California Free Press

AOC and Sanders aim to place public housing at center of Green New Deal

Proposal aims to decarbonize all of nation’s public housing units, with an investment of between $162bn and $234bn over next decade

Bernie Sanders speaks alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the capitol in Washington DC on 21 March 2024. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

from The Guardian

With a sweeping legislative proposal, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders are attempting to place public housing at the center of the green energy transition, tackling the twin crises of global warming and soaring housing costs.

“Public housing should be the gold standard for affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe communities,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an email. “This bill is how we ensure that.”

The Green New Deal for Public Housing aims to decarbonize all of the nation’s public housing units – and build more of them – with an investment of between $162bn and $234bn over the next decade. In doing so, it would avert 5.7m tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of removing 1.26m cars from US roads each year, while creating jobs and public health benefits.

The proposal is co-sponsored by a slew of other progressive lawmakers and supported by dozens of environmental groups, housing justice organizations and labor unions.

“We are going to provide decent-quality, affordable housing for millions of Americans, and at the same time, we’re going to create good-paying union jobs,” said Sanders at a Thursday press conference. “That is a win, win, win situation.”

It is not likely to pass, but supporters say it can help build support for the vision.

The bill’s reintroduction comes as the nation faces an unprecedented shortage of affordable housing. In 2022, a record half of US renters spent more than 30% of their incomes on rent, a January report from Harvard University found – and more than half of these “rent-burdened” Americans gave more than 50% of their earnings to the landlord.

Public housing remains an affordable option that 1.7 million Americans rely on. But amid a chronic lack of investment, it is often allowed to fall into disrepair, creating a maintenance backlog of $70bn.

In the absence of funds to mend these units, they are often demolished or privatized instead. As a result, the US public housing stock shrunk from 1.2m units to just over 900,000 between 2009 and 2022 – a 25% decline – according to an analysis from the progressive thinktank Climate and Community Project, which informed the policy proposal.

Instead of allowing the nation’s public housing stock to wither away, the bill seeks to transform it. Units would not only be repaired and freed of contaminants like lead and mold, but also made efficient and green.

Each would be insulated and weatherized to conserve energy, as well as outfitted with fossil fuel-free electric appliances. Renewable energy would be installed on-site. And developments would be made climate-resilient with increased green space and decreased paved areas, which can help absorb heat and soak up water during heavy rains.

In addition to slashing greenhouse gas pollution, the bill would come with “major health and comfort benefits”, said Kira McDonald, a researcher at Climate and Community Project who co-authored the report.

Removing fossil fuel-powered appliances would lower air pollution and therefore improve residents’ respiratory health. And insulation and heat pumps could cut energy bills, while making homes easier to keep at a comfortable temperature amid extreme weather.

The Green New Deal for Public Housing would not only improve the nation’s existing public units, but also “finally help build more”, said Ocasio-Cortez. Currently, the 1998 Faircloth Amendment in effect prevents the federal government from funding new public housing, but the proposal would immediately repeal that policy in order to erect more state-of-the-art, green units.

The policy would benefit the US’s most vulnerable residents. Public housing residents are disproportionately likely to be people of color, and 24% of public housing residents are living with a disability.

“The Green New Deal for Public Housing is going to change the game for those of us and our neighbors who are being hit hardest by the climate crisis,” said Saul Levin, legislative and political director of the progressive advocacy group Green New Deal Network.

The policy also would have knock-on effects for the entire nation, including by spurring the creation of about 280,000 jobs over a decade. The bill includes language to ensure those jobs are all unionized.

It could also help create a supply of efficient technologies for all residents. Last year, New York City’s public housing authority invited manufacturers to compete for a contract to create and install at least 10,000 induction stoves in New York City Housing Authority (Nycha) buildings, specifically calling for apartment-sized models that do not require electrical upgrades. The winning model will become available on the market for all US residents.

“Those models are available elsewhere, but not in the US because producers basically don’t see that there is a strong enough market,” said McDonald. “This can change that.”

Nycha has launched a similar program to bring small heat pumps on to the US market, and back in the 1990s put out a call for small, energy-efficient refrigerators that helped shape the green fridge market.

