Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[lpetrich]

NY-14 Virtual Town Hall with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez (Foro Comunitario Virtual de NY-14) - YouTube
Gerardo Bonilla Chavez ("G") is now AOC's Chief of Staff.

She started off with announcing that this was Earth Week and headlining her reintroduction of her Green New Deal. H.Res.332 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

She argues that protecting the environment and creating jobs need not be opposed.

From her presentation, "We are not going from coal barons to solar barons"

Public housing does not have to be horrible - she claims that some places in the world have great public housing.

She talked about getting parts of one's bills into other bills. Like funeral assistance into a big COVID-aid bill.

Coal Miners' Union supports GND

AOC was asked about nuclear power and the GND, and she said that the GND is technology-agnostic, meaning that there can be a place for nuclear power in it. She was then asked about universal basic income and the GND. She considers UBI separate from the GND. "Child checks" are a form of backdoor UBI.

She talked about the environmental impacts of a planned natgas-burning powerplant, and she recalled people's throats burning from fracking when she visited Colorado. She seemed to mix it up with methane emissions, though I'm sure that it was something other than CH4. I checked some hazard data sheets for CH4, and its main hazard is being a fire hazard. The main biological effect is from it not being oxygen, the same as with nitrogen and helium and several other gases otherwise safe to breathe. Some natural-gas companies put smelly tracers like mercaptans (skunk smell) to give their natgas a smell, because CH4 has no smell.

Alternatives? She said that some offshore wind projects are in the works, and she says that she thinks that wind energy is the best fit for the people of her district.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC continued with rejecting the current AirTrain alignment for Jamaica station to LaGuardia airport - she says that it's a time-consuming detour.

She then got into her GND for public housing - it's about building efficiency, to avoid consuming more energy than is necessary to heat and cool the buildings. Solar power for NYCHA. Gas stoves can be dangerous; they can cause asthma in children. So one must go electric.

She talked about the COVID-19 stimulus negotiations, and how we almost didn't get as much in stimulus checks as we did. However, there was a lot of cooperation among House Democrats even though they have a razor-thin margin. It's the Senate that's the trouble, she says.

About other nations, she voted against a trade deal because it didn't have climate-action provisions in it, for dealing with big polluters like China and India.

She would like to attend Joe Biden's upcoming Presidential address, but there are rather strict protocols for dealing with COVID-19, and that means that she will likely not be physically present.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. ..." / Twitter
Her grandmother.

Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID.

This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.

People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them.

We immediately got to work reaching out to community advocates and leaders and following the money.

What’s happening to Puerto Ricans is systemic. Much of it can be traced to La Junta, aka the Wall Street-connected fiscal control board that the US gave power to over the island.

In the aftermath of María, the Trump admin oversaw two key items: handing millions in public $ to unqualified donor pals (ex Whitefish).

The other was to impose extremely difficult eligibility rules for Puerto Ricans, which allowed mass rejections of recovery fund applications.

I want to be clear - while Trump admin had a major role, it wasn’t just them.

La Junta, local policies, etc were all on the same page: policies that pushed out local families.

To turn this around, we need audits & get recovery relief to people ASAP, without the onerous strings.

And for the record - my abuela is doing okay. It’s not about us, but about what’s happening to Puerto Rican’s across the island.

She had a place to go to and be cared for - what about the thousands of people who don’t?

Also
David Begnaud on Twitter: "The congresswoman’s grandmother isn’t alone. Of the $71 billion allocated by the U.S. govt to help Puerto Rico victims of hurricane Maria - which was almost 4yrs ago - only 29% of the diaster aid has been dispersed into the hands of the people who need it. (links)" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

The Recount on Twitter: "Rep. @AOC: "If we want to reduce the number of people in our jails, the answer is to stop building more of them ... It's to support communities, not throw them away." https://t.co/vj4BnNKEVV" / Twitter
then
The Recount on Twitter: "Rep. @AOC: "Our complete gutting of support in our mental health system both in this city and across the country is absolutely correlated with both homelessness and incidents of violent crime." https://t.co/ZtXG51E6en" / Twitter

Someone noted:
Nick Lawless on Twitter: "@therecount @AOC All started with Reagan." / Twitter

Maybe, but it does show a good illustration of the priorities of Gilded Age II.

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Right here in the Bronx, ..." / Twitter

Right here in the Bronx, our community developed a successful approach to reducing violence.

It starts at the hospital after an incident. We bring in psych Drs & folks who turned their *own* lives around to work w/ youth.

