Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"Pelosi threatens to destroy Democrats' infrastructure success"


Kaylee McGhee White

13 AUGUST 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to singlehandedly force through a massive $3.5 trillion spending proposal by holding hostage a bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this week.

Unfortunately for her, there are still a few members left in the Democratic caucus with some common sense.


Nine moderate House Democrats have informed Pelosi that they will not back the $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget proposal until the House votes on the Senate-passed $1 trillion infrastructure package.

Pelosi needs every single one of these votes if her plan to pass the reconciliation bill is to succeed.

"Some have suggested that we hold off on considering the Senate infrastructure bill for months — until the reconciliation process is completed."

"We disagree," the nine members wrote in a letter to Pelosi.

"With the livelihoods of hardworking American families at stake, we simply can't afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this once-in-a-century, bipartisan infrastructure package."

"It's time to get shovels in the ground and people to work."

"We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law."

At the same time, dozens of leftist Democrats, led by the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are threatening to withhold their votes from the bipartisan infrastructure package if the House doesn’t pass the reconciliation bill first.

This leaves Pelosi in a bind: she’s going to have to choose a side, and right now it looks like she’s leaning toward the progressives.

It’s amazing that Pelosi, who is supposed to know how politics works, is bungling this so badly.

There is very little chance that her $3.5 trillion spending proposal passes the Senate as it is currently written, even if the House were to pass the bipartisan package first.


Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has already said she won’t support the bill with its current price tag, and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has raised similar concerns.

Without their votes, the bill will fail in the Senate.

The bipartisan package, however, is a guaranteed accomplishment.

Congressional Democrats will be able to tout the bill as a bipartisan achievement as they head back to their states ahead of the 2022 midterms, and President Joe Biden will be able to point to it as proof that he’s able to work with the other side.

The Senate has already done the hard part for Pelosi; now all she has to do is bring it to the House floor for a vote, and make sure that the progressives fall in line.

Instead, Pelosi has decided to fall in line behind Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow leftists in pursuit of an unrealistic legislative feat.

Which raises the question: Who’s really in charge over there?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgntp
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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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BLOOMBERG

"Pelosi Faces Revolt From Moderates That Risks Budget Vote Plan"


Emily Wilkins and Billy House

13 AUGUST 2021

(Bloomberg) -- Nine moderate House Democrats are threatening to withhold support from a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint until a bipartisan infrastructure package is signed into law, threatening to unravel plans for moving President Joe Biden’s agenda through Congress.

“It’s time to get shovels in the ground and people to work,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dated Thursday.

“We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law.”

The moderates’ stance risks undermining Pelosi’s strategy, which would bring the budget resolution to a vote in the House the week of Aug. 23.

Pelosi’s slim margin of control means she can only afford to lose three members of her caucus in a vote on the budget measure, which passed the Senate on a party-line vote this week and isn’t expected to garner any Republican support in the House.

Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, Filemon Vela of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California and Kurt Schrader of Oregon signed the letter, first reported by Punchbowl News.

The letter puts Pelosi and Biden in the middle of a tug-of-war between moderate and progressive House Democrats.

For now, the $550 billion infrastructure package is on hold.

In a bow to demands from House progressives, Pelosi has vowed to wait until the Senate finishes the budget package to assure it addresses priorities on social programs and climate change.

Pelosi told House Democrats during a conference call this week that her strategy reflects the consensus of the caucus, according to a senior Democratic aide, who asked for anonymity to discuss the private conversation.

The aide said that despite the threat from the moderates, there aren’t enough votes now to pass the infrastructure package by itself given the stance of the progressives.

Taken together, the infrastructure package and the policies outlined in the budget framework form the crux of Biden’s economic agenda.


The framework opens the way for passage of the eventual legislation implementing much of that agenda in the 50-50 Senate without Republican support.

House Democratic aides representing committees that would be involved in drawing up the bill will meet Friday at the White House with Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell and other senior administration officials, according to a White House official.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement the Biden administration is working closely with Pelosi and others in leadership to ensure House passage of both the infrastructure bill and the budget resolution.

“Just as Senate Democrats came together to advance both key elements of the President’s economic agenda – the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Budget Resolution that is the framework for our Build Back Better plan – we are confident that House Democrats will do the same,” Psaki said.