“There are gaps in green building technology and green appliance markets in the US,” said McDonald. “Public housing can help fill them … so this policy is also a form of green industrial policy.”
Public housing is the only form of US housing whose affordability does not rely “solely on the market and solely on billionaires”, Ocasio-Cortez said at Thursday’s press conference.
Jasmine Sanchez, a housing advocate who lives in a Nycha development, said many public housing residents face the “constant threat of privatization” and often feel left behind by the US government.
“Everyone deserves to be invested in and everyone deserves to live threat free,” she said.

Instead of allowing the nation’s public housing stock to wither away, the bill seeks to transform it. Units would not only be repaired and freed of contaminants like lead and mold, but also made efficient and green.

Each would be insulated and weatherized to conserve energy, as well as outfitted with fossil fuel-free electric appliances. Renewable energy would be installed on-site. And developments would be made climate-resilient with increased green space and decreased paved areas, which can help absorb heat and soak up water during heavy rains.

In addition to slashing greenhouse gas pollution, the bill would come with “major health and comfort benefits”, said Kira McDonald, a researcher at Climate and Community Project who co-authored the report.

Removing fossil fuel-powered appliances would lower air pollution and therefore improve residents’ respiratory health. And insulation and heat pumps could cut energy bills, while making homes easier to keep at a comfortable temperature amid extreme weather.

The Green New Deal for Public Housing would not only improve the nation’s existing public units, but also “finally help build more”, said Ocasio-Cortez. Currently, the 1998 Faircloth Amendment in effect prevents the federal government from funding new public housing, but the proposal would immediately repeal that policy in order to erect more state-of-the-art, green units.

The policy would benefit the US’s most vulnerable residents. Public housing residents are disproportionately likely to be people of color, and 24% of public housing residents are living with a disability.

“The Green New Deal for Public Housing is going to change the game for those of us and our neighbors who are being hit hardest by the climate crisis,” said Saul Levin, legislative and political director of the progressive advocacy group Green New Deal Network.

The policy also would have knock-on effects for the entire nation, including by spurring the creation of about 280,000 jobs over a decade. The bill includes language to ensure those jobs are all unionized.

It could also help create a supply of efficient technologies for all residents. Last year, New York City’s public housing authority invited manufacturers to compete for a contract to create and install at least 10,000 induction stoves in New York City Housing Authority (Nycha) buildings, specifically calling for apartment-sized models that do not require electrical upgrades. The winning model will become available on the market for all US residents.

“Those models are available elsewhere, but not in the US because producers basically don’t see that there is a strong enough market,” said McDonald. “This can change that.”

Nycha has launched a similar program to bring small heat pumps on to the US market, and back in the 1990s put out a call for small, energy-efficient refrigerators that helped shape the green fridge market.

“There are gaps in green building technology and green appliance markets in the US,” said McDonald. “Public housing can help fill them … so this policy is also a form of green industrial policy.”

Public housing is the only form of US housing whose affordability does not rely “solely on the market and solely on billionaires”, Ocasio-Cortez said at Thursday’s press conference.

Jasmine Sanchez, a housing advocate who lives in a Nycha development, said many public housing residents face the “constant threat of privatization” and often feel left behind by the US government.

“Everyone deserves to be invested in and everyone deserves to live threat free,” she said.

Though the bill is not expected to pass, Climate and Community Project says support to expand and improve public housing is growing. In 2021, the report notes, the House voted to repeal the Faircloth Amendment and most Democratic lawmakers supported including $60bn for public housing in the spending package that later became the Inflation Reduction Act, though both measures ultimately failed to pass.

“While just a couple of senators ultimately blocked these reforms, it was clear that there is already strong support for saving public housing that advocates can build on,” the report says.

The policy represents a “visionary future that will uplift everyone”, said Levin of Green New Deal Network.

“By lifting up the world we need,” he said, “we are building toward that vision”.

As Biden Tours Ida Damage, Protesters Demand End to Fossil Fuels

Climate campaigners demanded an end to fossil fuels as President Joe Biden visited communities in New York and New Jersey hit by the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 7, 2021. (Photo: Alex Beauchamp/Food & Water Watch)

 

It's time President Biden doubled down on his campaign commitments to end our reliance on fossil fuels by stopping the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction and halting the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure projects."

 

Jessica Corbett

September 7, 2021, from Common Dreams

When President Joe Biden on Tuesday toured communities in New York and New Jersey devastated by the remnants of Hurricane Ida last week, he was greeted by protesters pointing to the deadly storm as just the latest proof of the need to immediately phase out fossil fuels.

