Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[lpetrich]

AOC has been awfully busy lately. She recently questioned the CEO of Wells Fargo Bank about that bank's involvement in DAPL.
Alexis Goldstein on Twitter: ".@RepAOC: "Mr. Sloan, why was the bank involved in the caging of children?" @AOC to #WellsFargo CEO… "
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The CEO of Wells Fargo said they chose to finance the unstable Dakota Access Pipeline over Standing Rock Sioux objections, because the bank determined it was “worth the risk.” To whom? #DAPL has leaked at least 5x. And we, the public, are left to pay for cleanup+destroyed land.… https://t.co/8h0lSCLZNN" noting Alexis Goldstein on Twitter: ".@RepAOC: "So, hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access Pipeline, why shouldn't #WellsFargo pay for the cleanup of it, since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?" #NoDAPL @AOC… https://t.co/EmYrnjqfnN"
Public Citizen on Twitter: "AOC: "Should Wells Fargo be held responsible for the damages incurred by climate change due to the financing of fossil fuels?" It’s incredibly satisfying to watch @AOC hold banking execs accountable for their outsized role in the climate crisis.… https://t.co/0eSHPqDhoA"
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This, right here, is a problem. Institutions can engage in unlimited financing of fossil fuels, building unstable pipelines + reaping profits, but when the bill comes to clean up oil spills & fix damages - they can conveniently kick the can. So, who will pay for climate change?… https://t.co/J61HBrhFUh" noting CSPAN on Twitter: ".@RepAOC @AOC: "So, hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access Pipeline, why shouldn't Wells Fargo pay for the cleanup of it, since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?" @WellsFargo CEO Timothy Sloan: "Because we don't operate the pipeline."… https://t.co/Z5HBFZvX43"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Sea walls will have to go up as seas rise. Wildfires to put out. Roads repaved. Nascent technology to explore. Electrical grids replaced. It’s too late for us to not have to deal w/ the impact of climate change. At this point we shouldn’t be debating IF we do it, it’s how."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Each day that goes by where we turn our backs on Puerto Rico + Hurricane María, we are choosing to starve American people. We are choosing to starve our own citizens, simply because of where *in our own country* they were born. If we do it here, where could it happen next?… https://t.co/01mBxgg6GF" noting Jeff Stein on Twitter: "NEW: PUERTO RICAN OFFICIALS confirm they have started cutting food stamp benefits used by more than 1 million ppl Congress has failed to act despite months of warnings Trump had opposed fix but is now reportedly on board Senate GOP plan https://t.co/4ft3snnUus"

 

[George S]

- - - Updated - - -

I can get a better picture if you want. Why did you expand my avatar instead of addressing the content?

I am a retired professor of computer science. A fan of Milton Friedman -- see the Free to Choose YouTubes. That is where I got the truth dumb opinion about taxing corporations. Also about the Fed.

FIXT.

Just negating my reference is no argument.

Summary

No piece of paper or agreement on paper can pay a dime. Only people: The workers and/or the customers. The profit for the owners stays the same; they need not pay any of that tax -- they can pass it on. And, of course, some tax lawyers get rich.

 

[laughing dog]

I can get a better picture if you want. Why did you expand my avatar instead of addressing the content?

I am a retired professor of computer science. A fan of Milton Friedman -- see the Free to Choose YouTubes. That is where I got the truth about taxing corporations. Also about the Fed.

Then you learned wrong, especially about the Fed.

Most economists - even before Friedman - understood and taught that people pay taxes because people also own corporations. Taxing corporations is taxing people - owners of capital, workers in the corporation and customers because the tax is usually not completely shifted onto one group.

The Fed does greatly influence the supply of money through its open market operations. But the buying and selling of gov't securities is not necessarily done with the gov't. And there is nothing that requires gov't debt to grow because there is a Fed - it grows because of spending and revenue decisions taken by elected officials.

 

[J842P]

I can get a better picture if you want. Why did you expand my avatar instead of addressing the content?

I am a retired professor of computer science. A fan of Milton Friedman -- see the Free to Choose YouTubes. That is where I got the truth about taxing corporations. Also about the Fed.

Then you learned wrong, especially about the Fed.

Most economists - even before Friedman - understood and taught that people pay taxes because people also own corporations. Taxing corporations is taxing people - owners of capital, workers in the corporation and customers because the tax is usually not completely shifted onto one group.

