Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[Shadowy Man]

KDTH costar and former US Senate candidate from WV:
Paula Jean Swearengin on Twitter: "People that are hobnobbing with their neighbors about who serves the very best horderves should have no power in deciding what poor people eat." / Twitter

And people who can't spell words should not be using them to condescend to people.
Also, what is that in reference to? Something about food stamps?

We don’t eat fancy foods like horderves, we like our hamberders, like Real Americans eat.

 

[lpetrich]

Jerry Rosenblum on Instagram: “I was so excited to get this letter from @aoc! ”
She wished him a happy 99th birthday, and she said that it was wonderful to meet him in person just over a year ago. She congratulated him on getting vaccinated, and that it could be a step toward meeting in person again.

"Keep singing", then her signature.

After Joe Crowley appeared on a recent news show, I wondered if he was doing a comeback into public view. I could not find very much, but I found this on him, on Feb 5:
Americans deserve a healthy dose of bipartisanship - Roll Call

Our economy remains weak. A pandemic continues to kill thousands of citizens each day. And political tensions seem to have reached an all-time high.

While a plan to combat COVID-19 and provide economic relief is of utmost priority for President Joe Biden, congressional leaders in both parties would be wise to start repairing relations across the aisle by working together to pass relatively uncontroversial, overwhelmingly popular measures — such as reforms to make drugs more affordable.

...
Joseph Crowley represented New York in the House as a Democrat from 1999 to 2019. He is a senior policy adviser at Squire Patton Boggs.

Bill Shuster represented Pennsylvania in the House as a Republican from 2001 to 2019. He is a senior policy adviser at Squire Patton Boggs.

So he's still in that lobbying firm, alongside Republicans.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Ok everyone, I need help! ..." / Twitter

Ok everyone, I need help!

A few weeks ago I told @RepRaskin that this year I wanted to adopt a vegetarian diet for Lent in memory of his son Tommy.

Jamie said, “Well you’d have to do it the way Tommy would, which means bring people along with you!” So, I have 3 requests:

1. Does anyone want to join me? Rules are 1) No judgement 2) Make it your own (you can go full 40 days, just veggie Mondays, etc 3) Be inclusive (no need to observe Lent to join)

2. Please comment w your favorite veggie recipes below! I would like to avoid 40 days of Easy Mac

3. If neither of the above apply but you are in a position to give or help others in this time, please consider doing so in the spirit of Tommy. He loved the world so much and dedicated his life to reducing suffering around the world.

Thank you!

Rep. Jamie Raskin On The Life And Legacy Of His Son, Tommy Raskin : NPR

By the age of 25, Thomas Bloom Raskin had already accomplished a great deal: He was a graduate of Amherst College who went on to intern at the Cato Institute and J Street, among other prominent organizations; a passionate vegan who wrote philosophical defenses of animal rights and converted those around him to giving up meat; a political writer who had essays published in The Nation and elsewhere; and a law student and teaching assistant at Harvard Law School who donated from his teaching salary to charities in his students' names.

Tommy, as his father Jamie Raskin calls him, was also tormented by depression. Tommy Raskin took his own life on Dec. 31.

DC VegFest Performance | Raskin Journal
An excerpt:

"When it comes to the right to live free from the blight
of aggression, oppression, from tyrannous might,
how smart you are friends shouldn't matter at all;
trauma is still trauma for the creatures that crawl."

AOC got oodles of vegetarian recipes in her Twitter feed.

Bill Moseley on Twitter: "@AOC One day or starting on Lent and continuing indefinitely?" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@choptopmoseley I’m doing 40 days for Lent but you can do whatever you want! Could be 1 day/week for 40 days. Or just one day!" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I was, indeed, on a call " / Twitter
noting
Voto Latino on Twitter: "It’s National Love Your Pet Day and we’re remembering when this dog could not get enough of @AOC...it’s so precious.

: localhunny on IG httpsvid link)" / Twitter
AOC with a dog that was mock-attacking her, from late in 2018 IIRC.

 

[lpetrich]

This Congress is the most diverse ever. But Hill staffers remain overwhelmingly white. - POLITICO - "There are only two Black chiefs of staff in the Senate and just four Latinos. The chamber has two Black communications directors."
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This is because Congress doesn’t pay enough to retain working class talent. ..." / Twitter

This is because Congress doesn’t pay enough to retain working class talent.

Conservatives use cutting Congress’ budget to score points, but this cuts staff wages so low that many can’t afford to work here or need a 2nd job.

