Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[lpetrich]

“Sen. Gillibrand has represented our state incredibly well,” said Isaac Goldberg, a Democratic consultant based in New York. “There’s no energy right now to go after someone who spends her time protecting the right to choose, fighting for paid leave, family leave, workers’ rights and a green economy and everything else Democrats in this state value.”

So I checked her ideology scores at govtrack.us

2014: 0.08 (9) -- 2016: 0.06 (5) -- 2018: 0.00 (1) -- 2020: 0.06 (3) -- 2022: 0.12 (15)

By comparison, Bernie Sanders is

2014: 0.04 (7) -- 2016: 0.04 (2) -- 2018: 0.01 (2) -- 2020: 0.00 (1) -- 2022: 0.00 (1)

2024 Election United States House - New York - District 14 | FEC - looks like AOC is running for Rep again for her district. Her only challenger so far is Tina Forte, who ran against her last year as a Republican. Tina Forte seems much like Marjorie Taylor Greene.

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls Out Republican's "Wokeism" Term - YouTube - Late Night with Seth Meyers

After all this news coverage of who will win the House, then who will be Speaker, then ... nothing.

AOC claimed that this is the least productive first three months of a House term in a long time. She speculated that the R's didn't plan very well for governing, and that Speaker Kevin McCarthy made a lot of promises that he would have difficulty keeping.

Then "wokeism". Like the R's holding an entire hearing on "wokeism" in the Federal Gov't. Such things as paying members of the Forest Service more than a WalMart greeter, using remote work for people with disabilities and people in rural areas, healthcare, ... she calls it a "catch-all term" for "anything that they don't like."

She suspects that they call it "wokeism" because a more honest term may turn off their constituents. Then on "parental rights", she proposes that maybe we can create a society where parents don't need to work two jobs so that they can get more involved with their kids at school.

Then on how Trumpism is alive and well, like voting to expel three Tennessee state Reps for wanting more gun control. She then noted that the ones who accuse people of silencing are the ones who silence and expel. She says that it's projection, to put their targets on the defensive.

Then on the R's limited success on probing the "Biden crime family". Then she noted that Congressional hearings are not R press conferences, that D's can do fact checking in real time. "Wait, this doesn't feel like Tucker Carlson to me!"

Then LaGuardia Airport as the world's most beautiful airport (!) and the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, which she also loves.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC recently Instagrammed

I am just realizing now at 10:42pm that it is the 5 year anniversary of the night we won the primary in 2018!

I'll try to post something more reflective tomorrow, but for now: happy 5 year anniversary to one of the most insane days that many of us who participated in this has ever had. Certainly the wildest day of my life.

Thank you so much to everyone who had supported us then and has since. Truly the only reason I am in Congress is because of continued support from everyday, regular working people. To this day I don't accept corporate lobbyist money and the average donation to my campaign floats around $16. Thank you

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wins against Joe Crowley in Democrat congressional primary - YouTube (with captions)

Defeating  Joe Crowley was a triumph, since he did a lot of fundraising and he was a big player in House leadership. But he seldom did town-hall events in his district, he didn't do much for his district, and he preferred to live near DC than in his district.

In a campaign debate, when Joe Crowley professed opposition to some of Trump's policies, AOC asked what he did about those policies. In another debate, he absented himself and sent a surrogate in his place: City Councilmember  Annabel Palma According to some reports, all she did was talk about what she herself did. AOC said that she had a "slight resemblance" to her, thinking that this was some identity-politics ploy. The New York Times editorial staff responded Opinion | If You Want to Be Speaker, Mr. Crowley, Don’t Take Voters for Granted - The New York Times

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - Ballotpedia - she won 56.7% - 43.3% on June 26, 2018.

This was a big surprise, since some pre-election polls showed her down by some sizable factor. But those were repeat voters, and AOC's campaign reached out to less-likely voters, voters who gave her her victory.

To his credit, Joe Crowley conceded the race, but afterward, he joined a lobbying firm, thus demonstrating what AOC had to say about big money in politics.