The moderates’ letter follows a statement Tuesday from leaders of the House Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, calling for Pelosi to swiftly bring the infrastructure bill to a vote.

The Blue Dog co-chairs said they “remain opposed to any effort to unnecessarily delay consideration of these critical infrastructure investments, which will create good-paying jobs, keep American businesses competitive, and grow our nation’s economy.”

Progressives, though, have been adamant.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said recently that the infrastructure bill doesn’t have a path to House passage “unless it has a reconciliation package, with our priorities, alongside it.”

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE HILL

"Progressives hit back after moderates take aim at Pelosi"


Jordan Williams

2 OCTOBER 2021

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other House Democrats on Saturday responded to their moderate colleagues who took aim at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not bringing the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to the floor for a vote this week.

"The Speaker didn't break any promises," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday after Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) accused Pelosi of breaking a promise to House moderates.

"The arbitrary date 9 people insisted on was in the Aug rule vote to proceed on a $3.5T bill."

"That bound $3.5T w/ Sept date."

"Challenging $3.5 also challenged their date."

"That's ok!"

"Right > rushed."

"We can still Build Back Better... together!" Ocasio-Cortez added.

Gottheimer went after Pelosi late Friday for delaying the vote on the bipartisan bill amid threats from House progressives to withhold support until the larger "human infrastructure" proposal was passed.

The New Jersey Democrat, who led nine moderates in ensuring that Pelosi would hold a stand-alone vote for the proposal by the end of September, said Pelosi breached a "firm, public commitment" to lawmakers to vote on the deal.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, also said that she was "profoundly disappointed and disillusioned" that the vote was delayed.

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) took aim at Gottheimer, tweeting "What an odd way of saying 'I'm embarrassed by my failed attempt to force an arbitrary deadline in direct defiance of the Speaker's originally stated plan.'"

"'I will stop taking the American people hostage moving forward.'"

President Biden visited House Democrats on Friday, during which he made it clear that the reconciliation bill and infrastructure bill were linked, sealing the win for progressives who wanted the two measures passed together.

After the meeting, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) tweeted "this afternoon @POTUS stood with @SpeakerPelosi and 95% of the @HouseDemocrats and said the opposite: that his historic vision for America first requires a Build Back Better reconciliation deal."

"That's the way a bipartisan infrastructure bill will win the votes to become law."

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR

Opinion: On Electoral Bribery in America


Special Opinion by Paul Plante

AUGUST 22, 2021

As to electoral bribery in America today, which I posit is how Joe Biden managed to win the white house, by bribing the electorate with all sorts of extravagant and grandiose free government give-aways that Joe would provide them if only they would put him in the white house to save the soul of America, in an academic article entitled “Electoral Bribery in The Roman Republic” by Andrew Lintott published online by Cambridge University Press on 24 September 2012, we learn about the term “electoral bribery” in the political context as follows:

In Western Europe to-day we tend to assume automatically that electoral bribery is pernicious, in that it distorts the democratic process, the selection by the people of their own representatives, by shifting whatever power lies in the generality of the electorate back into the hands of the people who seek office, so that a democratic procedure becomes in effect oligarchic.

We even term bribery the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person or party, which we believe will not be in the people’s long-term interest or will be rapidly discarded in favour of policies which suit those in power.

end quotes

That, of course, is precisely what we observed regarding the Biden/Harris campaign in the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections in this country, and it well can be said, and should be said, as I stated above, that Joe Biden is the president because of successful electoral bribery made possible today because of the impact of “social media” as a propaganda tool for politicians, where electoral bribery is considered to be bribery of masses of people, as opposed to the old tried-and-true Democrat Party tactic of buying individual votes.

For a good example of electoral bribery by the presentation of attractive policies to the electorate by a person, Joe Biden, and party, the Democrats, which have not been shown to be in the people’s long-term interest, nor can such a demonstration be made, let’s go to Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Speech Transcript from Crystal Lake, Illinois on July 7, 2021, to wit:

Those of you who have children under the of seven, you’re going to get three and depending on your income and your income taxes, you’re going to get a cash payment back up to now.

And guess what?

You get $2,000 is declared a dependent.

If you have two children you get $4,000 off a $10,000 tax bill, it’s important.