Policy improves & the nation benefits when we invest.

There are of course many other structural factors (including Congress itself), but low pay shuts the door for so many talented people right out of the gate that they can’t accept the opportunity.

Some wages are so low they essentially require generational wealth to subsidize.

(For the record, I pay all my interns $15/hr & my lowest paid staff is in the mid-$50s, but that comes w/choosing to have a smaller team. Many will not/cannot make that choice given the demands, but the scarcity is unnecessary- Congress shld choose to expand the MRA & pay staff)

 

[Swammerdami]

They did not make it up. Clinton let Hillary be the point person on the healthcare reform.

Sorry, I didn’t realize that a President letting family members be point in political issues was something that the Right had an issue with.

Any other examples we can think of?

There, there. Let's not compare apples and oranges.

Even her Wikipedia page makes it clear that Hillary is very well educated, has been a university teacher, has a broad range of experience in public service, and has demonstrated much human compassion. Employing her (albeit with zero salary) is the sort of nepotism that Republicans despise.

Ivanka and Jared, on the other hand, have few qualifications other than having rich criminal daddies. Jared bought his way into his only real job, managing an editor who complained "This guy doesn't know what he doesn't know." Jared bested his daddy by not yet ever going to prison, while Ivanka is a fashion queen who could (but hasn't) help teach her daddy not to walk around in public with a long stream of toilet paper draping from his shoe. That's the sort of nepotism that's endearing to Republicans.

Yet you bring up Jared/Ivanka when a Trumpist complains about Clinton "nepotism"? Are you unable to understand Republican thought?

 

[Derec]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Ok everyone, I need help! ..." / Twitter

Talk about virtue-signaling!

Tommy, as his father Jamie Raskin calls him, was also tormented by depression. Tommy Raskin took his own life on Dec. 31.

If I was reduced to eating a plant-only diet I'd be tormented by depression too.
I wonder if Tommy Raskin could have saved himself by having a steak.

"When it comes to the right to live free from the blight
of aggression, oppression, from tyrannous might,
how smart you are friends shouldn't matter at all;
trauma is still trauma for the creatures that crawl."

What poorly written drivel. Human beings are omnivores. It is not "aggression, oppression, from tyrannous might" to eat animals.
And "how smart you are friends ..."??? Did he mean to write "your"?

 

[Derec]

Even her Wikipedia page makes it clear that Hillary is very well educated, has been a university teacher, has a broad range of experience in public service, and has demonstrated much human compassion. Employing her (albeit with zero salary) is the sort of nepotism that Republicans despise.

It is still nepotism. You can't condemn Jared and praise Hillary.

Ivanka and Jared, on the other hand, have few qualifications other than having rich criminal daddies.

Like Hillary, Jared is well educated (Harvard, NYU) and like Hillary he is a lawyer. Ivanka graduated cum laude from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Yet you bring up Jared/Ivanka when a Trumpist complains about Clinton "nepotism"? Are you unable to understand Republican thought?

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I am not defending Jared/Ivanka nepotism, although Jared did surprisingly well in the Middle East, but it is silly to me to defend Hillary in that regard.

 

[Derec]

This is because Congress doesn’t pay enough to retain working class talent.

That is silly. How much do you think Congress should pay for "working class" people to take those jobs?

Conservatives use cutting Congress’ budget to score points, but this cuts staff wages so low that many can’t afford to work here or need a 2nd job.

Or maybe these faux "working class" people are too entitled. How much do these staffers actually make?

Some wages are so low they essentially require generational wealth to subsidize.

That's a pretty bold claim. Can you back it up? I think that rather they feel entitled to make big bucks.

(For the record, I pay all my interns $15/hr & my lowest paid staff is in the mid-$50s,

I wonder how much the average in Congress is. And what AOC thinks is too low for minority staffers but somehow not too low for white staffers.

 

[ZiprHead]

Talk about virtue-signaling!


If I was reduced to eating a plant-only diet I'd be tormented by depression too.
I wonder if Tommy Raskin could have saved himself by having a steak.

There's that conservative empathy they're so famous for.

 

[Derec]

There's that conservative empathy they're so famous for.

It's tragic that he killed himself. But I still wonder if his veganism played a role in his depression.

 

[blastula]

Talk about virtue-signaling!


If I was reduced to eating a plant-only diet I'd be tormented by depression too.
I wonder if Tommy Raskin could have saved himself by having a steak.