"Fossil fuels are destroying our climate with direct impacts in our own backyard," said Food & Water Watch Northeast region director Alex Beauchamp in a statement. "It's time President Biden doubled down on his campaign commitments to end our reliance on fossil fuels by stopping the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction and halting the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure projects."

Despite Biden's promises to ban new oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters, his administration has resumed lease sales, in compliance with a federal court order—eliciting intense criticism from climate campaigners who argue that the world can't afford any more fossil fuel extraction. "No fossil fuels!" demonstrators chanted Tuesday. "Biden, keep your promise!"

The activists in New York and New Jersey also called for action by the states' Democratic governors, Kathy Hochul and Phil Murphy.

Hochul "must do her part to end the fossil fuel projects like the NRG Astoria plant moving forward mere blocks from Biden's visit today, to ensure New York doesn't bring any more disastrous fossil fuel projects onto the grid," said Beauchamp. "The fossil fuel age is over—our leaders must commit real action to moving us into an era of clean energy."

Tuesday's demonstrations included members of Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, and other organizations.

Some demonstrators drew attention to a specific project that Biden has been blasted for not blocking: Enbridge's Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Several progressive congresswomen joined Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in Minnesota over the weekend to meet with Indigenous water protectors leading the fight against Line 3. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) had planned to join in before her district was hit by Ida.

In the wake of destructive flooding across the Northeast, Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly linked Ida to the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.

The president on Tuesday acknowledged Ida in the context of the climate emergency when appearing with New Jersey officials, according to NPR.

"For decades, scientists have warned that extreme weather would be more extreme and climate change was here. And we're living through it now," he said. "We don't have any more time."

"Every part of the country is getting hit by extreme weather. And we're now living in real time what the country's going to look like," Biden added. "We can't turn it back very much, but we can prevent it from getting worse."

As part of Democrats' efforts to advance climate policy and Biden's Build Back Better agenda, federal lawmakers are working to pass a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package—but with an evenly divided Senate, every member of the party, including right-wingers like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), will need to support the final measure in the upper chamber.

Democrats' control of the House is also narrow, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Tuesday that "there is no flexibility" on the price tag for the climate and social spending plan because she cares "about delivering on these benefits."

As The Guardian reported Tuesday, Biden will have to "referee" Democrats who disagree over the size and scope of the reconciliation package, which party leaders are aiming to pass this month.

According to Ellen Sciales, communications director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, "President Biden's visit to the site of climate disasters today makes clear that he wants to be the Climate President, but now we must ask—is he willing to let Joe Manchin stand in the way of his legacy?"

"The Build Back Better agenda he's proposed is the bare minimum of what is needed for history to judge this presidency in any sort of positive light," she said. "Biden must do everything in his power—from using his bully pulpit to moving members of his party—to pass at least a $3.5 trillion dollar reconciliation package. He can begin to stop this endless suffering, if he chooses to."

Sciales, whose family home flooded because of Ida last week, also warned that "if Biden does not deliver on at least a $3.5 trillion investment through budget reconciliation, while he has a potentially fleeting Democratic majority, future generations will ask why he didn't do more when we still had the chance."

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Ocasio-Cortez Says 'Elephant in the Room' Is Senate Democrats Blocking Their Own Party's Agenda

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, June 14, 2021. (Photo: Screenshot/CNN)

 

"The argument that we need to make here," the New York Democrat said of bipartisanship's dead end, "is that it's worth going it alone if we can do more for working people in this country."

June 13, 2021

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave voice Sunday to the growing frustration among progressives due to Democratic Senators who have become the clear obstructionists in enacting the bold agenda they promised U.S. voters in last year's election.

Following a morning appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats "have an obligation to do the most we can for working people, civil right, and the planet with the power people have entrusted us, and stressed during her television appearance that her side of the aisle should bend no further to the demands of a minority Republican Party that has a demonstrated history of acting in bad faith while making clear that defeating progress on key issues like infrastructure, healthcare, climate action, and pro-democracy reforms is its top priority.

"I do think that we need to talk about the elephant in the room, which is Senate Democrats blocking crucial items in a Democratic agenda for reasons that I don't think hold a lot of water."

Asked if she would possibly vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal unveiled last week by a small group of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate—one that features just $580 billion in new spending, compared to the Biden administration's original $2.3 trillion package, and includes no new taxes—Ocasio-Cortez said, "I doubt it, frankly" as she highlighted the specific lack of climate action contained in the deal.