 

[lpetrich]

Going back to March last year,

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Congressman @GregCasar has a pretty nice ring to it!
Congratulations, Texas Greg will be a fantastic representative." / Twitter

CNN on Twitter: "President Biden on policing and safety: "The answer is not to defund the police. It's to fund the police" #SOTU (vid link)" / Twitter
then
Sherrilyn Ifill on Twitter: "Where is the data to support this is “the answer”to current public safety challenges? Do the highest funded depts have the lowest crime rates? Are those depts more effective in solving violent crimes? Do they have higher public confidence? This is political framing not “answers.”" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This is the saddest part of this whole conversation. ..." / Twitter

This is the saddest part of this whole conversation.

The cost of constantly playing political football w/public safety is a total lack of serious discussion & investment in actual evidence-based approaches to reducing violence + harm. Polling becomes more important than outcomes

If you look at NYC, what are the *evidence*-based reasons for resuming UN-deemed torture practices in the form of solitary to Rikers?

What’s the evidence to revive the plainclothes unit, which despite being 5% of the force was responsible for 31% of police killings over 20 yrs?

Meanwhile, for those of us representing communities struggling w/ public safety (& not just hearing about it on TV), we don’t get the investments needed to actually reduce harm and invest in our communities.

Harm then continues, non-evidence based policy resurges, rinse, repeat

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Members of Congress trading stocks while having access to sensitive info + writing policy is already bad, but buying up defense contractor stock while receiving classified briefings on Ukraine and voting on US involvement? textbook case as to why this should be illegal" / Twitter

Supporting the war in Ukraine because Ukraine will use military hardware made by companies that one owns stock in -- that's military-industrial-complex sleaze, and I say this as a supporter of Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Catherine Rampell on Twitter: "Manchin says he’s reluctant to support the proliferation of electric vehicles (links" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Truly bizarre how in Washington it’s totally allowed + acceptable to accept hundreds of thousands in fossil fuel money + own millions in fossil fuel investments while brazenly killing clean energy policy, but what’s NOT acceptable is raising that fact &questioning the connection." / Twitter

Would it take owning lots of Tesla Motors stock to make some Congresspeople support electric cars?

Owning lots of wind-turbine-maker and solar-panel-maker stock to make some Congresspeople support renewable energy?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Same goes for pretty much every other industry - big pharma, Wall Street, etc etc" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Many folks ..." / Twitter

Many folks run around claiming to be “free-market” capitalists, but what they actually are is captured market capitalists, using subsidies + restrictive policy to hold us hostage to fossil fuels, for-profit healthcare/housing, etc that many wouldn’t choose if they had the choice

If you think gas is expensive now, imagine if we actually had to pay the true price w/o the insane gov subsidies and favoring granted to them.

If fossil fuel companies didn’t have such tipped scales for them it’s very likely we’d be much further along w/ cheaper alternatives

If public, socially owned, or cooperative housing was widely available, many would choose that over being held hostage by a private equity co charging 60% of your $ for a small apt.

Or you’d choose to buy a home if it wasn’t being gobbled up by those same co’s capturing the mkt

Your medicine would be much, much cheaper if the billions in PUBLICLY funded research and development of treatments were treated like public investments requiring a return rather than multi-billion giveaways to big pharma once a cure is developed.

And so on and so forth.

I mean seriously. Next time someone wants to brag about how capitalist they are & pop off about how much they believe in and love free markets, challenge them to name them.

Name the significant markets that impact people’s lives that are actual free markets. You’ll learn a LOT

You’ll also learn a lot about who has access to public options and who doesn’t.

Jacob Kornbluh on Twitter: "Lengthy @AIPAC defense for endorsing Republicans who voted against certifying elex for Biden: "We can never let the things that divide Americans politically determine whether the United States will support Israel. We must be willing to stand with those who stand with Israel." (pic link)" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "So…AIPAC is now endorsing & donating to Republicans who voted to overturn the US election on Jan 6th because, according to their statement, it’s more OK to dismantle US democracy than it is to question if US tax dollars should fund detention & abuse of Palestinian kids.
Got it." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Wonder what my Dem colleagues welcoming this kind of support think about this position." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Imagine living in the US today, ..." / Twitter

Imagine living in the US today, where the #1 source of domestic terrorism is far-right groups(per FBI!), books about slavery are getting banned, parents are criminalized for trans kids, yet asserting the 1st amendment is about protecting bigots from feeling embarrassed in public.

