argue that bigger stimulus checks are needed to help people in New York City.
The claim:
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is accused of saying that New York residents should get more stimulus money than those who live in West Virginia.
Is it fake news?
Some on Twitter didn’t understand why Alexandria Ocasio Cortez made a comment that suggested New York residents should get more stimulus money than those who live in West Virginia. Cortez was referring to a proposal that would lower stimulus check amounts.
“Some who discount our proposals by saying “reps from urban & suburban areas don’t get other places” don’t seem to apply that consideration themselves. A $50k threshold is totally disconnected from the reality of tens of millions of people. So let’s talk Queens & West Virginia,” she tweeted.
“If you use West Virginia cost of living #s to bring down relief for everyone, millions are left in the cold. That’s what $50k does. Cutting checks to account for Queens/higher COL overall is a win-win. Lower COL get more bang for their buck, higher COL get their needs met,” she said. “Cutting checks to account for Queens/higher COL overall is a win-win. Lower COL get more bang for their buck, higher COL get their needs met.”
The borough of Queens has a higher population than the entire state of West Virginia. We should do what helps both instead of one.
If we cut relief checks to account for higher cost of living, BOTH Queens & West Virginia get help. WV actually comes out ahead due to lower COL.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 7, 2021
The borough of Queens has a higher population than the entire state of West Virginia. We should do what helps both instead of one.
If we cut relief checks to account for higher cost of living, BOTH Queens & West Virginia get help. WV actually comes out ahead due to lower COL.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 7, 2021
Verdict: 99% not exactly news
It’s never quite clear what the second-term congresswoman from New York City is trying to say, but from her statement, it appears that she was just using West Virginia and New York City as an analogy to compare the diversity of cost of living across America. While she never explicitly said that her message was just a scenario to describe the discrepancy, some thought she was completely serious about the comments, inferring that she wants to see New Yorkers earn more.
She clarified by saying, at the New York cost of living rate, West Virginians would actually benefit more because their cost of living is less than New York City. We’re rating this 99% because her comments and analogy were not clearly marked as such and left much room for readers to interpret her statement as her agenda unless you actually read into all of her connected tweets.
“Cutting checks to account for Queens/higher COL overall is a win-win. Lower COL get more bang for their buck, higher COL get their needs met,” she said. AOC wanted the higher rate for everyone, which would help people in West Virginia more than it would help people living in the extremely high-cost New York City.
