Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[Loren Pechtel]

In what way?

Prime example: Green New Deal.

1) It is impossible in the given time frame. Not hard, impossible. We simply don't have viable storage technology on the needed scale in the pipeline and we don't go from nothing to massive deployment in her kind of timeframe. What she's doing:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon Venus and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...

2) The energy part of it has been tried on a much smaller scale. Reality: CO2 emissions went up. They ended up replacing nuke with fossil fuels because renewables couldn't do it.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC pays a lot of attention to the nitty-gritty of governing. Like
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Excited to serve again with @RepRaskin.

Last term, we helped overturn the unjust citizenship question on the Census and fought to expand voting rights, strengthen immigrant protections, and combat white supremacy and domestic terrorism.

Ready to get to work again!" / Twitter

Beatrice-Elizabeth Peterson on Twitter: ".@RepMaloney has announced five new @OversightDems subcommittee vice chairs. ..." / Twitter

.@RepMaloney has announced five new @OversightDems subcommittee vice chairs.

@AOC will lead the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

@RepKweisiMfume will lead Subcommittee on National Security

@katieporteroc will lead Subcommittee on Government Operations

@AyannaPressley will lead the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy

@RashidaTlaib will lead the Subcommittee on Environment

 

[Harry Bosch]

In what way?

Prime example: Green New Deal.

1) It is impossible in the given time frame. Not hard, impossible. We simply don't have viable storage technology on the needed scale in the pipeline and we don't go from nothing to massive deployment in her kind of timeframe. What she's doing:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon Venus and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...

2) The energy part of it has been tried on a much smaller scale. Reality: CO2 emissions went up. They ended up replacing nuke with fossil fuels because renewables couldn't do it.

Agreed. You're right, we don't have the storage capacity now. And since we have stepped away from nuclear power (very sad) we don't have a safe constant green power source to bridge the gap until our storage technology is viable.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC also likes art, and she shows it in the latest additions to the Official AOC Shop

Most recently,

Johanna Toruño

Each season, Shop AOC will collaborate with an artist whose work is thought-provoking, inspiring, and tells a story of community. We look for artists throughout NY-14 and the country, and no matter where these creatives hail from, they have one thing in common: their work imagines a more equitable world for all. Please meet Johanna Toruño, founder of The Unapologetic Street Series.

All proceeds from the sale of this limited edition collaboration will go directly to the New York Immigration Coalition as they work to improve the lives of immigrants and all New Yorkers.

Team AOC (@officialteamaoc) • Instagram photos and videos
Team AOC on Instagram: “Get to know our artist collaborator, Johanna Toruño”

Before emigrating to the US with her mother, Toruño's childhood in El Salvador was filled with images of political murals, graffiti, and posters that artists used to give the people voice amidst the violence of civil war. Toruño's mission now is to center the images and voices of La Gente - Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Working Class, and Immigrant People - to challenge narratives common to more 'elite' spaces in the art world.

Unapologetic Street Series (@theunapologeticstreetseries) • Instagram photos and videos - A political visual series utilizing public spaces Created by Salvadoran born @johannareign She / Hers This is queer migrant artistry.
Johanna Toruño (@johannareign) • Instagram photos and videos - She/Hers️
Salvadoran
Street Artist/Creator/ TEDx Speaker
@theunapologeticstreetseries
A public art series
@amyquichiz

Johanna Toruño on Instagram: “YALL! I am so profoundly excited to share with y’all that I’ve partnered up with @officialteamaoc @aoc on this gorgeous merch collaboration…”

YALL! I am so profoundly excited to share with y’all that I’ve partnered up with @officialteamaoc @aoc on this gorgeous merch collaboration with 100% of the profits from this collection will be donated to The New York Immigration Coalition, which unites immigrants and allies with over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.

I’ve been holding on to this project for a few month - so much of this has been a labor of love and intention. I am so grateful to have worked on this along side the whole team from @coreytorpie @_kohar and @nicolecutright_ !!! Thank you thank you! Link in bio to grab yours.

Among JT's designs is a hoodie with the words "You don't have to be perfect, but you do have to be 100% committed. - AOC"

 

[lpetrich]

Jamaal Bowman on Twitter: "We need to end tax breaks for the wealthy, and begin to take care of our communities devastated by this pandemic.

We need to #InvestInOurNY. (vid link)" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A project months in the making is finally here: ..." / Twitter

A project months in the making is finally here: The Artist Series!