But if you don’t make enough money to be able to owe that kind of tax you don’t get a tax credit, you don’t get anything.

While under this proposal guess what?

You’re in a situation where if you have a child under the age of seven, you get back $3600 in cash.

In addition to that those of you are in that situation are going to start to see that coming in by the end of this month on a monthly basis.

It can change the lives of people.

Starting next week families will begin to receive one of the largest ever single year tax cuts aimed at families and children.

And every child under the age of six is $3,600.

Every child between six and 17 is 3000.

And not as a credit against your taxes, but as a direct payment.

You’ll get cash.

Cash that’s what we’ll get.

For example middle-class family with two children – … cash, that’s what you’ll get.

For example, a middle-class family with two children can expect to receive $7,200.

You get the first half, the $3,600 paid out at $600 a month between July and December.

And you get the rest between January and tax day.

end quotes

And of course, we will be told in response that that is simply how American politics works – people are going to vote for who makes the most outlandish and extravagant promises if they believe that it will result in free money in their pocket, regardless of the true costs to the nation of what is in reality a huge welfare scheme, like the Corn Dole in Rome, to buy votes.

For another example of electoral bribery as a political strategy, let us go to the political document “Resistance Rising: Socialist Strategy in the Age of Political Revolution – A summary of Democratic Socialists of America’s Strategy Document – June 2016” from June 25, 2016, where we have as follows:

Free public higher education is a key example of what we might call a “transformative” reform that helps to popularize the idea of socialism and to make further, more dramatic reforms possible in the future.

Free public higher education would mean taking what should be a universal public good out of the marketplace, putting it under democratic control and guaranteeing it as a right to all citizens — and funding it by a truly progressive tax system that makes the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of government revenue.

Beyond its inherent benefits, such a campaign would also show people that socialist policies are both desirable and achievable.

Gaining free public higher education could serve as a crucial step in making democratic socialist politics more attractive to a wider cross-section of the U.S. public.

end quotes

There is electoral bribery as political strategy, and guess what, people, it works, as we can see from the Washington Examiner article entitled “More Democratic voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift: Poll” by Zachary Halaschak on 13 August 2021, to wit:

Democrats have grown considerably more accepting of socialism since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a new poll.

A survey by Fox News conducted this week found that 59% of Democratic voters hold a favorable opinion of socialism, compared to 49% who said the same of capitalism.

Furthermore, 44% of Democrats hold an unfavorable view of capitalism, compared to 31% who view socialism negatively.

The new results are a marked shift from February 2020, when 40% of Democratic voters said they held a favorable view of socialism, compared to half who said the same about capitalism.

The poll comes as the House has become imbued with a vocal contingent of socialists and those who support socialist priorities.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was elected in 2018 after a shocking primary upset and has since championed policies such as “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal.

Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts made waves after entering office, with the self-proclaimed “Squad” having outsize influence within the party and attracting much media attention, at times to the chagrin of party leadership.

Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America, were sworn into Congress after last year’s election.

end quotes

Yes, indeed, promise them the sun, moon and stars for free and you win their hearts and minds every time, and if the result is destroying the economy, hey, that’s the cost of doing business in politics today, where what you gave them the last time is now not enough, which takes us to the academic work “Electoral Bribery and the Challenge to the Authority of the Senate: Two Aspects of Dio’s View of the Late Roman Republic (Books 36–40)” by Marianne Coudry, where we are told that electoral bribery or ambitus, was a fatal weakness of the Late Roman Republic, and so it turned out to be, given the Roman civil war after Dio.

As to ambitus, Lexico defines it as the action of seeking to obtain an office or position through underhand means; especially the use of bribery to gain electoral support, which takes us to Wikipedia, as follows:

In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate’s attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power.

The Latin word ambitus is the origin of the English word “ambition” which is another of its original meanings; ambitus was the process of “going around and commending oneself or one’s protégés to the people,” an activity liable to unethical excesses.

The Lex Baebia was the first law criminalizing electoral bribery, instituted by M. Baebius Tamphilus during his consulship in 181 BC.

The lex Tullia was passed in the consulship of Cicero (63 BC) for the purpose of adding to the penalties of the Acilia Calpurnia.

The penalty under this lex was ten years’ exile.