Booo corny tomato tomato tomato

I’m on team “embarrassing racists is our first amendment right, not their first amendment violation” thanks

So many peoples’ lives are actually endangered for their views, yet these 1st amendment screeds only seem to crop up in defense of the historically powerful claiming minority status. Until it shows up for everyone, it’s merely a service for the powerful, not a challenge of it.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "When you’re showing off the next book you want banned with the perfect edges and everything to underscore to everyone you haven’t actually read it (pic link)" / Twitter
Sen. Ted Cruz holding up a book called "The End of Policing"

I think that he got outraged over the title without bothering to read that book, or get a staffer to do so.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "From my first day in office, ..." / Twitter

From my first day in office, we set records for living wages.

Then we won a 21% MRA increase so every House staffer could have that chance.

Salary transparency is key to pay equity. While we figure out updated allocations, here’s our current salary table for staff to reference:

Entry $54,000 $55,000
Mid-Level $65,500 $70,000
Director $80,000 $85,000
Deputy COS $90,000
COS $120,000

A few notes:
- This is our pay table *pre-MRA increase.* Happy to update if this changes.
- We don’t negotiate salaries on an individual basis - we find that breeds pay inequity. We pay by position & disclose salary at job listing.
- House staffers: use this!

Feel free to ask Qs

Entry level staff have strong 40 hr protections. As responsibilities grow, senior staff inevitably work over that to meet demands of Congress. That combined w/ high technical experience is reflected in pay. We do have a pay ceiling- no more than 2.5/3x entry level (need to check)

COS = Chief of Staff

 

[Derec]

Booo corny tomato tomato tomato

Is she having a stroke?

 

[Derec]

Members of Congress trading stocks while having access to sensitive info + writing policy is already bad, but buying up defense contractor stock while receiving classified briefings on Ukraine and voting on US involvement? textbook case as to why this should be illegal

I actually I agree with her on that. Wasn't there a bill or something on this in the works?

Truly bizarre how in Washington it’s totally allowed + acceptable to accept hundreds of thousands in fossil fuel money + own millions in fossil fuel investments while brazenly killing clean energy policy, but what’s NOT acceptable is raising that fact &questioning the connection.

I think clean energy technology is important. However, something AOC et al do not seem to understand is that the transition will take decades from now. And in the meantime, we still need fossil fuels, which means we still need fossil fuel industry, investment and infrastructure.
Even if US bans the sale of all new gas/diesel cars and light trucks in 2035, modern cars can last 20 years if maintained properly and if not driven too many miles. That means there will be a significant ICE vehicle presence past 2050 even.
As far as electricity generation, gas >> coal. Priority should be to get out of coal as soon as possible, even if that means investing more in natural gas, and yes that includes gas pipelines the Left hates with a passion.

If you think gas is expensive now, imagine if we actually had to pay the true price w/o the insane gov subsidies and favoring granted to them.

Can she quantify these "insane gov subsidies"? Gasoline/diesel is taxed quite a bit. I think it should be taxed more, but that's another topic.
I hear a lot about these subsidies, but have yet to see somebody enumerate them.

If fossil fuel companies didn’t have such tipped scales for them it’s very likely we’d be much further along w/ cheaper alternatives

Doubtful. Gasoline and diesel have many intrinsic advantages as transportation fuels. AOC makes it seem like we are using these fuels because government favors them for some reason.

If public, socially owned, or cooperative housing was widely available, many would choose that over being held hostage by a private equity co charging 60% of your $ for a small apt.

TANSTAAFL. Public/socially owned housing costs money - somebody would have to pay for it. Whatever is "cooperative housing" even?
And what does she mean by "60% of your $"? Could she be more cryptic?

Or you’d choose to buy a home if it wasn’t being gobbled up by those same co’s capturing the mkt

What is her solution? Ban real estate holdings?

