The United States Congress Will (Probably) have a Socialist In It

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Before today's bad news there was good news last night, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Primary in New York's 14th Congressional District, where she is all but assumed to win the election in November. Not only would this make her the youngest woman ever elected to congress, she'd be the first member of a socialist organization in Congress in 90 years.

Ocasio-Cortez, obviously, faces an uphil battle on maintaining the excitement from new voters that helped lead her to a pretty resounding victory, as she'll be a minority party without the executive branch. How she maintains and works within congress given enormous legislative obstacles will be interesting to see. Dems have been quick to support her after her primary victory, and I get the sense the political environment means the party won't leave her out to dry, but it matters little with such little current control.

Anyways discuss away! Thoughts? Happy at her primary victory? Disappointed? Think she has any chance of not winning? Wonder if after a few years her support will wane as she gets ground down into dust in DC? Who knows!

 

[innonimatu]

And that is very good news even if she is not elected, because it means a total scumbag (Crowley) will be out of your legislative chamber.

 

[Peuri]

Hopefully she does well, but a pessimist is never disappointed.

 

[Oerdin]

Some of her policies are nice; others are stupid as hell. I speak of her desire to abolish ICE and have open borders though she seems to be back tracking now that the media has pointed out how stupid her position is.

The sad part is I predict she will be entirely ineffective as a legislator and instead will just be a shrill screecher, verbal bomb thrower, and ever present guest on MSNBC.

 

[Zkribbler]

This is about all I know about her.
Wiki:

Ocasio-Cortez is a left wing democratic socialist, supporting Medicare for All, a Jobs Guarantee, ending the privatization of prisons, and enacting gun-control policies.[23] Ocasio-Cortez has criticized Israel's foreign policy, calling the killing of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border on May 14, 2018, a "massacre".[24] She supports abolishing ICE, and has said that ICE is running "black sites".[25] Ocasio-Cortez campaigned on a platform of Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee, and tuition-free public college.[26][27]

I predict the GOP, Fox News, & talk radio will rush to brand her as a Stalinist even tho she's a self-proclaimed democratic socialist in line with Bernie Sanders and the Scandinavian countries (all of whom exceed us in upward economic mobility, happiness & life expectancy).

She & I are a lot alike.

Medicare for All
a Jobs Guarantee [I need to study the ramifications]
ending the privatization of prisons
enacting gun-control policies [the devil's in the details]
criticized Israel's foreign policy
calling the killing of Palestinian protesters, a "massacre"
abolishing ICE erm, no
tuition-free public college

 

[Lexicus]

abolishing ICE erm, no

How about entirely changing the function of ICE from border enforcement to actually helping people who cross the border
-make their trip safely
-integrate into US society
-provide counselling and other social services
-etc.

It's really good, I'm glad she won.

 

[Arwon]

This is a pretty solid set of policies tbh. Wouldn't be out of place as the charter of many parliamentary centre left and left parties.

 

[Lexicus]

Her platform is so damn good, she was literally talking about how we need to have a WW2-style mobilization of the economy to go emissions-free! I've been saying that for like six years now! I've even heard she understands MMT and functional finance.

And that is very good news even if she is not elected, because it means a total scumbag (Crowley) will be out of your legislative chamber.

Dude, whichever Republican replaced him would be a bigger scumbag, guaranteed.

The sad part is I predict she will be entirely ineffective as a legislator and instead will just be a shrill screecher, verbal bomb thrower, and ever present guest on MSNBC.

No misogynist subtext here folks, move along now

 

[Synobun]

I hope her success encourages other districts to follow suit. Having her shoot to the top would be nice but it'd be more heartening if this resulted in other localities around the US adopting similar platforms.

Simplification of the residency system and taxing the financial industry to fund the education industry alone would dramatically change the US for the better. Good stuff.

 

[Lexicus]

It's unlikely. The significance of her victory is being vastly overstated by the left; she's in a safe Democrat district in one of the most left/liberal cities in the country. The fact that she won hardly means that the "New Democrats" are collapsing or that America is about to be hit by a socialist wave.

 

[Synobun]

Man, you can clap hands for El Presidente but you gotta rain on this parade? Boo to you, Lexicus!

 

[Lexicus]

Clap hands for him? I've been regularly calling for his execution for the crimes I believe he's committed!

 

[Arakhor]

Moderator Action: As a reminder, should one be needed, CFC is not the place for calling for the violent death or overthrowing of any political figure (least of all the US President).
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Zkribbler]

I watched Fox News this morning.

They were complaining she hadn't explained how she would pay for these programs. Meanwhile Fox continues to laud Trump's budget busting tax cuts.

 

[innonimatu]

It's unlikely. The significance of her victory is being vastly overstated by the left; she's in a safe Democrat district in one of the most left/liberal cities in the country. The fact that she won hardly means that the "New Democrats" are collapsing or that America is about to be hit by a socialist wave.

As I have seen posted elsewhere, the fact that she won means that all these lost:
Facebook
Google
Blackrock
Humana
Raytheon
Capitol One
AFLAC
Microsoft
CIGNA
TD Bank
H&R Block
Salesforce dot com
United Technology
Deloitte
Covington and Burling
Anheuser-Busch
Honeywell
Intel
American Bankers Association
Citigroup
UPS
T-Mobile
Phillip Morris
ERNST & YOUNG
Florida Sugar Cane
Boeing
Constellation Brands
Altice
The Options Clearinghouse
Diageo
Cisco Systems
State Street Bank
JP Morgan
SIFMA
Real Estate Roundtable
Marriott
American Hospital Association
BNSF Railway
Mortgage Bankers Association
Charles Schwab
Experion
Lockheed Martin
Discover
Quicken
Pepsico
Major League Baseball
Liberty Mutual
Wawa
BAE Systems
American Crystal
Acxiom
Holland and Knight
Airbus
Regeron Pharma
Mastercard
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Delta
United Health Group
HSBC
S&P
Disney
National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
Viacom
Ally Financial
Union Pacific
News Corp

The "safe Democrat district" was a sold out Democrat district. But whether she will actually be different (if elected) is still for you to see.

 

[Zkribbler]

I predict she will be the House version of Bernie Sanders

 

[Lexicus]

As I have seen posted elsewhere, the fact that she won means that all these lost:

Sure, in one district. I don't want to suggest her victory is meaningless, but this ain't the revolution I'm afraid.

 

[Zkribbler]

Sure, in one district. I don't want to suggest her victory is meaningless, but this ain't the revolution I'm afraid.

One robin does not a spring make.

 

[Takhisis]

Sure, in one district. I don't want to suggest her victory is meaningless, but this ain't the revolution I'm afraid.

It's better than nothing, I suppose. The more of these people you get in, the less you'll devastate the lands in your back yard and the lesser the need for people to flee to the US will be.

 

[Ferocitus]

View attachment 498820
This is a pretty solid set of policies tbh. Wouldn't be out of place as the charter of many parliamentary centre left and left parties.

After the world population reached 7 billion, Australian scientists proved that
we could all kick back and relax a little for the next few centuries.
I'd support her if she said that the "work harder until you die ethic" was a
busted flush.