It’s reduced reoccurrence of violence by more than 50%.

t’s called Stand Up to Violence (SUV), a cutting edge program run out of @JacobiHosp (a PUBLIC hospital!), and it is hands down one of the most effective treatments we‘ve seen to reduce incidents of violence like shootings and stabbings.

I’m asking for fed resources to grow it.

The Hill on Twitter: "Rep. @AOC: "It is not acceptable for us to use jails as garbage bins for human beings. We need to treat people and see them as human." (link)" / Twitter
and
Tiffany Cabán on Twitter: "@AOC said stop throwing people away, provide care, treat every human with dignity, and stop building jails." / Twitter
and
Chuck Schumer on Twitter: "I’m standing with @AOC, @JamaalBowmanNY, doctors, organizers at @JacobiHosp in the Bronx with Stand Up to Violence
Youth who have taken part in Stand Up to Violence are 52% LESS likely to experience violent trauma recurrence
We’re working together to make sure it's fully funded (link)" / Twitter

Good alternative to screaming "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The kids are alright " / Twitter
noting
Ryan Sims on Twitter: "elementary schoolers got to submit names for Colorado's new snow plows and damn https://t.co/SO64lSDtFR" / Twitter:

• Abolish Ice
• Brrrack Snobama

Brad Lander on Twitter: ".@AOC never stops organizing. Before endorsing Council candidates: climbing the fence to join the students protesting for #policefreeschools. (link)" / Twitter

Gloria Pazmino on Twitter: "Here’s the list of @NYCCouncil candidates that @AOC is endorsing today. 60 in total, and yes there’s only 51 seats. The endorsements include ranked options across all 5 boroughs. All candidates have taken the “Courage to Change” pledge: (pic link)" / Twitter
(Pictures show paper printouts. I can't find any copies online)
Some of the seats have more than one endorsed candidate. Those multiple endorsements are in order of preference.

Maya Wiley on Twitter: "Nobody says change like @AOC. And with AOC’s help we are going to win this race and bring the change we need to the city we love. #mayamentum (link)" / Twitter

Cliff Levy on Twitter: "“If we don’t come together as a movement, we will get a New York City built by and for billionaires, and we need a city by and for working people,” @aoc said. “So we will vote for Maya No. 1.” By ⁦@katieglueck⁩ (link)" / Twitter
noting
AOC Endorses Maya Wiley for NYC Mayor - The New York Times - "Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement on Saturday may cement Ms. Wiley as the left-wing standard-bearer in the New York City mayor’s race."

 

[lpetrich]

United Federation of Teachers (@uftny) • Instagram photos and videos - "We are nearly 200,000 members strong and proudly advocate for NYC public school educators and the students they serve. #UnionProud #OurKidsNeed"

MORE UFT (@morecaucusuft) • Instagram photos and videos - "Movement of Rank and File Educators is a caucus of @uftny fighting for social justice, a democratic union, and empowered workers in schools."

MORE UFT on Instagram: “THE MARCH BEGINS. …”

THE MARCH BEGINS. There is no ‘safe school reopening’ in September without a commitment from @NYCMayor @NYCCouncil & @DOEChancellor that our children will be met w support & resources, not criminalization & detention as they work through this years trauma. It’s time to commit to #PoliceFreeSchools#budgetjustice #blacklivesmatter #defundthepolice

MORE UFT on Instagram: “More photos/videos…”

More photos/videos from rally yesterday including @aoc coming over to show support for student organizers (who made a friendly interruption to her gated-off PAC event at City Hall).

Please join @DSC_NY @SBU_POWER @UYC_YouthPower & more in our collective call for #CareNotCops We urge @NYCSpeakerCoJo @NYCCouncil & @NYCMayor to prioritize student wellness over criminalization.

#budgetjustice #defundthepolice #defundnypd #blacklivesmatter #policefreeschools #divestfrompoliceandprisons #redfored #morecaucusuft #schoolsourstudentsdeserve #counselorsnotcops #blackeducators #carenotcops

@sbu_power @uycnyc @teenstakecharge @blm_edu_ny @teachersunitenyc @dsc_ny

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "It will always be wild to me that even members of my own party denounce us as “extreme” for saying this does not make anyone feel safer or be safer, and contributes to precipitating violence " / Twitter
Eoin Higgins on Twitter: "NYPD is doing big street patrols in riot gear for no reason now I guess (link)" / Twitter
Seems like some show of force.
Read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler on Twitter: "The NYPD is once again violently evicting everyone in Washington square park and violently arresting people. It’s unclear why the park now closes at 10 p.m. on the weekend." / Twitter