Your medicine would be much, much cheaper if the billions in PUBLICLY funded research and development of treatments were treated like public investments requiring a return rather than multi-billion giveaways to big pharma once a cure is developed.

Even with all the public research, pharma companies spend billions of private research to develop each new drug.
And they want to see return on investment. Now, I would like to see customers in Canada and other countries pay their fair share for the drugs, which would lower our prices in the US.

Name the significant markets that impact people’s lives that are actual free markets. You’ll learn a LOT

No true Scotsman fallacy? If a market is not completely free, then we might as well have socialism? Is that her point?

question if US tax dollars should fund detention & abuse of Palestinian kids.
Got it."

When she uses the word "kids" in this context, it is inevitably teenagers, usually 15-17, who are members of groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad and are engaged in terrorist activities.
When AOC and other Israel haters say "Palestinian kids" they means"kids" like him:

A 15 year old "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" terrorist by the name of Mahdi Mohamed Hashash.

 

[Derec]

This is the saddest part of this whole conversation.
The cost of constantly playing political football w/public safety is a total lack of serious discussion & investment in actual evidence-based approaches to reducing violence + harm. Polling becomes more important than outcomes

AOC did not engage in any "serious discussion" either. She wants to defund police, and that's it.
Ocasio-Cortez dismisses proposed $1B cut: ‘Defunding police means defunding police’

If you look at NYC, what are the *evidence*-based reasons for resuming UN-deemed torture practices in the form of solitary to Rikers?

SHU is a valuable disciplinary tool and should not be abolished just because somebody at UN dislikes it. There is a lot of bullshit coming out of UN these days anyway. Also, does she have a citation for that claim?

What’s the evidence to revive the plainclothes unit, which despite being 5% of the force was responsible for 31% of police killings over 20 yrs?

Again, [citation needed]. But even if true, it is not necessarily a problem. Were the killings by anti-crime unit more likely to be unjustified? If not, than that just means that the unit is engaging with more dangerous criminals than the average copper. And that is the whole purpose of the unit, to go after violent criminals. Disbanding of the anti-crime units was a kneejerk reaction to the #BLM riots of 2020, and not a sober decision driven by facts or strategy. High time it was reversed.

Meanwhile, for those of us representing communities struggling w/ public safety (& not just hearing about it on TV), we don’t get the investments needed to actually reduce harm and invest in our communities.

Like what? When an armed robber holds up a bodega, who would she call? Police or some of the things she wants to invest money instead?

 

[Gospel]

Like what? When an armed robber holds up a bodega, who would she call? Police or some of the things she wants to invest money instead?

What do you believe the role of the police actually entails? From my understanding, their primary responsibilities include enforcing the law, which can involve making arrests (preferably without resorting to violence), and bringing individuals before a judge for legal proceedings. Subsequently, those individuals may be incarcerated for a specific duration before being reintegrated into the community. However, if there is a lack of investment in the community, this cycle can become endless and seemingly futile.

Investments in communities are not solely financial in nature. There are individuals within these communities who are actively working to improve their surroundings, often at personal risk. Government funds, as well as support from commercial entities and individuals, can aid in these efforts. However, the effectiveness of such investments is hindered by individuals who hold counterproductive attitudes, focusing solely on the prison cycle and unfairly speaking solely about the "thugs" in our communities. As if the good people don't exist and aren't putting their lives on the line everyday

 

[Derec]

What do you believe the role of the police actually entails? From my understanding, their primary responsibilities include enforcing the law, which can involve making arrests (preferably without resorting to violence), and bringing individuals before a judge for legal proceedings.

I think you got it.

Subsequently, those individuals may be incarcerated for a specific duration before being reintegrated into the community.

That part is not up to police, but up to DAs and courts. And that part of Law and Order has been sorely lacking in places like NY lately. Like Jordan Neely not being given any prison (or closed psychiatric facility) time, even though he broke a woman's nose and orbital socket and even though he has a history of assaults. And like how Jordan Neely's uncle keeps getting arrested for theft, but keeps getting released time after time.