"I think one of the things that's really important to communicate is this isn't just $1.7 trillion," the congresswoman said. "This is about an overall investment spread out anywhere between eight and 10 years, which is a very, very low amount of money. It's not going to create the millions of union jobs that we need in this country, particularly to recover from the pandemic. And it's not going to get us closer to meeting our climate goals, which are crucially important at this point in time."

While CNN host Dana Bash pushed Ocasio-Cortez on whether she would vote for a compromised, watered-down infrastructure plan if progressives are told that's the best it's going to get, the New York Democrat responded, "Well, I think the thing is, is that this isn't the best that we can get." And then she turned her focus to Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Jon Tester of Montana, and others in the caucus—who have refused to embrace a more bold and visionary set of policies in the name of compromise with the GOP.

"I do think that we need to talk about the elephant in the room," said Ocasio-Cortez, "which is Senate Democrats blocking crucial items in a Democratic agenda for reasons that I don't think hold a lot of water."

"And for folks saying, 'OK, where are you going to get these 50 votes?'" she continued, "I think we really need to start asking some of these Democratic senators where they plan on getting 60 votes. These 10 Republican senators that there is a theory that we're going to get support for that out there, I think, is a claim that doesn't really hold water, particularly when we can't even get 10 senators to support a January 6 commission."

Ocasio-Cortez went on to say that the U.S. is now at a "fork in the road" and asked the question: "Do we settle for much less and an infrastructure package that has been largely designed by Republicans in order to get 60 votes, or can we really transform this country, create millions of union jobs, revamp our power grid, get people's bridges fixed and schools rebuilt with 51 or 50 Democratic votes?"

"The argument that we need to make here," she said, "is that it's worth going it alone if we can do more for working people in this country. You know, with 50 votes, we have the potential to lower the age of Medicare eligibility, so that more people can be covered and guaranteed to their right to health care, as opposed to 60 votes, where we do very, very little, and the scope of that is defined by a Republican minority that has not been elected to lead."

"For folks saying, 'OK, where are you going to get these 50 votes, I think we really need to start asking some of these Democratic senators where they plan on getting 60 votes."

After the bipartisan group put out a rough framework of its infrastructure deal last week, progressive lawmakers like Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) made clear they would oppose any bill that short-changed the climate crisis.

Asked Sunday about Manchin's stance in particular—including his opposition not only to filibuster reform and a bold infrastructure package but also his vow to block The For the People Act, the Democrat's key voting rights legislation—Ocasio-Cortez did not shy away from recent comments she made insinuating that the West Virginia Democrat's positions are due, at least in part, to his subservience to corporate interests and deep-pocketed funders like billionaire Charles Koch and his network of dark money groups.

"I believe that we have the influence of big money that impacts not just one party, but both parties in the United States Congress," she said. "And I do believe that that old way of politics has absolutely an influence in Joe Manchin's thinking and the way he navigates the body."

There's a reason, she said, that "the Koch brothers and associated organizations from the Koch brothers are really doing victory laps about Joe Manchin's opposition to the filibuster."

Watch the full interview:

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Off the Top of My Head

Former Energy Secretary Proposes Going to Capital Markets for Money to Upgrade Energy Grid Infrastructure: Is This Wise?

by John Lawrence, February 21, 2021

Clinton's Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson, proposes going to the capital markets since the government has been spending so much money on COVID relief. He suggests a public-private partnership. Evidently, Mr. Richardson, like most politicians and dignitaries, is totally ignorant of Modern Monetary Theory. The Federal Reserve can create interest free money with a few computer keystrokes while the capital markets will charge interest, and not only that. Once you enter the Wall Street casino you're subject to all the vagaries of the financial markets like securitzation, credit default obligations, interest rate swaps, betting against the success of various programs and much more. These are the kind of financial activities that caused the 2008 Great Recession and the bankruptcy of Orange County, Birmingham, Milan Italy and the misery in Greece. What's more going to the capital markets causes the same inflation risks as having the Fed create the money because inflation is caused by the amount of money sloshing around in the economy not who supplies it.