Throughout 2021, Team AOC is collaborating w/ movement artists on shop pieces whose proceeds uplift grassroots orgs/causes.

The first: Johanna Toruño + NY Immigration Coalition (@thenyic)
Artist Series – Official AOC Shop

% of proceeds on this piece go to @thenyic, a collective of over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.

I used to see Johanna’s work pasted up during my walks home from restaurant shifts. Her story challenges political convention & her work inspires many.

Someone else who likes art:
Rep. Katie Porter on Twitter: "Many observant Twitter users have noticed the quilts behind me on Zoom, in interviews, and at home.

For #NationalQuiltingMonth, I sat down with the quilter behind the Congresswoman: my mom, Liz Porter! * (link)" / Twitter

 

[Swammerdami]

In what way?

Prime example: Green New Deal.

1) It is impossible in the given time frame. Not hard, impossible. We simply don't have viable storage technology on the needed scale in the pipeline and we don't go from nothing to massive deployment in her kind of timeframe. What she's doing:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon Venus and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...

2) The energy part of it has been tried on a much smaller scale. Reality: CO2 emissions went up. They ended up replacing nuke with fossil fuels because renewables couldn't do it.

Comments:
(a) Ambitious goals are GOOD, if pointed in the right direction, even if the target date won't quite be met. The "green push" has caused huge investment in battery development: Is that good or bad?
(b) "I believe that this ..." Should I assume this is just some attempt at a joke on your part, and ignore it?
(c) If your claim is that solar or wind power USUALLY increases CO2 emissions, we will definitely need a cite.
(d) Without debating the pros and cons of nuclear power, the delay from planning new plants to getting them on-line is too long to make them a viable near-term solution.

All of these points I raise are so obvious that methinks Mr. Pechtel is cross with Miss AOC for emotional, rather than technical, reasons.

 

[Swammerdami]

She recognizes that that's how to win in politics: form a coalition of people who agree on some things even if they are not in complete agreement on everything.

Her interviewer asked "Some on the Left have looked at Biden’s record and his differences with the Bernie wing of the party, and they conclude that no progress is going to come out of the Biden administration." and she responded "Well, I think it’s a really privileged critique." She continued with how one has to distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith critiques. "We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement."

She thinks that we must recognize that activism can be successful. "We’re so susceptible to cynicism. And that cynicism, that weaponization of cynicism, is what has and what continues to threaten to tear down everything that we have spent so much time building up. We’re allowed to win too, by the way. [LAUGHS.]"

I THINK I agree with AOC here, and strongly appreciate her attitude.

But I'd be more confident of agreement if her comments were translated into simple words for old-fogies like me! Can anyone explain the connection between "privileged critique" and "bad faith actors"?

 

[Rhea]

She recognizes that that's how to win in politics: form a coalition of people who agree on some things even if they are not in complete agreement on everything.

Her interviewer asked "Some on the Left have looked at Biden’s record and his differences with the Bernie wing of the party, and they conclude that no progress is going to come out of the Biden administration." and she responded "Well, I think it’s a really privileged critique." She continued with how one has to distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith critiques. "We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement."

She thinks that we must recognize that activism can be successful. "We’re so susceptible to cynicism. And that cynicism, that weaponization of cynicism, is what has and what continues to threaten to tear down everything that we have spent so much time building up. We’re allowed to win too, by the way. [LAUGHS.]"

I THINK I agree with AOC here, and strongly appreciate her attitude.

But I'd be more confident of agreement if her comments were translated into simple words for old-fogies like me! Can anyone explain the connection between "privileged critique" and "bad faith actors"?

To me it means, “you’re not affected by the bad effects of climate change immediately, so you can afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You can afforrd to say, ‘not perfect progress? Then no progress!’ But if we were going after climate change in good faith, we need to accept that all progress is needed, and acknowledge the small steps as steps nevertheless. Don’t cut off your own nose to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Cynicism can stifle the tiny steps as not good enough, and accept NO steps while waiting for a big step. And she’s saying climate change activists cannot afford to be choosy purists. That would be acting in bad faith to the movement.

 

[Jarhyn]

She recognizes that that's how to win in politics: form a coalition of people who agree on some things even if they are not in complete agreement on everything.

Her interviewer asked "Some on the Left have looked at Biden’s record and his differences with the Bernie wing of the party, and they conclude that no progress is going to come out of the Biden administration." and she responded "Well, I think it’s a really privileged critique." She continued with how one has to distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith critiques. "We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement."