However, if there is a lack of investment in the community, this cycle can become endless and seemingly futile.

It's also futile when police arrest criminals but prosecutors refuse to file charges or courts release them back into the streets repeatedly.
Now, I do agree that a society needs investments other than in police. Of course. But police, in order to be effective, need to be adequately funded. Defunders like AOC do not understand that.

Investments in communities are not solely financial in nature. There are individuals within these communities who are actively working to improve their surroundings, often at personal risk. Government funds, as well as support from commercial entities and individuals, can aid in these efforts.

I do not think anyone here says otherwise.

However, the effectiveness of such investments is hindered by individuals who hold counterproductive attitudes, focusing solely on the prison cycle and unfairly speaking solely about the "thugs" in our communities.

Nobody is "focusing solely on the prison cycle". But there are thugs in our communities. And we need capable and well funded police, as well as reasonable (i.e. not the likes of Alvin Bragg or George Gascon!) prosecutors and courts.

As if the good people don't exist and aren't putting their lives on the line everyday

Of course many good people exist. And the thugs in our communities endanger them. Which is why it is stupid to defund police and makes thugs' lives easier.
NYC crime: Woman, 24, placed in headlock, robbed in Queens subway

Do you think this guy is a thug? What should be done with him? Should police arrest him, DA file charges and courts try him criminally, or should NYC just send some AOC-approved social workers to talk sternly to him and then let him go?
AOC and her ilk are very naïve in their views on necessity of well-funded police departments.

 

[lpetrich]

More from last year.

Wes on Twitter: "@AOC Records or no, that still seems low for DC's HCOL" / Twitter

I agree! Sadly Congress provides operating budgets far under what is necessary to serve the public and pay staff appropriately. South Australian parliament apparently pays 75k minimum. That’s more in line with what I believe is appropriate for the demands and skills of this work.

I think that a reason that some Congresspeople may want to scrimp on intern and staffer salaries is because they want to keep the positions available as rewards for donors. "If you give me these $$$, we'll hire your kids, and your filling in their pay will be a way of getting around campaign-contribution limits."

Michael Appell on Twitter: "@AOC So there’s no reward for hard work and outstanding performance!" / Twitter

We have a culture of excellence and our success is collective. Slouches are not a fit here, *everyone* works their tails off and our team is happier knowing everyone is paid on the value of their work & not if they were taught salary negotiation growing up.We cultivate talent too

So she wants to reward actual work, not the ability to bullshit one's way into a job.

Gary Thurner on Twitter: "@AOC If you don’t reward performance; why would the best people stay?" / Twitter

Because we care about them and they care about the work. I am also okay w/people pursuing dreams & supporting their journey. We need good people everywhere. We are always cultivating & investing from within so we always have the best people,no matter who is on the team. Many stay

It's actually good for her to stay out of bidding wars for celebrity staffers, because she continues to get good ones.

The Madd Wikkid on Twitter: "@AOC Offhand, "- We don’t negotiate salaries on an individual basis" reads like "we're not willing to pay to acquire/retain exceptional talent"" / Twitter

Our staff determines salaries as a collective. They like it and it’s been great for culture. Maybe others prefer salaries negotiated in secret. We tend to find that disproportionately results in poc/women/first gen/working class people getting paid less for equal or better work.

That's actually a good position, even if it's not what some Randroid might want.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Congress must understand that a failure to hold Clarence Thomas accountable sends a loud, dangerous signal to the full Court - Kavanaugh, Barrett, & the rest - that his acts are fair game.
This is a tipping point. Inaction is a decision to erode and further delegitimize SCOTUS." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Consider this: ..." / Twitter

Consider this: When we pushed for the 1st impeachment of Trump for illegally withholding aid to Ukraine, initially many Dems internally resisted it.

We were chastised for being “unrealistic,” that the public wouldn’t be able to follow the plot, and that it would lead nowhere.

Our argument was regardless of outcome, someone would be left holding the ball on accountability.

Would we, the House, rather have to answer questions later of why we didn’t act, or have the Senate answer questions of why they acquitted?

The debate was fierce & opposition real.