The Fed does greatly influence the supply of money through its open market operations. But the buying and selling of gov't securities is not necessarily done with the gov't. And there is nothing that requires gov't debt to grow because there is a Fed - it grows because of spending and revenue decisions taken by elected officials.

No, the problem is our currency isn't backed by gold. Any economist can tell you

 

[laughing dog]

I can get a better picture if you want. Why did you expand my avatar instead of addressing the content?

I am a retired professor of computer science. A fan of Milton Friedman -- see the Free to Choose YouTubes. That is where I got the truth about taxing corporations. Also about the Fed.

Then you learned wrong, especially about the Fed.

Most economists - even before Friedman - understood and taught that people pay taxes because people also own corporations. Taxing corporations is taxing people - owners of capital, workers in the corporation and customers because the tax is usually not completely shifted onto one group.

The Fed does greatly influence the supply of money through its open market operations. But the buying and selling of gov't securities is not necessarily done with the gov't. And there is nothing that requires gov't debt to grow because there is a Fed - it grows because of spending and revenue decisions taken by elected officials.

No, the problem is our currency isn't backed by gold. Any economist can tell you

While I am a very mediocre professional economist, I can assure you that there are relatively few economists who would say that the problem with our currency is that it is not backed by gold. Mainstream economics and economists do not think there is any problem with our currency. Now, they may be wrong about all of this but few if any economists back a gold (or silver) or any commondity money standard.

 

[JohnG]

(disclaimer - I'm not an economist at all) It seems that not having a standard can lead to problems: the value of the dollar is free floating. There seems to be sense in what George S is saying that the value of an hour worked by an unskilled labourer is probably the closest thing to a standard.

By that logic, one could also argue that you could use the top end as a yardstick as well. I know that the corporation I work for expects good quarterly numbers, and it routinely does whatever it can to drive down operating costs and maximize profit. That is the whole purpose of our existence. Everything else, our product, our employees, safety, etc, all revolves around that. It has been made very clear to us that we are being paid as low as possible to keep us on board. We have lost employees, and have trouble finding new ones. We try to find any solution at all rather that offer more money.

That's all fine, I understand competition in the marketplace - but I also understand that real people are merely cannon fodder in the process.

 

[lpetrich]

“I Felt Like I Was Being Physically Ripped Apart”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Opens Up About Her New Fame, Trump, and Life in the Bubble | Vanity Fair

Starting off with how she was the main attraction at the recent St. Pat's for All parade. Then a visit to her apartment in the Bronx. Rather plain and simple, and not like the Marie Antoinette limousine liberal that right-wingers have been portraying her as. Her Green New Deal was compared to a watermelon - green on the outside, red on the outside - by one certified right-winger.

She seems almost proud that such caricatures do not stop her, and she says about the President “I’m gonna be very frank: I think that this president has set a racist tone. I think he has set a tone of such strong misogyny, racism, conspiracy theory-ism.” However, she has a conspiracy theory of her own:

“I think they saw a woman of color—Latina, no less—that came from a working-class and poor background, that ascended to federal office, and they said, ‘We cannot allow this to have credibility, because if people saw that she did it, then maybe others will come—and we cannot let other people like her run for office. We need to make an example out of her,’” Ocasio-Cortez told me.

She does concede that she sometimes wants to go into hiding, but she keeps on going, because she doesn't want her haters doing all the talking. That is why she responds to criticisms of her, to not let her haters do all the talking about her. She is doing what Bill Clinton ought to have done, what John Kerry ought to have done, and what Barack Obama ought to have done.

Will she be like her predecessor? Content to have her seat for the next 20 years, slowiy working her way up the Democratic Party hierarchy?

No sooner had she beaten Crowley than people began to calculate what year she’d be old enough to run for president. Ocasio-Cortez has thought about other outcomes, too. “God forbid something terrible happens and everything collapses tomorrow . . . I completely walk away from office tomorrow. There will be more people that are coming and running and advancing the same principles,” she said. “I try to let that be my solace.”

The best way to do that IMO is to support the election of like-minded people at all levels of government: local, state, and Federal. The Presidency is not enough.

Meanwhile, she says one thing people aren’t saying about her is that there is an ordinary reality beneath the caricatures. “It’s really hard to communicate that I’m just a normal person doing her best,” she shrugged. “I’m not a superhero. I’m not a villain. I’m just a person that’s trying.”