She thinks that we must recognize that activism can be successful. "We’re so susceptible to cynicism. And that cynicism, that weaponization of cynicism, is what has and what continues to threaten to tear down everything that we have spent so much time building up. We’re allowed to win too, by the way. [LAUGHS.]"

I THINK I agree with AOC here, and strongly appreciate her attitude.

But I'd be more confident of agreement if her comments were translated into simple words for old-fogies like me! Can anyone explain the connection between "privileged critique" and "bad faith actors"?

To me it means, “you’re not affected by the bad effects of climate change immediately, so you can afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You can afforrd to say, ‘not perfect progress? Then no progress!’ But if we were going after climate change in good faith, we need to accept that all progress is needed, and acknowledge the small steps as steps nevertheless. Don’t cut off your own nose to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Cynicism can stifle the tiny steps as not good enough, and accept NO steps while waiting for a big step. And she’s saying climate change activists cannot afford to be choosy purists. That would be acting in bad faith to the movement.

Yeah, so, while I will always be clear where I think we need to be I won't vote to stay where we are merely because some assholes have used what leverage they have to keep us from going all the way.

I will still accept going where we CAN achieve. I'll just never hide the fact of where I always have insisted we must go.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

In what way?

Prime example: Green New Deal.

1) It is impossible in the given time frame. Not hard, impossible. We simply don't have viable storage technology on the needed scale in the pipeline and we don't go from nothing to massive deployment in her kind of timeframe. What she's doing:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon Venus and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...

2) The energy part of it has been tried on a much smaller scale. Reality: CO2 emissions went up. They ended up replacing nuke with fossil fuels because renewables couldn't do it.

Comments:
(a) Ambitious goals are GOOD, if pointed in the right direction, even if the target date won't quite be met. The "green push" has caused huge investment in battery development: Is that good or bad?

Impossible goals are always a bad thing. Since everyone knows they can't be met there's no incentive to try hard.

(b) "I believe that this ..." Should I assume this is just some attempt at a joke on your part, and ignore it?

Note the italics? Other than my edit those were Kennedy's words. I was showing the difference between ambitious (what he proposed) and impossible (my edit of his words.)

(c) If your claim is that solar or wind power USUALLY increases CO2 emissions, we will definitely need a cite.

When you replace nuke with solar and/or wind you increase CO2. And that's been the real-world effect of trying to implement something akin to her Green New Deal.

(d) Without debating the pros and cons of nuclear power, the delay from planning new plants to getting them on-line is too long to make them a viable near-term solution.

Standardized plants and getting rid of a bunch of red tape could halve the time to get them online. The design gets evaluated and approved once, after that you only need to evaluate the site. And don't give the greens bite after bite after bite at interfering. Objections get raised once, that's it unless there is a substantial change to the situation.

All of these points I raise are so obvious that methinks Mr. Pechtel is cross with Miss AOC for emotional, rather than technical, reasons.

The problem is she keeps proposing things that she should know go too far.

 

[untermensche]

The problem is she keeps proposing things that she should know go too far.

In negotiation you always ask for more than you will accept and then bargain from there.

AOC wants the nation to work on these things.

Who knows what a nation committed to trying to preserve the environment could do.

She is a great leader and a big part of the future of the progressive movement in the US.

The progressive movement is opposed by all Republicans and a great majority of Democrats in the Congress.

They put their present luxury over the future of the planet.

They deserve to be taken out tarred and feathered.

 

[Swammerdami]

She recognizes that that's how to win in politics: form a coalition of people who agree on some things even if they are not in complete agreement on everything.

Her interviewer asked "Some on the Left have looked at Biden’s record and his differences with the Bernie wing of the party, and they conclude that no progress is going to come out of the Biden administration." and she responded "Well, I think it’s a really privileged critique." She continued with how one has to distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith critiques. "We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement."

She thinks that we must recognize that activism can be successful. "We’re so susceptible to cynicism. And that cynicism, that weaponization of cynicism, is what has and what continues to threaten to tear down everything that we have spent so much time building up. We’re allowed to win too, by the way. [LAUGHS.]"

I THINK I agree with AOC here, and strongly appreciate her attitude.

But I'd be more confident of agreement if her comments were translated into simple words for old-fogies like me! Can anyone explain the connection between "privileged critique" and "bad faith actors"?