Ash J on Twitter: "NYPD cops (including the notoriously violent Strategic Response Group aka SRG) violently cleared Washington Square Park earlier tonite. Multiple violent arrests inside the park. Cops followed & chased people until they were multiple blocks away from the park. (link)" / Twitter

Isabelle Leyva on Twitter: "CW: Police violence NYPD has an unresponsive person cuffed on the ground.
Protesters have been begging them to get this person to a hospital for 10 minutes. (link)" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

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

AOC started off with her postal-banking bill, then the violent crackdown on protesters in Colombia, and a resolution expressing disapproval of arms sales to Israel. I checked on congress.gov and I couldn't find anything on that. She also criticized Hamas's targeting of civilians.

There is no room for anti-semitism in the movement for Palestinian liberation.

Our critique is of Israel and their human rights abuses.

This is not an excuse for anti-semitic hate crimes.

Then she mentioned bystander training that NYC offers. I watched that presentation, and it's interesting. She went on from there to an amendment that bans attempted collection of "zombie debt". Then the Andrew Kearse Act, which holds cops criminally liable for denying medical care to people in custody.

Finally found that one:
H.R.7268 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act of 2020 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress and S.4000 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act of 2020 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Then questions from constituents.

The first one was on forgiveness of student-loan debt. Some people at the Dept. of Education are researching what statutory authority Pres. Biden might have to forgive student-load debts. He doesn't seem to have much taste for Caesarism, it seems.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC wants a higher threshold than $50,000 - to help doctors and the like with very big student-load debts.

About police issues, she says that most of such things are handled on local and state levels. She did describe some Federal-level things that she and her colleagues can do. Like repealing qualified immunity.

Then she got into the Jacobi Medical Center's program for dealing with people who get sent there with gunshot wounds and the like. It involves a lot of counseling, and those who run it claim a lot of success in reducing victims' desire for vengeance. They claim to have reduced readmission by 59%.

Then the LaGuardia AirTrain. "We hear the community loud and clear". She said that it would be disrupted to Flushing Bay, a great green space, or as she says, a blue space. She mentioned the FAA's lack of response, and how an article claims that there is some questionable activity behind the scenes.

Then on her working with Republican colleagues. She said that she draws the line at things that MTG has done. But she has been willing to work with Republicans on issues like marijuana decriminalization. But it can be difficult with the lockstep Trumpism of the Republican Party. Like Republicans saying that they would support a completely bipartisan 1/6 commission, but when it came time to vote, they didn't.

She got some Republicans supporting her amendment to make it easier to research psychoactive compounds, but not enough Democrats. The more libertarian sort of Republicans. Also crackdowns on corrupt military contracting.

Then her vote of "Present" on the Capitol security supplemental bill. She says that it was a tough vote for her. That bill has several things that she likes. Some of it is for paying overtime and the like, and for hardening the Capitol building to make it more difficult to break into. Also for popup fencing that would be deployed in an emergency, like what UN and EU buildings have. She doesn't want permanent fencing, however. She also likes that bill's mental-health resources for Capitol cops. Very in character for her.

There are things in it that she dislikes, like a Quick Response Force, a way to get around the delay in the National Guard's response. She believes that its slow response came from the top, and I agree with her there. She prefers addressing the breakdown in democracy. The Federal Bureau of Prisons requested some funding, and there was also funding for facial-recognition technology, something that she strongly opposes. She doesn't think that it's reliable enough for the job that it's supposed to do, and she thinks that it's often racially biased. She thinks that it need not be a conscious decision, more like unconscious bias that gets reflected in the facial-recognition training.

Reminds me of an NIST study that found that systems developed in Asian countries do much better on Asian people than systems developed in the US. So racial bias can be overcome.

Voting "no" vs. voting "present" was a difficult decision, because she didn't want to deny Capitol cops overtime and mental healthcare. She's willing to accept others' opinions on this subject, and she notes that some votes are within hours or minutes of receiving the text of some bills. So she'll be happy to accept some hints on what to do about some similar bill that may someday come up.

 

[untermensche]

Start with $50,000.

Doctors are mostly people who can pay their debts.

This will lower their debt.

It will also help a lot of people.

Campaign on the $50,000 and if you win the midterms do another $50,000.

Don't wait for perfection to do good.