<DELETED>

 

[Shadowy Man]

"When it comes to the right to live free from the blight
of aggression, oppression, from tyrannous might,
how smart you are friends shouldn't matter at all;
trauma is still trauma for the creatures that crawl."

What poorly written drivel. Human beings are omnivores. It is not "aggression, oppression, from tyrannous might" to eat animals.
And "how smart you are friends ..."??? Did he mean to write "your"?

I think it is likely supposed to be “how smart you are, friends, shouldn’t matter...”. That is, they believe that even dumb animals deserve to live free from our tyranny. I don’t know one would parse it with “your”.

 

[Derec]

I think it is likely supposed to be “how smart you are, friends, shouldn’t matter...”. That is, they believe that even dumb animals deserve to live free from our tyranny. I don’t know one would parse it with “your”.

With an "are" after "friends" it would make grammatical sense at least, but I like your version.

 

[lpetrich]

MSNBC THE MEHDI HASAN SHOW AOC 02 28 2021 - YouTube
AOC interviewed by Mehdi Hasan in the first episode of his show.

Then about the prospect of HR 1 being filibustered to death in the Senate. Also about how this is state redistricting time, with the prospect of gerrymandering - politicians choosing their voters rather than the other way around. The Electoral College and the Senate she considers undemocratic. A lot of activism will be necessary, and that's only gradually starting to happen.

Then AOC called Trump a Fascist. She then went on to say that US white supremacy is rather different from the more typical forms of Fascism, and something specific to the US.

AOC went to Katie Porter's office because she suspected that some of her colleagues would have given her whereabouts to the attackers, and she didn't want to be murdered by Trumpie attackers. They had plans like gassing the tunnels and basements of the Capitol complex. She noted that some Congresspeople have tried to sneak guns onto the House floor. That led to metal detectors.

About running for President, she said that she has focused on doing the best job possible. But she does not seem to consider it a high priority.

Then the $15 minimum wage in the COVID-19-relief package. The Senate parliamentarian has ruled against including it, and AOC suggests overruling that person. She said that Democrats were elected to do things like the $15 MW, and that the parliamentarian shouldn't stand in the way of that. Either override the parl or else eliminate the filibuster. We shouldn't let such procedural obstacles get in our way, she says.

She then said that "any person who thinks that a $15 MW is a crazy socialist agenda is living in a dystopian capitalist nightmare." She then said "People are sleeping in their cars. They can't afford baby formula. There are basic goods that people can't afford to live on, on $7.25." (per hour)

She then stated that if one takes the minimum wage some decades ago and then scales it by inflation and productivity increases, one would get $24/hour. She called $15/hour a "deep" "compromise" and she noted its multiyear phase-in.

She also noted that many people with low wages accept public assistance, something that she calls a big subsidy to the companies that employ them, companies like Amazon and WalMart.

As to Sen. Joe Manchin deciding to change parties to the Republican Party, she suspects that he has been in the Senate for too long to make him want to change parties. She also noted that initiatives to raise the minimum wage often do very well, sometimes better than most politicians, and sometimes in Republican-dominated states.

MH asked her about NY Gov Andrew Cuomo, with two aides claiming that he has sexually harassed him, and his coverup of nursing-home COVID-19 deaths. She wants investigations of both issues.

 

[lpetrich]

Ilhan Omar on Instagram: My eldest @israhirsi turns 18yrs old today, she finally is the adult she thinks she is and I am officially old.

Joining me in wishing Happy Birthday to the incredibly funny, brilliant and driven Isra ”

Cori Bush on Instagram: “It’s ok, @AOC, you can always crash my STL photoshoots.

: Carl Solether, @interviewmag”

Cori Bush Tells Janelle Monáe How She Plans to Change the World

Over the course of Cori Bush’s first ten days in Congress, she withstood a siege against the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists, filed a resolution to expel her Republican colleagues who objected to the election results, and called President Trump the “white supremacist-in-chief” during her first speech on the House floor. Then, she voted to impeach him. For most of the country, it was a breathless introduction to the first Black woman to represent the state of Missouri in Congress. But for those who already knew Bush from her days as an activist and organizer in St. Louis, it was business as usual.

Then the interview.

MONÁE: And you are also at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement. What has kept the fire lit under you?

BUSH: It’s remembering every bit of pain. I’m still at a place where I remember what it was like to sleep in a car with two babies. I remember when no amount of blankets could warm us up. I remember how it felt when I was lying on the concrete and police officers were stomping on me with their steel-toed boots. I remember thinking, “Who do I call out to for help when it’s the police who are hurting me?” I remember going through a very violent sexual assault right after my very first race. I didn’t get justice and almost lost everything because the system is not set up to help victims of sexual violence. It’s knowing that if I push hard enough, I can prevent someone from going through what I’ve gone through. That’s the fire.