Eventually, public and internal pressure mounted to such a level that inaction became untenable for leadership and the party.

Impeachment proceeded, with many of the initial resisters then speaking of their importance in the decision (which yes, they were key to!)

However,

Privately we were still chastised.

Yes, it was hard to follow the details - an unknown PM by the name of Zelensky, military aid, etc. We knew.

The Senate acquitted, and many who claimed the move as politically unnecessary or a “stunt” felt justified. Some claimed it hurt us.

When we look back at the decision to impeach Trump over Ukraine today, could you imagine if the naysayers and those claiming to be “politically savvier” won?

WE would be explaining why we allowed it to happen instead of the Senate explaining why they acquitted.

Often what seems like the righteous yet politically foolish thing short term ends up being the wisest choice long term.

In politics, oftentimes the best decisions can also carry greatest risk.

All this is to say we shouldn’t dismiss actions available re: Clarence Thomas’ acts

Subpoenas, investigations, and impeachment should absolutely be on the table. We shouldn’t have to think twice about that.

We must go where the facts take us. A failure to act puts the imperiling of democracy squarely on *our* shoulders. It’s our duty to defend it.

Moral courage.

 

[lpetrich]

Mitt Romney on Twitter: "Worst domestic news today: the Biden Administration will admit double or more the number of “undocumented” immigrants at the border, starting May 28.
Best GOP political news today: the same as above. (Arizona, Nevada, and more Dem senators will lose their elections)" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "For those keeping score, when asylum seekers are European, politicians quickly recognize them as refugees. When they’re from elsewhere, the same folks call them “undocumented.”
Remember: seeking asylum is a legal right for ALL people, despite their prejudice. The more you know" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@davidaxelrod When I waitressed, ..." / Twitter

When I waitressed, I had to pay $100s/month for the privilege of paying thousands in deductibles each year for ACA insurance that didn’t really cover RXs. It was cheaper/the best $ option to just go uninsured and prayed nothing happened. One reason why I support Medicare for All

I remember vividly one day I decided to walk around and ask everyone I worked with - waiters, bussers, cooks - what insurance they had. Everyone had the same answer: none. It was better for us to save up the money we’d otherwise pay on premiums & spend it on actual medicine/care

I went uninsured until I was sworn into Congress. Members of Congress (as you know) receive Gold plans off the ACA that we co-pay for. We buy it using the same exchanges I haggled w/ as a waitress, & I STILL have what’s considered a “high deductible” plan. #M4A is the way

To this day I work so my campaign staff is better insured than I am. But as an employer, I hate that their healthcare is tied to employment. When people get debilitating diagnoses, why does our system force us to stress about care ending w/ employment rather than getting better?

If we had a universal system, the huge sums we pay for their insurance could just go into their pocket in form of potentially $1000s in raises. The answer can’t continue to be subsidizing the ACA more & more as premiums go up & up. It’s single payer healthcare: Medicare for All.

How common is it to be uninsured because Obamacare subsidies are too limited? Her experience suggests that that is very common.

The Uninsured and the ACA: A Primer – Key Facts about Health Insurance and the Uninsured amidst Changes to the Affordable Care Act – Who remains uninsured after the ACA and why do they lack coverage? – 7451-14 | KFF

Though provisions in the ACA aim to make coverage more affordable for low and moderate-income families, these income groups still make up the vast majority of the uninsured. Low-income individuals are at the highest risk of being uninsured.2 Nearly half of the remaining uninsured population (47%) has family income below 200% of poverty ($19,730 for a family with two adults and one child in 2017)3 and another 35% has family income between 200 and 399% of poverty (Figure 6).

A majority of the remaining uninsured population is in a family with at least one worker, and many uninsured workers continue to lack access to coverage through their job. Not all workers have access to health coverage through their jobs or can afford the coverage offered to them. In 2017, more than three-quarters (77%) of the uninsured had at least one full-time worker in their family, and an additional 10% had a part-time worker in their family (Figure 6).4 As in the past, low-income workers and those who work in agriculture, construction, and service jobs are more likely than other workers to be uninsured.5 Moreover, not all workers have access to health coverage through their job. In 2017, 71% of nonelderly uninsured workers worked for an employer that did not offer health benefits to the worker.6

AOC and her fellow restaurant employees fit that profile well -- people with low incomes that are not covered but nevertheless earn too much for Medicaid. Another argument against strict means testing.