 

[Swammerdami]

“[Pelosi] asked him to hold off,” Dovere writes in the book, due out Tuesday. “She wanted more substantive policy. The politics weren’t good right then. Don’t give the platform to Ocasio-Cortez, she urged, anxious about the new congresswoman’s notoriety becoming actual power.”

I don't know Pelosi's thinking, but the ONLY priority now should be to salvage America's democracy. It's hanging by a thread; if it fails it may take decades to recover. Excess emphasis on a progressive agenda may push less-informed moderates to support the Party of Liars and Haters.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons requested some funding, and there was also funding for facial-recognition technology, something that she strongly opposes. She doesn't think that it's reliable enough for the job that it's supposed to do, and she thinks that it's often racially biased. She thinks that it need not be a conscious decision, more like unconscious bias that gets reflected in the facial-recognition training.

I don't know any specific problems with facial recognition, but expert AI systems can easily be made racist inadvertently. Consider the expert systems already in use by banks to evaluate loan applications. They are trained to emulate the decisions of an "expert" bank officer; if that officer tends to deny loans to blacks, the trained AI will deny them also. This is true even if explicit racial information is excluded from the AI's input: the AI will learn proxies for race (e.g. zip-codes, but I'm sure there are more subtle correlates).

 

[lpetrich]

Someone asked about her and the Senate filibuster. She then gives a history of it - it was created by accident. For most of its history, it was mainly used to obstruct civil-rights legislation and anti-lynching legislation and the like. For most of its history, it was the talking filibuster, talk and talk and talk. But some time in the 1970's or so, it was simplified to a "hold", a sort of Taste-of-Armageddon filibuster.

She says that many Republicans are a lost cause, and she says that some Democrats have rather problematic stances on this parliamentary maneuver. Some Democrats have romanicized ideas of what the filibuster does for the legislative process, she says. "Hello, state of Arizona"

A clear allusion to Kyrsten Sinema. I think that she may represent a "nightmare scenario" for progressive politicians as what they might end up becoming.

Then she stated that some AZ Senators state that the filibuster was some grand design or some great compromise, something she calls a "fantasy". Then she continued with how we ought to put pressure on Senators to reform the filibuster. She says that Trump is only a symptom of the rot in the Republican Party.

An electrician asked how we can supply the necessary electricity with the current grid. She responded that we need upgrading of the grid, and also electricity storage. Batteries can be decentralized to give greater resilience to outages.

Then she discusses a rather arcane tax feature, one called SALT. She explained it rather clearly and she explained her position on repealing it.

She says about the infrastructure bill that we should invest more than what the Biden Admin is proposing. She says that it's a pattern with Republicans that they issue demands for less spending and more participation, but when it comes time to vote, they refuse to do it. So Democrats should not cooperate with Republicans if they do that. Like that Jan. 6 commission. The Democrats gave the Republicans what they wanted, like making it bipartisan, but in the end, the Republicans didn't vote for it.

AOC argues that it's not enough to have police. She noted that there is a lot of resistance to employing psychiatrists even though many jailed people have mental-health issues.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Someone asked about her and the Senate filibuster. She then gives a history of it - it was created by accident. For most of its history, it was mainly used to obstruct civil-rights legislation and anti-lynching legislation and the like. For most of its history, it was the talking filibuster, talk and talk and talk. But some time in the 1970's or so, it was simplified to a "hold", a sort of Taste-of-Armageddon filibuster.

She says that many Republicans are a lost cause, and she says that some Democrats have rather problematic stances on this parliamentary maneuver. Some Democrats have romanicized ideas of what the filibuster does for the legislative process, she says. "Hello, state of Arizona"

A clear allusion to Kyrsten Sinema. I think that she may represent a "nightmare scenario" for progressive politicians as what they might end up becoming.

Then she stated that some AZ Senators state that the filibuster was some grand design or some great compromise, something she calls a "fantasy". Then she continued with how we ought to put pressure on Senators to reform the filibuster. She says that Trump is only a symptom of the rot in the Republican Party.

An electrician asked how we can supply the necessary electricity with the current grid. She responded that we need upgrading of the grid, and also electricity storage. Batteries can be decentralized to give greater resilience to outages.

Then she discusses a rather arcane tax feature, one called SALT. She explained it rather clearly and she explained her position on repealing it.

She says about the infrastructure bill that we should invest more than what the Biden Admin is proposing. She says that it's a pattern with Republicans that they issue demands for less spending and more participation, but when it comes time to vote, they refuse to do it. So Democrats should not cooperate with Republicans if they do that. Like that Jan. 6 commission. The Democrats gave the Republicans what they wanted, like making it bipartisan, but in the end, the Republicans didn't vote for it.