Larry Summers is worried about Biden's big spending bills causing inflation. What he doesn't get is that these bills are targeted. It's not just money pumped into the economy. The money going to states and municipalities, for example, is going to pay off debts. That holds for all the money going to families who are behind on their rents and mortgages. Paying off debts is deflationary not inflationary. Money going to unemployment insurance is just money that allows people to consume as if they had a job. That is not inflationary. Money going to businesses to prevent them from failing and putting employees back to work is not inflationary because having these businesses fail and employees without jobs is deflationary. All those flights and cruises not taken, all the money not spent going to movie theaters, all the money not spent on consumption when consumption is 70% of the economy - is deflationary. In fact there is so much deflation during a recession that that is the main worry - not inflation.

But reorienting priorities should also play a part in controlling inflation. Decreasing the trillion dollar budget of the military and military-industrial complex would help to offset inflation and pay for infrastructure repair. It would also free up the human resources needed for a build out of green infrastructure because wage inflation is caused by not enough human resources being available thus bidding up wages. The integrity of the US dollar could also be increased by eliminating sanctions on other countries. The US is using the fact of sanctioning other countries because the US dollar is the world's reserve currency causing the diminution of the use of the US currency as sanctioned countries find workarounds using other currencies. In America's Other Forever War, Peter Beinart explains that these sanctions do not accomplish anything except to hurt the people that happen to be living in the countries that are sanctioned. The chickens will come home to roost as the US dollar looses value in the international currency markets as the euro, yen and reminbi are used more for international trade. As Beinart writes, "“It is past time,” Joe Biden pledged last year, “to end the forever wars.” He’s right. But his definition of war is too narrow."

A careful analysis of Biden's spending plans  as well as reorienting current spending priorities needs to be carried out so that runaway inflation does not occur. Certainly putting people back to work is not inflationary. Federal money targeted toward paying off debts by states, municipalities and families is not inflationary. Federal money spent on infrastructure is not inflationary providing that the human and material resources are available. Since the Federal Reserve can create US dollars without the need for taxes, Modern Monetary Theory has shown and economists widely agree that the only limit on Federal so-called "deficit" spending is inflation. Stephanie Kelton has explained that Deficits Don't Matter in her book, The Deficit Myth. People like Bill Richardson and most liberal and conservative politicians need to study up on economics. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are some of the few people that already have.

Off the Top of My Head

Bernie Sanders, Budget Reconciliation and Modern Monetary Theory

by John Lawrence, January 18, 2021

Joe Biden will have no trouble from Congress in passing his $1.9 trillion relief bill. That's because Democrats control all 3 branches, and the filibuster is neutered due to "budget reconciliation." This allows a spending bill to be fast tracked through Congress without the possibility of a filibuster. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "The Senate can consider and pass reconciliation bills relatively quickly and with only a simple majority, rather than the three-fifths majority often needed for controversial legislation. That’s because reconciliation legislation isn’t subject to filibuster. Under general Senate rules, legislation can be stalled by virtually unlimited debate and the offering of numerous amendments, with a three-fifths majority vote required to invoke “cloture,” thereby limiting debate and blocking non-germane amendments. For a reconciliation bill, however, the Congressional Budget Act limits Senate debate on the bill to 20 hours and limits debate on the subsequent compromise between the two houses to ten hours."

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has shown that deficits don't matter. At least George W Bush didn't think so when he used the budget reconciliation process to give huge tax breaks to the rich which significantly increased the deficit and reduced income to the Federal government from taxes. The use of budget reconciliation did an end run around PAYGO which requires the Federal government to balance its budget and the debt limit which also constrains Federal spending. Both conservatives and liberals will be enthused over the fact that MMT proclaims that either tax reduction or government spending is good for American society (up to a point) even though the debt limit or PAYGO may be violated. This is because government is effectively adding money to the private sector which drives economic activity.

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are very familiar with not only budget reconciliation but also MMT because one of its chief adherents, Stephanie Kelton who wrote the book, The Deficit Myth, previously was a Senate advisor to Bernie on the Senate Budget Committee. On December 26, 2014, Kelton was designated as Chief Economist for the Democratic Minority Staff of the Senate Budget Committee, a post that she held in 2015 and early 2016, when she left that position to become an economic advisor to the Bernie Sanders campaign. So the American economy is about to get a shot in the arm that will mostly benefit poor and middle class people (whereas the Bush tax cuts primarily benefited the rich) much to the chagrin of conservatives that hold to the idea that government deficit spending should only benefit the rich through tax cuts.

