“I haven’t picked up a phone once this year to dial for dollars, and I don’t meet with corporate lobbyists. That is the power of your grassroots support.”
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams (11/27/19)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised more money for reelection than any other House Democrat in the third quarter of 2019, an achievement the New York Democrat touted as a testament to the power of grassroots fundraising over schmoozing with corporate lobbyists and wealthy executives.
The New York Post reported late Tuesday that Ocasio-Cortez raised $1.42 million between July 1 through September 30 for her 2020 reelection campaign, topping all House Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose fundraising prowess is well known.
“While many try to belittle a progressive agenda that centers working people and the public good, in truth it’s more powerful than ever,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, the lead sponsor of the Green New Deal resolution in the House. “I haven’t picked up a phone once this year to dial for dollars, and I don’t meet with corporate lobbyists. That is the power of your grassroots support.”
According to the Post, $1.1 million of the $1.42 million Ocasio-Cortez raised in the third quarter came from donations under $200. Running a campaign fueled by grassroots support instead of corporate buckraking, said Ocasio-Cortez, opens up “much more time for me to be fully present at my job.”
“I intentionally built my campaign to rely on small-dollar grassroots support without any corporate money, because I felt that’s the best way to be accountable to everyday people,” said the New York Democrat. “It has impacted how I work in Congress in powerful ways—ways I couldn’t fully appreciate until I got here.”
“Our political system’s reliance on huge sums of money has many negative impacts, but one of the largest is that it takes lawmakers’ time away from lawmaking,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “That’s a feature, not a flaw—the less time lawmakers have, the more special interests can slip in harmful provisions.”
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- The Rising: AOC beats Nancy Pelosi In Fundraising While Bernie Sanders Surges To First In NH & New Ad In Iowa — Team Rising discusses the AOC effect on how fundraising will work in 2020 and Bernie surging to lead in the latest New Hampshire poll. and issues new ad in Iowa: Link To 10-Minute Video
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‘An Unjust Society Is Far Costlier’: AOC Says Beware The Deficit Scolds Who Only Complain About Paying for Stuff When It Benefits People
“Look out for those in politics who like to label themselves ‘fiscally responsible,’ yet only seem to care about the price of justice—not the cost of oppression.”
By Eoin Higgins
Common Dreams (11/28/19)
The New York Democrat made the comments on Twitter, pointing out that members of Congress approved billions in funding for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“I see decisions made every day that cost the American public billions of dollars a year for bogus reasons and nobody asks how we pay for it,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Even though her colleagues know about ICE abuses, said Ocasio-Cortez, they voted for funding the agency without a thought.
“I saw members voting YES without even a summary of the bill,” said the congresswoman. “Nobody cared then how we’d pay for it. Now ICE is setting up fake universities to trap students.”
Reporting Wednesday exposed how ICE used a fake university in Michigan to entrap over 250 undocumented students since January.
Reporting from The Detroit Free Press indicated that the dummy school was set up solely to lure students to the U.S. and then deport them:
“The students had arrived legally in the U.S. on student visas, but since the University of Farmington was later revealed to be a creation of federal agents, they lost their immigration status after it was shut down in January. The school was located on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile Road in Farmington Hills and staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials. …
“Attorneys for ICE and the Department of Justice maintain that the students should have known it was not a legitimate university because it did not have classes in a physical location.”
New York Times contributor Wajahat Ali tweeted that appeals to fiscal responsibility in government programs is a losing strategy for Democrats.
“Bringing a calculator to a knife fight each time and losing,” said Ali.
Ocasio-Cortez suggested it was a question of morality.
“Look out for those in politics who like to label themselves ‘fiscally responsible,’ yet only seem to care about the price of justice—not the cost of oppression,” said the congresswoman. “Everything has a price. And an unjust society is far costlier than one that invests in and values all people.”
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