Los Angeles Times

Michael Hiltzik: Memo to conservatives: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez understands federal taxes better than you do

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked the political establishment by defeating a machine politician in a New York Democratic primary for Congress last June. Ever since then, Republicans and conservatives have been trying to smear her as a know-nothing socialist ditz unfit to sit in the House chamber with all those gray-bearded sages who have made the House such a model of reasoned and informed debate.

The latest such campaign erupted this weekend. I'm not talking about the unearthing of a dance video from her college years, which backfired spectacularly by making Ocasio-Cortez seem youthful and joyous, but an interview with the newly minted member of Congress broadcast Sunday on "60 Minutes" but released by CBS on Friday.

In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez argues for raising the

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