To me it means, “you’re not affected by the bad effects of climate change immediately, so you can afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You can afforrd to say, ‘not perfect progress? Then no progress!’ But if we were going after climate change in good faith, we need to accept that all progress is needed, and acknowledge the small steps as steps nevertheless. Don’t cut off your own nose to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Cynicism can stifle the tiny steps as not good enough, and accept NO steps while waiting for a big step. And she’s saying climate change activists cannot afford to be choosy purists. That would be acting in bad faith to the movement.

Thank you, Rhea. I thought she meant something like that, but she expressed in an unclear way. (Or is it just me that has trouble with words like those?)

Anyway, I agree whole-heartedly with her sentiments. "Liberals" who petulantly stay home when Sanders loses the primaries, or who compare Biden with Trump are worse than useless.

 

[Swammerdami]

From Politico:

As the midterm campaign’s first fundraising deadline approached this week, several vulnerable House Democrats got an unwelcome surprise in their accounts: $5,000 from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The New York Democrat sent the contributions to her colleagues to help keep the House majority ahead of a tough cycle without directly contributing to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with which she’s publicly clashed. But Ocasio-Cortez's largesse — and an oversight at the campaign headquarters — has instead raised awkward questions among her colleagues as some swing-district Democrats fret over whether to return her money before the GOP can turn it into an attack ad.

...

“The GOP has spent four years saying the frontliners are all socialists. Now they’ve got the receipts to prove it. Anyone telling themselves this won’t be in campaign ads is in denial,” said one Democratic consultant who works for swing-seat members.

 

[TV and credit cards]

From Politico:

As the midterm campaign’s first fundraising deadline approached this week, several vulnerable House Democrats got an unwelcome surprise in their accounts: $5,000 from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The New York Democrat sent the contributions to her colleagues to help keep the House majority ahead of a tough cycle without directly contributing to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with which she’s publicly clashed. But Ocasio-Cortez's largesse — and an oversight at the campaign headquarters — has instead raised awkward questions among her colleagues as some swing-district Democrats fret over whether to return her money before the GOP can turn it into an attack ad.

...

“The GOP has spent four years saying the frontliners are all socialists. Now they’ve got the receipts to prove it. Anyone telling themselves this won’t be in campaign ads is in denial,” said one Democratic consultant who works for swing-seat members.

Yeah. Start this purity test bullshit again out of concern of what your opponent might say.
Always playing defense.

 

[Rhea]

I would love to see them fight back against the GOP bullshit instead of cowering before it.

"Yes, she gave me money - we don't always agree and I didn't solicit it, but yes, I absolutely approve of people with different opinions finding their common ground and working for it. Our common ground is INFRASTRUCTURE," or something

Or, "You think if we disagree on some things we block each other completely? MNo, that's the GOP playbook of hate and tribalism. We are all Americans, we Democrats all want Democracy to thrive."

 

[lpetrich]

Forbes on Twitter: "BANKING: Rep. @AOC pushes for pilot program for post offices to provide financial services in under-banked communities: "The Postal Service is awesome. Americans love the Postal Service." (link)" / Twitter
She delivered a nice speech in favor of her proposal, noting the grotesque fees that check-cashing places charge for that service: 10% - 20%.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Far too many can't afford to be banked & end up paying MORE in fees to checking cashing places. So, @BillPascrell @SenGillibrand @RepMarcyKaptur & I called for USPS to provide basic $ services, like cashing, wiring or an ATM w/o fees. The program also provides revenue for USPS." / Twitter

The full press conference:
Senator Gillibrand and Representative Ocasio-Cortez News Conference on Postal Banking Pilot Program | C-SPAN.org

AOC and KG had met back in 2012: Borough President Diaz and Senator Gillibrand Call for Tax Breaks to Boost Growing Tech Start-Ups in The Bronx – The Office of The Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - AOC is the third from the left in the picture.


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Happy birthday @JamaalBowmanNY!

From Bronx school principal to Congressman for NY-16, you make our borough proud!" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

NY-14 Virtual Town Hall with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube

She described her FEMA funeral-assistance program. She emphasized that it will not be means tested. She said that that is good, explaining that means testing causes a lot of people to fall through the cracks of the system.

She described working with activist groups, and then putting in applications for community projects.

Then some questions from her district. The first was on immigration, and she called how border-crossing migrants were treated by CPB "unacceptable", "horrifying" and she stated that this part of the US immigration system is built on the same principles as the US carceral system. She notes that people who have come to pick up their children have been arrested in the Trump years. She says that both parties' approaches to immigration have terrible flaws, though the Biden Admin's approach is different from the Trump admin's Approach in some ways. Like splitting up families in the Trump years.