This law forbade any person to exhibit public shows for two years before he was a candidate.

It also forbade candidates hiring persons to attend them and be about their persons.

end quotes

Which brings us back to present time and a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Pelosi Braces for Showdown With Moderates Over Infrastructure Vote” by Andrew Duehren and Eliza Collins on 18 August 2021, where we have yet another clear-cut case of electoral bribery by the Democrats in the making right here in America, to wit:

WASHINGTON—Top House Democrats said the chamber would move forward with voting on the budget blueprint for a $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate package next week, rebuffing demands from a group of centrist Democrats to first vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and urging their caucus to stay unified around President Biden’s agenda.

“I would hope that none of us, that none of us, would do or say anything that would jeopardize passing these bills.”

“These bills are critical for us maintaining our majority, and that must reign supreme,” Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) told members on a Tuesday telephone call, according to a person listening to it.

end quotes

Translation: if the Democrats aren’t able to loot our treasury with which to gain the money they need to buy off enough voters to keep them in power, they will lose the majority.

So they are not doing anything for America.

To the contrary, all their efforts are aimed at solidifying their grasp on power in America, and what better way to do that than to lavish free gifts on the electorate?

Promise them the sun, the moon, the stars, free education, and guaranteed money in their pocket each month, even of they don’t work and refuse to work, and you own their vote!

That is what electoral bribery is – buying votes through policies that are attractive to the voters, but not good for the nation in the long term, as the Romans found out to their detriment.

So what will the future bring us?

Stay tuned!

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR OCTOBER 17, 2021 AT 10:12 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, yes, people – electoral bribery as a sure-fire means of winning elections here in the United States of America, and as we can clearly see in an article in The Hill entitled “Progressives say go big and make life hard for GOP” by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis on 16 October 2021, the Democrats are making no secret whatsoever of their plans to bribe the electorate once more with taxpayer dollars in order to win the 2022 congressional elections to further cement their hold on government here in the United States to our collective detriment, to wit:

Progressives have a new argument for why their push for a broad array of social benefit programs is the right approach for President Biden and Democrats: It will put Republicans in a prickly spot if they fight to end the benefits down the road.

Liberals maintain that once voters receive federal perks like expanded child tax credits and Medicare, family leave and free college tuition, they will demand that Congress extend those benefits when it comes time for them to sunset.

end quotes

And my goodness, of course they will, and who wouldn’t?

Just think of it – every time you turn around, there will be the PROGRESSIVES with something else that is free, and why would anyone want that gravy train to come to an end?

Getting back to that story, we have:

These progressives, many of whom represent solidly blue districts, also argue the embrace of those policies is the best way to win elections.

end quotes

And historically, people, bribing the electorate with taxpayer money has always been a sure-fire way to win elections!

Just ask the Romans, and if you can find them, they will tell you it is so!

Afterall, look what the corn dole did for them back when – people loved it so much they quit working and moved to Rome to get in the line for their own free corn, and as a result, Rome isn’t in existence any more, but hey, it was great while it lasted, which takes us back to the story of modern day blatant electoral bribery in America, to wit:

“Many of us believe that once families have access to child care, once employees have access to paid family leave, once we begin certain programs, that it will be very challenging for Republicans to cut them off – just as it was challenging for them to end the ACA,” progressive Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told The Hill.

end quotes

Just as once Rome started the corn dole, that was it – there was no way to cut it off without risking riots, which again takes us back to that story of reckless and irresponsible public spending by these PROGRESSIVES in order to buy the 2022 congressional elections, to wit:

Party leaders intend to move the social benefits package by a special budget process, known as reconciliation, which empowers them to sidestep the Senate filibuster and move the legislation without any Republican support.

But with the slimmest of majorities in both the House and Senate, they’ll need virtual unanimity behind the policy prescriptions to get the package – along with a less contentious infrastructure proposal – to Biden’s desk.

As mediator between the feuding factions, Pelosi is taking pains to resolve the differences and win an agreement that can pass through both chambers.

In a letter to Democrats on Monday, the Speaker seemed to side with the “less-is-more” camp, suggesting that some of the programs in Biden’s initial $3.5 trillion package might be eliminated altogether.

In doing so, she advanced the idea of prioritizing child benefits and efforts to tackle climate change.

“Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well,” she wrote.

The next morning, however, Pelosi appeared to change her tune, saying her first cost-cutting strategy will be not to prune benefit programs, but to scale back their longevity.

In explaining her reasoning, she cited pushback from liberal lawmakers who want to go broad in scope.

“Some members have written back to me and said, ‘I want to do everything.'”

“So we’ll have that discussion,” Pelosi said.

“The timing would be reduced in many cases to make the cost lower.”

Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are pressing the Speaker to follow through with that design.

In a letter sent to Pelosi on Wednesday, more than two dozen CPC members urged her to keep the broad contours of the reconciliation package, even if it means squeezing the benefit timelines.

“If given a choice between legislating narrowly or broadly, we strongly encourage you to choose the latter, and make robust investments over a shorter window,” wrote the liberals, led by CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

“It would be very hard for people to take things away, and that’s part of our goal,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), another leading progressive.

“Once people see how popular these things are … many of these debates are the same debates we had when you created Social Security and other programs.”

“And once people got them, you saw how wildly popular [they were].”

“We think some of these are going to be in that wildly popular category.”

“That’s why we want to keep them out there, even if it’s for a little bit of shortened time, because once people start to see it,” they will support it, Pocan continued.

“The child tax credit is a classic example.”

“I mean [look] how popular it is right now; it’s a lot easier for us to extend that out.”

end quotes

And isn’t social security today facing some “issues” with funding?

Do we want to see these PROGRESSIVES run America into the ground as they try to use federal taxpayer dollars to bribe the electorate with come November of 2022?

If so, vote Democrat, get all the free stuff you can from them, and you will be there sooner than you think!

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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REUTERS

"White House condemns lawmaker Gosar's violent images of colleague Ocasio-Cortez"


By Reuters Staff

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is no place in the U.S. political system for the sort of violent images Congressman Paul Gosar spread about his colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

“There is absolutely no place ... for any violence of any sort in this political system,” said Jean-Pierre, adding she would leaving it to Twitter to decide how to act.

“This should not be happening, and we should be condemning it,” she said.

Gosar, a Republican lawmaker, posted an anime-style cartoon on Twitter depicting him swinging swords at President Joe Biden and Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, and killing her.

The social media company put a warning on the post, but did not remove it.

Earlier in the day, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for investigations into Gosar’s video.

“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” Pelosi tweeted.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Mark Heinrich

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE GUARDIAN

"AOC refuses to endorse Biden for 2024 as Democrats doubt his ability to win"


Richard Luscombe

12 JUNE 2022

Left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday refused to endorse Joe Biden for another run at the White House, adding to growing anxiety in Democratic circles over the president’s ability to run in and win the 2024 election.

The powerful progressive New Yorker said she could not commit to supporting Biden during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, saying she was more focused on trying to preserve Democrats’ congressional majority in November’s midterms.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Ocasio-Cortez said when asked directly if she would support Biden.

“If the president has a vision and that’s something we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes… we should endorse when we get to it."

"We’ll take a look at it.”

“Right now we need to focus on winning a majority instead of a federal presidential election.”

Ocasio-Cortez is a vocal member of the Democratic party’s left wing, which has been pushing Biden to take executive actions to get past a congressional logjam in his agenda.

But there appears to be growing discomfort with the 79-year-old president across the array of Democratic ranks.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that “dozens of frustrated Democratic officials, members of Congress and voters” were doubtful Biden possessed the ability to turn around the party’s fortunes.

And New York magazine’s Intelligencer explored the issue of Biden’s longevity last month, noting that: “Many of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors – even as they pledge to back Biden’s reelection in earnest – have quietly started to poke around for alternatives in 2024.”


Biden is mired by the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and seemingly unable to solve a raft of problems facing the country from inflation to abortions rights and gun reform.

Despite Democrats having control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, he has also been unable to advance signature policy objectives such as the Build Back Better act and voting protections.

Adding to the discomfort is Biden’s age: he will turn 82 the day barely two weeks after he would be seeking re-election.

“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” David Axelrod, former president Barack Obama’s chief strategist, told the New York Times.

Ocasio-Cortez did tell CNN that she thought Biden was “doing a very good job so far” and didn’t rule out eventually backing him “if the president chooses to run again”.