AOC argues that it's not enough to have police. She noted that there is a lot of resistance to employing psychiatrists even though many jailed people have mental-health issues.

AOC is surprised over the resistance to employ psychiatrists to do what? I like AOC. But she's in a very safe democratic district and she is very naïve. There is an incredible shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists. You can't find them. They are difficult to find if you have very good insurance and can offer a very safe environment for them. It's laughable that we could find some that would be willing to go into an uncertain domestic disturbance situations.

 

[Derec]

She says about the infrastructure bill that we should invest more than what the Biden Admin is proposing.

Yeah, because the government can just spend unlimited amounts of money with no problems because money printer can just go brrrr . US government has already spent unprecedented amounts of money on account of COVID, and too big (and too unfocused) an "infrastructure" package would just add to the inflationary pressure we are already seeing. And AOC still wants to spend 60 trillion on GND.

Like that Jan. 6 commission. The Democrats gave the Republicans what they wanted, like making it bipartisan, but in the end, the Republicans didn't vote for it.

As far as I remember, Republicans did not want it just to focus on January 6th, but other recent cases of political rioting, particularly #BLM/Antifa riots. And Dems definitely did not want to cave on that.

AOC argues that it's not enough to have police. She noted that there is a lot of resistance to employing psychiatrists even though many jailed people have mental-health issues.

How many psychiatrists would be willing to go out on potentially dangerous calls instead of the police?

 

[Derec]

AOC wants a higher threshold than $50,000 - to help doctors and the like with very big student-load debts.

Doctors (i.e. physicians) in the US have large salaries and can well afford to pay their student loans.

Why should these 1%ers be subsidized with student loan forgiveness?

And again, how would she pay her entire wish list?

 

[lpetrich]

Lauren Windsor on Twitter: "Today we are all @AOC... (pic link)" / Twitter
From early 2019, with AOC behind Joe Manchin with a rather plain facial expression. Then,

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Just thinking about how after this photo ran Wall Street Journal columnists spent more time criticizing me for not smiling enough than asking Manchin precisely what areas of “common ground” he had in mind when he stood up for the GOP.

Turns out voter suppression was one of them!" / Twitter


The Recount on Twitter: "“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come.”

— VP Kamala Harris during news conference with Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei (vid link)" / Twitter
Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This is disappointing to see. ..." / Twitter

This is disappointing to see.

First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.

Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.

It would be helpful if the US would finally acknowledge its contributions to destabilization and regime change in the region.

Doing so can help us change US foreign policy, trade policy, climate policy, & carceral border policy to address causes of mass displacement & migration.

 

[Swammerdami]

In another thread it is mentioned that Joe Manchin is apparently in the pockets of Charles Koch and other anti-democratic evil-doers. Here's AOC making the same point.
[YOUTUBE]lN-oH3-fONo[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]bAtXzT7Gj-U[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Harry Bosch]

AOC wants a higher threshold than $50,000 - to help doctors and the like with very big student-load debts.

Doctors (i.e. physicians) in the US have large salaries and can well afford to pay their student loans.
View attachment 34011
Why should these 1%ers be subsidized with student loan forgiveness?

And again, how would she pay her entire wish list?

Yea, but you're forgetting that their expenses are going way up. You can't deduct as many expenses on your second home, boats are more expensive, salary for butlers and maid are way up, jet fuel is up, $400,000 a year dosn't go as far as it use to. We need to help the medical class out better...

 

[untermensche]

Why should these 1%ers be subsidized with student loan forgiveness?

Why should these important workers have debt to begin with?

You break your leg and an orthopedic surgeon is a modern god doing miracles.

Why should we saddle such important people with debt merely to serve us?

And again, how would she pay her entire wish list?

When GW Bush wanted to be a war president so he started a huge war and 2 trillion dollars + was found and wasted on that.

 

[Swammerdami]

I agree with this ...

...

And again, how would she pay her entire wish list?

When GW Bush wanted to be a war president so he started a huge war and 2 trillion dollars + was found and wasted on that.

... but Nitpick! Google shows $4.5 trillion as the total cost to the U.S. of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. (This ignores the huge costs to the citizens of the countries "we" invaded.)

... If an extra $2.5 trillion can be considered a "nitpick."

 

[untermensche]

Bush the lesser and his cronies said the war would pay for itself.

Their math was off.