MMT contends that, since the Federal Reserve creates money by keystokes on a computer and the US dollar is a sovereign currency, the US government can never run out of money. Treasury bonds can always be sold to cover deficits, and, if they can't be sold to the general public, they will end up on the Fed's balance sheet where they may remain forever as an accounting entry. Even the interest paid on Treasury bonds, which is now approximately zero, is not a consideration. Interest on Treasuries owned by the Fed is remitted to the Federal government anyway. So now is the time for massive spending by the US Federal government to 1) expedite recovery from COVID; 2) jump start the economy; and 3) expedite a global response to global warming by converting to renewable energy on all levels including:

"replacing fossil-fuel engines with electric in all public and private transport, super-insulating buildings and replacing inefficient HVAC systems, establishing regional photo-voltaic micro-grid electric networks, replacing gas cooking ranges with electric induction units, buying regenerative-produced farm products and 'meatless meats', replacing all small engine appliances and tools with battery electric power"

And this is not to mention that solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy need to replace fossil fuel electric generating plants.

There is no time to lose. The incoming administration has a lot on its plate. In addition to that they have to run an impeachment trial in the Senate. Let's hope it doesn't slow down any of Joe Biden's initiatives. With Bernie as the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, armed with a knowledge of MMT, we can look forward to restoring the US' standing in the world community as well as restoring an economy that works for the poor and not just the well heeled, getting the pandemic under control and mitigating climate change. Thank you Bernie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Paygo Exemptions in House Rules Will Help Pave Way for Green New Deal and Medicare for All, Progressives Say

Published on

Saturday, January 02, 2021

by

Common Dreams

"Paygo's the biggest scam of the decade, designed to legitimize the fear-mongering over artificial deficits. This is a big win by progressives."

by

Julia Conley, staff writer

 

 

66 Comments

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference outside of the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, November 19, 2020. (Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Progressives on Saturday applauded House Democrats for including in the chamber's rules package for the incoming Congress two key exemptions from the "pay as you go" rule, also known as Paygo, which could cut down on roadblocks keeping lawmakers from passing far-reaching healthcare and climate action legislation. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) unveiled an updated rules package which would exempt legislation "to prevent, prepare for, or respond to economic or public health consequences" of the Covid-19 pandemic or of the climate crisis, from being subjected to Paygo.

Paygo requires that any increase in spending by the federal government be matched by offsetting tax increases or budget cuts, and progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have called for the rule to be revoked in recent years while Pelosi and other Democrats have defended it. 

Ocasio-Cortez and her legislative goals were derided by critics after taking office in January 2019, as Pelosi adopted the Paygo rule for the 116th Congress. The New York congresswoman voted against the 2019 rules package. 

On Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez added the "demotion" of Paygo to the list of achievements by progressives in Congress in recent years. 

Breaking the federal government and corporate political press's "austerity mindset and rules, especially on climate, is a major tenet of the Green New Deal," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

The Intercept journalist Ryan Grim noted that the elimination of Paygo as a consideration for measures involving public health could eventually help Congress to pass Medicare for All as well as other measures to help Americans struggling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers "could quite easily cite [the pandemic and the climate crisis] as the need for expanded public healthcare, which is specified in both subsections," Grim tweeted, adding that the rules change "easily covers a very sweeping set of policies." 

After decades of powerful House Democrats being "fervently committed" to Paygo, tweeted Claire Sandberg, former national organizing director for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), "it's welcome news that exemptions have now been created for two extremely broad policy areas."

Other progressives praised the proposed rules change, which must still be voted on in the Democrat-controlled House, on social media. 

"Amending Paygo opens the door to crucial legislation that meets the scale of our greatest challenges," tweeted Rep.-elect Marie Newman (D-Ill.).

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Off the Top of My Head

If Women Ruled the World, We'd Probably All Be Better Off

by John Lawrence, July 24, 2020

Number 1. There would be much less war. War is a man's game. It's testosterone fueled. Men want the glory heaped on them for having been in a war. Number 2. Since women have historically had the role of caregivers, they would probably have much more empathy for the poor and vulnerable especially poor and vulnerable children. They wouldn't be so obsessed with having a powerful war machine under their control. The President of the United States never wants to look weak, and, as Commander-in-Chief, revels in the power under his command. That's why he always wants to increase the defense budget. Even Trump, who campaigned on getting the US out of futile wars, can't resist the urge to have even more military power at his disposal and is spending more on the military budget. A woman as President would probably not feel the need not to look weak. Her priorities might be more oriented towards curing the ills affecting humankind which are related to poverty, health and education.