Then as as nurse, watching her patients die because they had to ration their insulin.

It’s our responsibility as progressives to do what we can to push the Biden-Harris administration, and the Democratic establishment, to be bold. I’m going to fight to make sure every single person has access to health care, housing, and education. We’re talking about whether or not somebody can live. This is about life or death. As an organizer, I know I have the ability to bring people together to accomplish things nobody expected.

MONÁE: Have you met Congresswoman Maxine Waters?

BUSH: Yes, I have. She’s wonderful.

MONÁE: She’s like a grandmother to me and her grandson works on my team.

She says "I’m so proud to be a part of The Squad, because they represent regular people and organizers and activists who have been doing the work on the ground in our communities."

 

[lpetrich]

She then talked about her financial difficulties as she got ready to start in Congress. "The system is not set up for people who aren’t millionaires." She talked about going to thrift shops for her clothes. JM then said that her preferred outfits emerged out of a way to save money in her early years.

BUSH: The congressional orientation was really helpful in showing us some of the resources that can help us along the way and, more generally, what the day-to-day job is. And then it became about hiring good staff. We hired a phenomenal team who have worked for other Congress members in the past, and they are walking me through it step by step. I’m learning where to be, what kind of calls I need to take, and what the votes mean. We also have people from my district who I brought with me. And then I have Alex [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], who always talks to me about making sure I’m personally okay with how I’m voting, or understanding the ins and outs of, like, “Okay, this is how decisions get made, this is what’s going to happen, and this is how I get through it.”

So AOC is helping her get started.

JM: "One thing I want to highlight is that I’m queer, but I grew up going to churches that always made me think that if I were anything other than heterosexual, I was going to hell. And when you grow up like that, it psychologically affects you." She then expressed appreciation CB for supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.

CB: "Those who aren’t oppressed a certain way should help those who are. In Ferguson, white people stood between us and the police, grabbing their batons so they couldn’t hit us."

The article had two pictures of her with AOC that she Instagrammed: "A surprise visit from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who passed by the Old Courthouse in St. Louis on her morning run."

 

[lpetrich]

Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez Is Building the Inclusive World He Wants to Live In - AOC's brother, who is younger than she is. "He’s her biggest fan. He’s also an ascending artist and musician, an advocate for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, a voice for ending homelessness, a queer liberation activist, and a native New Yorker with Puerto Rican heritage."

GOC then talked about his and AOC's father dying when he was 15, first worrying about what will happen to him as his cancer got worse and worse, then worrying about whether he will have a house to live in.

GOC: I had that fear of just having the carpet pulled out underneath me for so many years in a row. When my sister got elected, it did pull the carpet out underneath me, and at the time, I was a real estate broker. I was very successful. I was really proud of the business that I had built, and when I nominated my sister for a Congressional bid to run, I remember thinking that I always knew she could do it. There was never a question about it. For me, it has always been a matter of fact. I am not surprised by who she is. This is the person I have always known, and the reality is that before I hit send on that letter, I remember thinking to myself: this could fuck shit up.

MLM: Fuck shit up in a good way?

GOC: Meaning that this could be a direct threat to my safety. This could be a direct threat to my family.

MLM: Because Alexandria would instantly become a public figure.

GOC: Exactly. I could lose my business. I definitely weighed the fact that every facet of my life that I considered positive could go negative, and everything that I took for granted could be flipped. But I believe people like my sister are everywhere; people with her goodwill and brilliance are all around us. The problem is that often, as a society, we do not spotlight the right people and we do not believe enough in ourselves to change anything for the better. Alexandria did believe in herself, and so did I.

He then described a side effect of his sister getting famous: it was too much trouble working as a real-estate broker. But on the plus side, her political career made him feel that government could be worthwhile. "It’s one way I knew I was doing the right thing by supporting her."

 

[lpetrich]

Katie Porter Explains Stock Market Volatility and Covid Relief | Pod Save America - YouTube - a month ago
"Congresswoman Katie Porter talks to Jon Lovett about the next round of covid relief, getting people access to mental health care during the pandemic, and why the GameStop drama should lead to tougher Wall Street regulation."

KP claims that Big Pharma spends more on lobbying than on R&D. She also says that the stock market should not be considered a measure of the health of the economy as a whole. She also seems to think that GameStop is not doing very well, and is not likely to in the near future. I agree.

