“I’m a
controversial figure in Democratic politics,” he says. His affection for
the Jewish state makes him “particularly radioactive to the far left.
There’s no issue on which I face more hate, harassment, and even death
threats.” Mr. Torres says there is “a deep strain of antisemitism on the
far left.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighboring 14th District, has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide.” ... On Jan.
16, two days after Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State
address, Mr. Torres accused her of failing to support the state’s Jews.
“Antisemitic hate crimes have risen to historic highs in New York,” he
tweeted. “Yet when I searched the Governor’s State of the State for the
word ‘antisemitism,’ nothing came up.” He tells me the next day that
“the governor had a 140-page policy document and there was not a single
mention of antisemitism. Never mind that Jews are the target of more
hate crimes than everyone else combined. None of that mattered to her.”
NPC is withdrawing our conditional endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, although she will remain endorsed by our New York City chapter. ...
Many members have supported national endorsement while at the same
time demanding that AOC demonstrate a higher level of commitment to
Palestinian liberation, self-determination, and the immediate end to the
heinous genocide in Gaza committed by Israel that aligns with DSA’s
positions and expectations of socialists in office.
We recognize that AOC has taken many courageous positions on
Palestine such as co-sponsoring several House Resolutions (3103, 786,
496), naming Israel’s genocide as well as opposing House Resolution 894.
However, members have raised their concerns regarding a number of her
votes, including a vote in favor of H.Res.888, conflating opposition to
Israel’s “right to exist” with antisemitism. AOC also co-signed a press
release on April 20, 2024, that “support[s] strengthening the Iron Dome
and other defense systems”
Finally, AOC recently hosted a public panel with leaders from the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs, lobbyists for the IHRA definition of
antisemitism. On this panel, she conflated anti-Zionism with
antisemitism and condemned boycotting Zionist institutions. This
sponsorship is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare
to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct
action in recent months, and in decades past.
. . . after mounting pressure, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
condemned the “bigotry and callousness” at a pro-Palestinian rally
aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in New York
City. ...
In a sign of the growing pressure on progressives, Ocasio-Cortez
earlier this week criticized the DSA-aligned rally in New York City’s
Times Square, a stance that came after she was chided for supporting a
ceasefire.
The rally, which was held in support of Palestinians, drew swift
rebukes from leaders across the political spectrum. Ocasio-Cortez, whose
district is not far from where the protests were held, eventually
released a statement condemning it.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) speaks at a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., December 13, 2022.(Sarah Silbiger/Reuters)none
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Protesters booed and heckled RepresentativeAlexandria Ocasio-Cortezat a town hall she held in Queens, N.Y., on Friday night.
A man holding small American flags approached the progressive “Squad” member and shouted, “American citizens before migrants.”
“Where are you on the migrant issue? You’re a piece of s***,” he added.
Ocasio-Cortez said, “OK,” as the man was escorted off.
New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) declared a state of emergency in New York after the expiration of Title 42 earlier this month. The state has roughly 60,000 asylum seekers relying on social services. New York City has gotten so overwhelmed with the influx of migrants that the city has begun sending them to the suburbs. Hochul said she is “looking at all state assets to help ameliorate the problem that is at a crisis level here in the City of New York,” which could includes housing migrants at SUNY campuses, closed psychiatric centers, large parks and parking lots.
Protesters at the town hall held signs concerning a number of issues: “America First. Vetted legal migrants only,” “Stop funding Ukraine,” “AOC: An Obvious Criminal,” and “AOC: Stop pushing drag queen story hour,”
More protesters came forward throughout the evening, including a woman who was critical of Ocasio-Cortez’s support for U.S. funding in Ukraine. The New York Democrat voted to send $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine last year.
“Stop funding this war, there’s a lot of communities that need help and need that money,” another woman said as she was removed from the event.
Ocasio-Cortez was met with both boos and cheers from the crowd when she suggested the Biden administration should abolish the debt limit, as a June 5 debt default deadline looms.
“$100 billion for Ukraine that you voted for!” one man shouted in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on the debt ceiling.
The progressive lawmaker said earlier this week that the “stakes of a default cannot be understated.”
“The chaos that would ensue and the impact on people’s everyday lives would likely be immediate and it is one of the reasons why we need to take default off the table,” she said.
Canceling $10,000 per borrower would cost around $321 billion and completely forgive the loans of about one-third of student loan borrowers.
This is all BS, of course. Millions of those borrowers can afford to pay off their loans themselves.
Student loans are another form of welfare for far too many borrowers of color, who dig themselves into a deep hole with government and education establishment encouragement and never get a degree, both of which also profit off the scheme. Meanwhile colleges continue to increase the cost of tuition knowing there is a ready source of government loan funding to pay for it.
Forgiving student loan debt without paying attention to income will inevitably be a handout to millions upon millions of high earners like Representative AOC who drives a Tesla Model 3 while reducing the average black loan balance by less than 20%.
Americans with income over $74,000 hold roughly 60% of the total public student loan debt. ... Black Americans are the only race who have student debt higher than their median annual income.
If you make over $74k you are in the top 20% of all wage earners in the United States in 2020. You can afford to pay your obligations. AOC is in the top 4% of all wage earners.
Handing $10k in loan forgiveness to American elites isn't a vote-buying scheme. It's a Democrat patronage payment.