 

[lpetrich]

Ron Filipkowski on Twitter: "Marge Greene: “I’m going to tell you right now what is a woman .. We came from Adam’s rib .. We are the weaker sex, but we are our husband’s wife.” (vid link)" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Now we know the real reason why Republicans incite epic meltdowns and moral panics around the notion of respecting trans women, or acknowledging the fact that non-binary and trans people menstruate: because it threatens the GOP’s own definition of a woman as “weak, male property”" / Twitter

People with somatically female genitalia. I think of trans people as being mixed-sex, much like intersex people.

But since when she tweeted, spring of last year, right-wing culture warring about trans people have gotten even bigger.

On a more positive note,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. " / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Most recently, AOC has done another video-game session on AOC - Twitch

She earlier played Among Us | Innersloth and she recently played PICO PARK and Gartic Phone

She played with  Hasan Piker "... an American Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator." and some friends.

Pico Park is a puzzle game where you and your friends navigate environments where you and your friends can jump onto each other to get to some places.

Gartic Phone is a form of "Telephone" where you make drawings and briefly describe others' drawings.

AOC speaks about her 'Pico Park' Twitch stream with Hasan Piker - The Washington Post

“You need to be willing to take risks and be cringe online in order to get to what you’re trying to get to,” she told The Washington Post in an interview.

...
Her first home video game console was Nintendo’s original Game Boy. When her cousin got an original Sony PlayStation, she fell in love with “PaRappa the Rapper,” a rhythm-based game starring a rapping dog.

“Oh my God, it blew my mind,” she says. “As a kid I had no concept of what this thing was, pressing symbols in time, it was like magic.”

Her fiancé Riley Roberts introduced her to “League of Legends,” the world’s most popular esport, when they started dating in college. “He taught me how to play,” she says. “From there, the jump to streaming is very small because you start watching esports and live-streamed events, then Twitch as a platform really started to grow.”

...
“I think the lack of predictability on a stream is what makes it compelling,” Ocasio-Cortez says. “Being able to be comfortable in the chaos of inviting so many people in the conversation … you need to be okay with that. I think so many political venues are about control, a hypersensitivity to optics. Sometimes the conversation you want to have is not the natural thing to discuss at that moment.”

Then mentioning her support for labor unions and a unionization drive at a game-company studio. Returning to video games,

“It’s kind of like the way some of my colleagues talk about golf,” she says.

Being a gamer may seem very shallow, but IMO it's better than being a couch potato.

AOC has also played Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley

 

[lpetrich]

AOC Teams Up With Workers To Take On UPS - YouTube - AOC spoke at a rally of United Parcel Service (UPS) Teamsters workers and activists. 340,000 UPS workers have authorized a strike, she says, and she says that UPS management can easily afford to meet such demands as A/C in delivery trucks and paying part-time workers the same per time worked as full-time ones. They are due to go on strike August 1.

Another speech at a union gathering:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If the working class ..." / Twitter

If the working class doesn’t stand up for itself, no one else will.

UPS has made record profits during the pandemic. That’s because of UPS workers, who are prepared to strike Aug 1st without a fair contract.

This morning we rallied in support w/ @TeamsterSOB & @UAW Shawn Fein

 

[lpetrich]

The Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are already on strike against the major movie and TV studios because of being shortchanged in online streaming and the possibility of being partially replaced by AI without appropriate compensation.

 2023 Writers Guild of America strike

On May 2, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. PDT, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters[1]—went on strike over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).[2][3]

Solidarity with screenwriters! This past Tuesday, … | Instagram

Solidarity with screenwriters!

This past Tuesday, The Writers Guild of America went on strike to demand better treatment from production studios. They are fighting to secure fair wages as studio profit increases dramatically.