Traditionally, however, sitting first-term presidents have always enjoyed the unswerving loyalty and backing from their party, something Biden clearly does not have.

The questioning is expected to intensify if, as polls suggest, Democrats take a hammering in November’s midterms and lose control of one, or both chambers of Congress.


“[Biden] should announce his intent not to seek re-election right after the midterms,” Steve Simeonidis, a Miami-based member of the Democratic national committee (DNC) told the Times.

“To say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality.”

Many of the Democrats interviewed by the newspaper, including elected officials, indicated the situation was not helped by a lack of clarity over a natural successor.

At a Detroit rally during his 2020 campaign, Biden said he viewed himself “as a bridge” to a younger generation of Democratic leaders, an indication that his objective was to run to get Donald Trump out of office, then prepare to hand over the baton.

But vice-president Kamala Harris, once seen as Biden’s heir apparent, has struggled to make a mark, despite attempting to seize the lead on Democrats’ opposition to the supreme court’s expected imminent ruling ending almost half a century of abortion rights.

Biden has indicated he intends to run again, telling his old boss Obama in April that he was preparing for 2024 with Harris on the ticket.

Sources said he sees himself as the only candidate capable of keeping Trump out of the White House if the former president launches another campaign.


According to Intelligencer, Democrats are broadly split into two camps, those who see Biden’s troubles as familiar midterms woes facing most administrations, with fortunes set to improve as 2024 approaches; and those who consider that the unprecedented combination of circumstances, including Biden’s age, his strategy and uncertainty of succession, make a future path uncertain and unpredictable.

Jasmine Crockett, a Democratic Texas state representative, told the New York Times that many of her party’s problems at a national level, and by extension Biden’s problems too, come down to one thing: failing to stimulate voters by using their power.

“Democrats are like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Crockett said.

“Our country is completely falling apart."

"And so I think we’re lacking in the excitement.”

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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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THE NEW YORK POST

"AOC hypes her effort to block SCOTUS security bill after Brett Kavanaugh threat"


By Ben Feuerherd

June 10, 2022 6:58pm 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez self-hyped her effort to block a Senate-approved bill that would step up security protections for Supreme Court justices and their immediate family members Thursday — a day after an armed man was arrested for attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The Bronx Democrat posted a video on her Instagram feed of her running up the steps to the Capitol so she could be present on the House floor to stop a unanimous consent request by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to move the measure.


In a subsequent video, the “Squad” member claimed McCarthy was trying to push the legislation through the House on a so-called “fly-out day,” when members leave Washington to return to their home districts.

AOC told her followers that she would oppose the unanimous consent request until the Senate advances gun control measures after a spate of mass shootings in the US, including the May 24 Uvalde, Texas elementary school massacre.

“Oh, so we can pass protections for us and here easily, right?"

"But we can’t pass protections for everyday people?"

"I think not,” she said.

“I’m going to need a roll call vote on that.”

House Democrats, who say they want to expand the bill to include enhanced security for Supreme Court clerks and other employees, rejected the unanimous consent request, sending McCarthy into a rage on the House floor.

“How many times do they have to be threatened?” he asked, referring to the justices.

“How many people have to be arrested with a gun outside their home?”

The outburst took place hours after a California man was arrested with a cache of weapons outside Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after he called 911 on himself and told an operator he was having suicidal thoughts and wanted to kill the justice, according to court documents.

“What would have happened had he not called 911?” McCarthy asked his Democratic colleagues Wednesday night.

“He didn’t just have a gun."

"He had zip ties."

"But somehow you want to leave."

"This bill could be on the president’s desk right now.”

The Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent May 9 after a draft Supreme Court opinion leaked that indicated the justices were close to overturning Roe v. Wade, triggering nationwide protests.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snapped at a reporter who pressed her about Supreme Court security.

“He’s protected."

"The justices are protected,” Pelosi said of Kavanaugh, later adding: “No one is in danger over the weekend because of our not having a bill.”

https://nypost.com/2022/06/10/aoc-hypes ... gh-threat/
thelivyjr
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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Post by thelivyjr »

BUSINESS INSIDER

"Standing among protestors after the fall of Roe vs. Wade, AOC calls on Biden to create abortion clinics on federal land"


ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert)

24 JUNE 2022

* Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on Friday called on President Biden to create abortion clinics on federal land.