About being kicked off of Financial Services, she seemed to take it in stride. She was disappointed, but she can still do her work elsewhere.

Why Katie Porter Isn’t on the House Financial Services Committee - The American Prospect - "Committee Chair Maxine Waters appears to have a problem with fierce questioning and progressive financial reform."

The first thing to know about the House Financial Services Committee is that the chair, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), shrunk it for the 117th Congress. In 2019-2020 there were 60 members (34 Democrats, 26 Republicans); this term there are 54 (30 Democrats, 24 Republicans). To the extent that there wasn’t room for Porter, that springs from the discretionary narrowing of the committee’s size.

One can't serve on two exclusive committees at the same time: Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, and Ways and Means. One must get a waiver to serve in another committee if one serves in such a committee. 13 requested waivers to get 10 open seats, and 2 were rejected: KP and Jennifer Wexton, who got into the Appropriations Committee.

Four heads of other committees are in FinServ: Carolyn Maloney (Oversight), Nydia Velázquez (Small Business), and Gregory Meeks (Foreign Affairs), all of NY, and Georgia’s David Scott (Agriculture) of GA. Some other FinServ members serve on two other committees: Stephen Lynch of MA, Alma Adams of GA, Jesús “Chuy” García of IL, Brad Sherman of CA, Ed Perlmutter of CO, and Sean Casten of IL. Only newcomers Ritchie Torres of NY and Nikema Williams of GA don't serve on any other committees.

Porter’s hard-charging style clearly rankled Waters, the committee chair. When Porter began to use visual aids like whiteboards and posters to make her points in hearings, Waters sided with Republicans on multiple occasions and forced her to stop. Later, when Porter played an audio clip at a hearing about debt collectors, Waters publicly admonished her: “Will the gentlelady please refrain from disrupting this committee?”

That's odd. I like KP's visual aids. They are a good complement to her speaking. I'd like to see more Congresspeople use such things in their presentations.

More critically, a review of legislation from the last Congress shows that not a single bill Porter authored passed in the committee. Porter had an incredible impact through hearings, even stimulating changes in policy, but she was obviously frozen out of the lawmaking side of the committee’s work.

Maxine Waters has cultivated an image of being the most progressive chair in FinServ history, of being "Auntie Maxine".

Waters stacks her committee with part-timers to more easily control the agenda. She pushes bipartisan legislation that won’t rock the boat. After the 2018 midterms, a lack of interest in the committee allowed a handful of progressives to join it. But when one of them, a consumer protection expert with deep knowledge of financial regulation, someone who previously said that financial services “is my life,” wanted to use the committee’s power to stand up for ordinary people and restructure financial markets to end the ripoffs? Well, Waters can’t have that.

This is not the first time Porter has been passed over. She lost out on a role overseeing the CARES Act corporate bailout to Donna Shalala, who had no experience with the core issues involved. You shouldn’t wonder why Democrats don’t have much of a bench when they treat rising stars this way.

 

[lpetrich]

David Dayen: Katie Porter REMOVED From Financial Services Committee In Shady Dealings - YouTube - Rising (Krystal Ball, Saagar Enjeti) at TheHill - DD is executive editor of The American Prospect

DD is a guest of Briahna Joy Gray and Virgil Texas of the podcast Bad Faith
Katie Porter vs. the House Financial Services Committee - Part 1 - YouTube
Katie Porter vs. the House Financial Services Committee - Part 2 - YouTube

DD said that Congresspeople love their Wall Street money. He said that it's a great loss for FinServ. KP is very good at questioning - very prepared.

DD said about her that she is not very outwardly a firebrand type, though her populist anti-corporatism helped her win by a larger margin in 2020 (7%) than in 2018 (4.2%). But DD thinks that she was forced out because of her activism in the committee's hearings. He notes that members in swing districts often get on FinServ so that they can raise money from the banking industry to use in their campaigns. KP also comes from a swing district, so she'd fit. But she doesn't play along with raising money from the companies that one is supposed to regulate.

DD speculates that MW doesn't like feeling upstaged by KP.


I looked in The American Prospect, and I found this:
Cruz and AOC Said They Would Propose a Lobbying Ban. So What Happened? - The American Prospect - "An unusual display of bipartisan cooperation seems to have fizzled."

The two proposed it in 2019 May, and AOC described the effort in an interview the next month, but nothing seems to have come of it. Neither politician released any bills for doing so in the time since then.