Production budgets have sharply increased, while pay for writers has declined by 4% over the past decade — 23% when adjusted for inflation.
Today Team @aoc dropped off sandwiches and wraps for striking workers at Silvercup Studios in Queens. You can support their efforts too!

Stand in Solidarity with @WGA by taking one of the following actions:

Donate funds for snacks to strikers in LA through @dsa_la
Join writers at the picket line.
Donate to the Entertainment Community Fund @alifeinthearts
Amplify @wgaeast and @wgawest message on social media.
Don’t cross the picket line. You may start to see online calls for ‘pitch contests’ or ‘fan casting’ – avoid them! These can sometimes be ways for studios or producers to crowdsource ideas from the public for free and circumvent the union.

 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike

On July 14, 2023, the American actors' union SAG-AFTRA went on strike over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)

Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

AOC retweeted this tweet:
philip lewis on Twitter: "SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher: ..." / Twitter

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher: "How they plead poverty that they are losing money left and right when they give $100 millions to their CEOs."

“If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines”

with some video from her speech.

 2023 Hollywood labor disputes

 

[lpetrich]

AOC recently showed up at another strike event.

Liz Shuler on Twitter: "When we fight together, we win together. And we won't stop fighting until workers have a fair contract!
Thank you for joining us outside Netflix on the @sagaftra @WGAEast @WGAWest picket line, @AOC! (pic link)" / Twitter

SAG-AFTRA on Twitter: "NY is a union town and @AOC and @LizShuler are #SAGAFTRAstrong! " / Twitter
noting
The Hollywood Reporter on Twitter: "U.S. Representative @AOC joins the #ActorsStrike picket line in New York: "Get up, get down. New York is a union town" (vid link)" / Twitter

Deadline Hollywood on Twitter: "Watch as AOC speaks to a crowd of demonstrators at the #ActorsStrike picket line in NYC today (vid link)" / Twitter

AOC Joins Striking Actors & Writers On Picket Line In New York – Deadline - "AOC Hits Picket Lines With Striking Actors & Writers In NYC: “How Many Private Jets Does David Zaslav Need?”"

Joined by AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) gave strikers and their supporters a pep talk and spent about 40 minutes walking a picket line along a block of downtown Manhattan with as many as 200 other marchers. She paused for selfies, handshakes and brief hellos and accepted thanks from other picketers as reporters and photographers hovered nearby.

“Frankly, while this is a fight against AI,” she told the cheering crowd, “more than AI, this is a fight against greed. This is a fight against Wall Street, and this is a fight against the endless pursuit of more wealth. How many private jets does David Zaslav need?”

Our solidarity is stronger than their greed. | Instagram - also from that event

 

[lpetrich]

In an interview with Deadline, Ocasio-Cortez said there might conceivably be a role for elected officials in helping settle the strike, but only if the actors and writers want it.

“The most important actors here are workers, so it shouldn’t be about Congress acting on its own,” she said. “It should be us acting on behalf of our constituents. If SAG-AFTRA, WGA calls on Congress, then I think that’s something that we should absolutely consider. But until then we’ve got to get out of their way and let the workers do their thing.”

“We are in a hot labor summer right now,” Ocasio-Cortez told marchers, linking the writers’ and actors’ struggle to widespread labor unrest. “We have workers all across the country either currently on strike or gearing up to be on strike because at the end of the day we are all confronting the same challenge” — which the congresswoman described as “unprecedented concentration of wealth and corporate greed.”

Ocasio-Cortez said that film and television CEOs need a “a reality check” from unions “reminding them that if they leave the job, life goes on, but if we leave the job, everything comes to a halt.”

noting
Deadline Hollywood on Twitter: ""If SAG-AFTRA, if WGA calls on Congress then I think that that's something we should absolutely consider, but until then we gotta get out of their way and let the workers do their thing...": @AOC tells Deadline on the #ActorsStrike picket line in NYC today (vid link)" / Twitter
and
Deadline Hollywood on Twitter: "(WATCH) Sandra Bernhard shares her thoughts on the uniqueness of the current labor strikes in the entertainment industry #ActorsStrike #WritersStrike (vid link)" / Twitter