* She spoke to a group of protestors in New York who had gathered to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

* AOC said federal clinics would be a "baby step" Biden could take to protect abortion rights.


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday called on President Biden to create abortion clinics on federal land, following the landmark Supreme Court ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade and removed federal abortion protections.

Speaking to a crowd of protestors gathered in New York's Union Square, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez encouraged people to "be relentless to restore and guarantee all of our rights."


She detailed her own experience after sexual assault in her 20s, when she was grateful that abortion would have been an option for her if she needed it, and pushed for federal action to preserve access to reproductive healthcare.

"I think one of the things that we know, too, is that there are also actions at President Biden's disposal that he can mobilize," Rep. Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd.

"I'll start with the babiest of the babiest of the baby steps: Open abortion clinics on federal lands in red states right now."

"Right now."

On Friday, the US Supreme Court rolled back federal abortion protections in a 5-4 vote which overturned rights established in Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

The decision, a draft of which was leaked in May, sent a shock throughout the country, sparking nationwide protests and wide-ranging reactions from business and political leaders.

Abortion access will be significantly limited in 13 states that had trigger laws in place to become active in the event Roe v. Wade was overturned.

On Twitter, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez also took aim at Republican senators who claimed they had been misled by Supreme Court nominees about their position on abortion rights in order to secure confirmation votes.

"We should hear from Senators Murkowski, Collins, and Manchin if they believe there should be any consequences at all for misleading members of the US Senate in order to secure a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land," Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

"Otherwise Roe's undoing is their legacy too."

Representatives for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d3e5783bcc
thelivyjr
Site Admin
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Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Post by thelivyjr »

NEWSWEEK

"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls for Protests Over Supreme Court's Roe Ruling"


BY NICK MORDOWANEC

ON 6/24/22 AT 3:12 PM EDT

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was marching Friday with abortion-rights advocates in front of the Supreme Court following its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In a video captured by Turning Point USA contributor Drew Hernandez, the New York Democrat is seen participating with numerous protesters who took turns calling the decision "illegitimate" and encouraging opponents to march "into the streets" to show disapproval.


Soon after the abortion decision was released Friday morning, protests began outside of the Court's building.

Both abortion-rights and anti-abortion activists arrived at the site to demonstrate.

No instances of violence were reported by police by late Friday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that overturning Roe and outlawing abortions "will never make them go away."

"It only makes them more dangerous, especially for the poor and marginalized," she wrote.

"People will die because of this decision."

"And we will never stop until abortion rights are restored in the United States of America."

In response, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted a video of Ocasio-Cortez protesting, saying she had "launched an insurrection."

The Georgia Republican added, "Any violence and rioting is a direct result of Democrat marching orders."


Newsweek reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment.

Other Democrats in Congress, such as California Representative Ted Lieu, gathered with abortion-rights advocates on Friday.

Jane's Revenge, a group formed after the May leak of the Court's majority draft opinion that foretold Friday's decision, vowed a "night of rage" in Washington, D.C.

Flyers from the group have reportedly been circulated in the city.

They read: "The night SCOTUS overturns Roe v. Wade hit the streets you said you'd riot."

"To our oppressors: if abortions aren't safe, you're not either."


The flyers were signed with the group's name.

As protesters gathered in front of the Supreme Court, a group of House Democrats were singing "God Bless America," as seen in a video.

Earlier Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read a poem in response to the ruling.

In an Instagram Q&A last night, Ocasio-Cortez said her "honest view" was that "things" in America were likely to be more difficult moving forward.

She did not refer to anything in particular but said people have to "stick together."

"It is really about a choice all of us will have to make in life, either consciously or unconsciously: Will I be a person who is safe and creates good for others?"

"Will I be a person who stands up?"

"Will I be a person who primarily minds my business and serves myself or try to be part of something bigger?" she asked.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court lacks the confidence of the vast majority of the American people, according to Gallup.

Its poll on the subject, done annually, shows that just 25 percent of citizens have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the Court.

The poll was conducted between June 1 and 20, ahead of both the Roe decision and Thursday's ruling striking down a century-old New York state law on carrying guns in public.

https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-oca ... ng-1719071
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