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Why are we still talking about $15 minimum wage, it's been like 5 years since that number was floated and it's already been outpaced by inflation

Check your numbers!

I should have said that it'll certainly be outpaced by inflation by the time it goes into effect nationwide, which will likely be something like 2024.

You still need to check your numbers.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "With the way things are structured now, if the banks don’t care, no one cares. They’re simply not incentivized to - no matter the damage to people, families, and the environment. We mostly address issues after the damage is done. But we can’t afford that w/ climate. … https://t.co/g4MZQbOs1U" noting Daniel Medina on Twitter: "As a reporter on #DAPL beat from beginning of protests, I often spoke to oil/gas industry people. When I would ask them how building pipelines was financially viable in an age of diminishing returns, none seemed to care. Because, as they told me, the banks financing them didn’t.… https://t.co/m8XY1ARyyk"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Actually, in NYC if you’re a bartender and knowingly over-serve to someone, you *ARE* liable for things they do after they leave the bar, because you knowingly put them at risk for $. Its called the Dram Shop Act. It’s a big reason why bartenders cut people off. And it works.… https://t.co/DZbOyHmIlg" noting Marvel Marisa Murphy on Twitter: "So using her own logic... Hypothetically, if @AOC made a drink while bartending, then served it to a person, who then killed a family of 5 while driving drunk, she should then be held accountable for the incident, right? Bartenders beware, she could be coming after you next!!… https://t.co/iYF3LrlQhn"
Something that AOC likely had direct experience with.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The key here is in the advance knowledge. When you *knowingly* do something that you know *in advance* will do harm, and do it anyway, you open yourself up. Companies *know in advance* that climate change will get worse if we keep growing fossil fuel consumption and production."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I guess college admissions isn’t that different from elections, where lots of money can buy your spot too. Also an enviro where those who make it despite the odds are suspected to not have “earned” it, not truly belong, or assumed to not be able to perform at the same level.… https://t.co/7AovQUpv91" noting andi zeisler on Twitter: "Perhaps this is a good time to talk about all the perfectly legal ways the wealthy are both allowed and expected to manipulate college-admissions systems while teaching their children to disparage "affirmative action"… https://t.co/0wLfcU07Fz"

 

[Amyrich]

I'm cautiously optimistic but not hanging my hopes on her or any politician. She seems to be an actual democratic socialist and not just a Bernie-style social democrat (believe it or not, there's a substantial difference, even though it's basically the Judean People's Front versus the People's Front of Judea).

One thing that impresses me is the way she seems to embrace, rather than shy away from, Republicans' kneejerk vilification of her. She seems to mock their fear of her, not so angrily but more bemusedly, as a parent might do with a recalcitrant child acting up in a harmless way in public. I'm all for letting her be the New Hillary for Fox Propaganda purposes - I think she'll be great at it.

Totally agree! I am in love with how she's dealt with all the Republican hate and ridiculosity coming her way with such aplomb. I'm seriously considering writing a paper on her, her politics, the hype around her, and most importantly the actual work she's doing. She'd make a great subject for my politics essay on the turn the young (read "millenial") generation's rekindling of what we label socialism in the US.

 

[Derec]

. I'm seriously considering writing a paper on her, her politics, the hype around her,

Are you going to interview leptrich for it?

and most importantly the actual work she's doing.

That's going to be the shortest section of your paper.

She is more interested in headlines than actually doing anything.

 

[J842P]

No, the problem is our currency isn't backed by gold. Any economist can tell you

While I am a very mediocre professional economist, I can assure you that there are relatively few economists who would say that the problem with our currency is that it is not backed by gold. Mainstream economics and economists do not think there is any problem with our currency. Now, they may be wrong about all of this but few if any economists back a gold (or silver) or any commondity money standard.

That was a joke, should have used a /sarcasm tag.

 

[angelo]

Why wow? She did say that she doesn't think hispanics should be considered illegal. I.e. she supports unrestricted mass migration of hispanics.
Ocasio-Cortez calls to abolish ICE, says Latinos must be exempt from immigration laws because they are 'Native' to US

Everything she said makes sense, if you don't take it out of context and twist it into something else, but what you wrote doesn't make sense.