She called "surge" a bad term, because the border crossers are not an invasion. She also credits the Biden Admin with trying to solve this problem, very unlike the Trump Admin. She wants to treat the issue as a "humanitarian" issue, not as a "militaristic" issue. She also proposes addressing what makes many Central Americans try to depart to other countries.

She then mentioned some anecdotes about how in the late 19th - early 20th cys, many people were sent over in their teens by parents back in Europe who wanted better lives for their children.

About anti-Asian violence, she says that it was encouraged over the Trump years, and she encourages people to get "bystander training". Presumably like this - Bystander Intervention Training - seems like becoming a vigilante.

She doesn't want to ban guns, but wants background checks and the like.

 

[lpetrich]

About President Biden's infrastructure plans, AOC doesn't think that they go far enough. Like it has $40 billion for public housing when NYCHA needs about $40 billion for getting them up to code, without upgrading them to be more environment-friendly. AOC herself has some knowledge of this, because back in 2019, she proposed a Green New Deal for Public Housing, something she developed with housing activists. When she rolled it out, she had lots of activists on hand -- and no building-repair company executives.

She then says that $2.5T over 8 years is not enough.

Then she gets into the question of how to pay for all this infrastructure stuff. She says that the Federal Gov't is not like a household or a local or stat gov't because the Fed Gov has "fiat power", the ability to print money to cover deficit spending. She notes that it is a common practice to deficit spend when the economy is in bad shape, and that it's not so good to do that in good times. Straightforward Keynesianism, it must be noted.

Then on the subject of the eviction moratorium, she noted that housing is a good indicator of health, something she notes from talking to the nurses among her constituents.

Then she was asked what to do about "dark money" in campaigning. She mentioned HR1, and how the Koch brothers and Mitch McConnell hate that bill because many Republicans also like the anticorruption features in it.

One does have to ask why no Republican politicians seem to be doing what she and her fellow squadmates have been doing: rejecting big-money donations. Republicans now have an imitation of the actblue donation site: winred.

 

[lpetrich]

Then a 7-year-old constituent asked about why she ran for office, how she got into office, and how she copes with people who dislike her. She laughed and said that it is a great question.

She didn't start out wanting to be a Rep. She started out doing a lot of work with children and families. When one follows one's life's passions, one can wind up in a lot of different places. She remembers looking at which rep that her community was sending to Congress, and she decided that she could do better. She feels very honored that her community eventually chose her for that position.

As to people not liking her, one cannot make everybody happy, so one ought to be oneself, act with good intentions and love for people, and to be committed to always learn and always do better. As to someone disliking you, it may be a problem with the disliker and not with you.

I like how thoughtful AOC sometimes is, and I appreciate that here is someone in a very prominent position who is like that.


Then some news-media people.

She said that undocumented workers contribute a lot to our society, like paying lots of taxes.

About the NYC mayor race, she couldn't say much, though she did point out that NYC voting will be different this year: ranked-choice voting.

About the Bessemer AL Amazon unionization effort, she says that she first thought that political power is something that one expends and uses up, and she now thinks that political power is built by using it.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Ever wonder what a Representative does in a week, anyway?
Here’s what I‘ve been up to since Monday " / Twitter
Ryan Sheales on Twitter: "Here’s another 90 second masterclass is authentic political communication from the absolute queen of the art, @AOC. (vid link)" / Twitter - Apr 16

She described in some Instagram videos what she does in a week.

• Monday: with Chuck Schumer, started FEMA funeral-assistance hotline in NYC.
• Then, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, local leaders offer support for tenants displaced by fire in Jackson Heights, Queens - ABC7 New York
• Tuesday: drove to DC.
• Then, had meetings with her team.
• Wednesday: had two hearings, one on DC statehood where the statehood bill was moved out into the full House.
• Thursday: introduced postal-banking legislation with 3 other Congresspeople: Bill Pascrell, Marcy Kapture, and Kirsten Gillibrand. Free ATM's, wire transfers, and check cashing.
• Friday: interviews, votes on legislation, and preparing to reintroduce the Green New Deal.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Caught Maskless And Digging In Trash At Park * The Scoop - Apr 19
But she was (1) vaccinated, (2) out in the open, and (3) not around a lot of other people. She was in compliance with the CDC's most recent instructions.