Everything that's written in the bible makes sense too, if you don't take it out on context! [especially the N/T]

 

[angelo]

Just a tiny sample of this woman's stupidity!

https://dailycaller.com/2018/07/24/ocasio-cortez-dumbest-thing/

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Why wow? She did say that she doesn't think hispanics should be considered illegal. I.e. she supports unrestricted mass migration of hispanics.
Ocasio-Cortez calls to abolish ICE, says Latinos must be exempt from immigration laws because they are 'Native' to US

Everything she said makes sense, if you don't take it out of context and twist it into something else, but what you wrote doesn't make sense.

Everything that's written in the bible makes sense too, if you don't take it out on context! [especially the N/T]

Fox News is the Bible to you because it twisted what she said.

 

[angelo]

Had that source been the Clinton National Network it would be gospel truth?

Besides, or should I say, as an aside......................https://gellerreport.com/2019/03/pelosi-dems-got-nothing-on-trump.html/

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Had that source been the Clinton National Network it would be gospel truth?

Clinton hasn't been President in decades! Enough of the Moore-Coulters.

Besides, or should I say, as an aside......................https://gellerreport.com/2019/03/pelosi-dems-got-nothing-on-trump.html/

Pelosi knows it is the GOP that must vote to convict Trump to remove him from office. And that would take an extraordinary amount of damaging information on him.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I can get a better picture if you want. Why did you expand my avatar instead of addressing the content?

I am a retired professor of computer science. A fan of Milton Friedman -- see the Free to Choose YouTubes. That is where I got the truth about taxing corporations. Also about the Fed.

Then you learned wrong, especially about the Fed.

Most economists - even before Friedman - understood and taught that people pay taxes because people also own corporations. Taxing corporations is taxing people - owners of capital, workers in the corporation and customers because the tax is usually not completely shifted onto one group.

The Fed does greatly influence the supply of money through its open market operations. But the buying and selling of gov't securities is not necessarily done with the gov't. And there is nothing that requires gov't debt to grow because there is a Fed - it grows because of spending and revenue decisions taken by elected officials.

No, the problem is our currency isn't backed by gold. Any economist can tell you

Let's look at our stable economy during the metal standards.

• Panic of 1857, a U.S. recession with bank failures
• Panic of 1873, a U.S. recession with bank failures, followed by a 4-year depression
• Panic of 1884
• Panic of 1893, a U.S. recession with bank failures
• Panic of 1896, acute U.S. recession

• Panic of 1901, a U.S. economic recession that started a fight for financial control of the Northern Pacific Railway
• Panic of 1907, a U.S. economic recession with bank failures
• Great Depression, the worst systemic banking crisis of the 20th century

 

[PyramidHead]

I should have said that it'll certainly be outpaced by inflation by the time it goes into effect nationwide, which will likely be something like 2024.

You still need to check your numbers.

Just an example of the diminishing returns of a fixed dollar amount for MW as time marches on: https://www.apnews.com/f70a701b7593450fb4bcb3cb61c543b4

Illinois will join Washington, D.C., and at least four other states with a $15-an-hour minimum by 2025 , an 82 percent spike in current base pay. But it may not be the momentous impact on low-wage workers that some supporters expected.

Using state labor and federal inflation statistics, The Associated Press projected that assuming the current inflation rate of 2.1 percent each year through 2025, $15 then will be worth the equivalent of $10.46 now. So instead of an 81 percent wage increase from $8.25 to $15, after inflation, low-wage workers will be taking home only 27 percent more than they are today.

This gives politicians all the incentive in the world to simply delay the implementation of the policy until inflation has made the $15 initially demanded equivalent to something closer to what capital is willing to accept. They can simultaneously say that they've done something for the working class while making sure that the full $15 doesn't go into effect until inflation has taken a chunk out of it. Of course, indexing the MW to inflation would itself be a solution to this problem, which is why nobody is discussing that seriously.

 

[angelo]

Had that source been the Clinton National Network it would be gospel truth?

Clinton hasn't been President in decades! Enough of the Moore-Coulters.

Besides, or should I say, as an aside......................https://gellerreport.com/2019/03/pelosi-dems-got-nothing-on-trump.html/

Pelosi knows it is the GOP that must vote to convict Trump to remove him from office. And that would take an extraordinary amount of damaging information on him.

Information that just doesn't exist. As that article says. But the witch hunt won't stop until 2020 and beyond. And by the way the Dems are heading, is looking very likely he'll will a second term.