There has never been a period in human history in which there has not been a war or the threat of war. World War 1 was started for no good reason whatsoever. It makes no sense that the assassination of a minor Serbian official could have caused the devastation involved in the First World War. It was so bad that the First World War was called the War to End All Wars. President Woodrow Wilson called it "the war to make the world safe for democracy." English soldiers wanted to cover themselves with glory and then be home in time for Christmas. Instead many of them died miserable deaths in muddy trenches breathing mustard gas. The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths included 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians. European civilization before WW 1 was very advanced. All that was destroyed essentially by male testosterone and pride.

Despite the best intentions of Wilson and others that there would never be another war especially one that caused the devastation of WW 1, just a few years later we had World War 2. Wilson established the League of Nations, a precursor of the United Nations, a noble effort which, however, did nothing to prevent World War 2. The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose mission was to maintain world peace. It didn't. President Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as the leading architect of the League. Despite Wilson's leadership, the United States never joined the League. So much for diplomacy, negotiation and arbitration. War has been primarily conducted by males whose testosterone directed anger, lack of empathy and quest for glory have led them in the direction of war. Peace after all is boring.

Now even in the midst of a pandemic which affects the whole world, you might think it would be a moment when the whole world comes together. Instead Trump and his chief warmonger, Mike Pompeo, are trying to weaponize the coronavirus and start a cold war with China who the US has decided is its chief rival. Instead of cooperation, Pompeo has decided a better policy is to exacerbate tensions with China as much as possible. CNBC reported:

Top officials of the World Health Organization on Thursday slammed “unacceptable” comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who alleged that China had co-opted the WHO.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the claims made Tuesday in London by Pompeo that China had “co-opted international institutions like the World Health Organization” were untrue and a distraction from the global coronavirus pandemic response.

“The comments are untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation for that matter,” Tedros said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency’s Gevena headquarters on Thursday. “WHO will not be distracted by these comments and we don’t want the international community also to be distracted.”

Tedros has repeatedly defended the WHO against criticism of its response to the coronavirus. U.S. President Donald Trump and others have alleged the U.N. health agency has a favorable relationship with China, where the virus emerged at the end  of 2019. Tedros reiterated comments on Thursday that the politicization of the pandemic is one of the greatest threats to the global response.

Pompeo wants his cold war with China because this is the only way he knows to do diplomacy as, supposedly, America's top diplomat. He's not a diplomat. A diplomat would not try to deliberately provoke another country. Now the US has turned its attention from Russia to China as America's main bogieman. They do not even try to be peace makers or negotiators. Conciliation and cooperation are not words in their vocabulary. Maybe Pompeo has his eyes on a lucrative job in the military-industrial complex after he is out of his job as Secretary of State. So his interest is in justifying America's immense defense budget by starting a cold war which might even become a hot war. But a hot war is not even necessary to justify outsize defense budgets. A cold war will do very nicely, thank you very much.

Meanwhile many Americans are on the verge of homelessness. They will swell the ranks of the 500,000 who are already homeless. While Congress argues over the next bailout package, people are losing their jobs, their businesses, their health care and their homes. A bailout package could pay people's mortgages, rents and employee salaries for the rest of the year until, hopefully, a vaccine is discovered. That way the most economic damage could be averted. But it will probably be a paltry cash sum that will do little to protect the great majority of Americans.

What Stephanie Kelton points out in her book, Deficits Don't Matter, is that, well, they don't matter so a bailout 100 times the size of the projected bailout would not be a problem and would never have to be repaid since the US dollar is a sovereign currency. US debt can just be disappeared on the Fed's balance sheet. So both conservatives and liberals can rejoice. There's no reason not to have massive tax cuts as well as massive increases to the Health and Human Services budget. Wow, finally a cause for celebration. We can have it both ways. Now if Americans can only realize this and climb aboard the gravy train. There are some restrictions, however, as Ms. Kelton points out.

The biggest question that people asked Bernie Sanders with his ambitious social programs like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal is "How ya going to pay for it?" Stephanie Kelton has the answer and now Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex is getting on board. Ocasio-Cortez also said that Modern Monetary Theory, which holds that the government doesn't need to balance the budget and that budget surpluses actually hurt the economy, "absolutely" needed to be "a larger part of our conversation."

Ocasio-Cortez Warns Biden That Just Throwing Progressives a 'Couple of Bones' Will Not Be Enough

Published on Monday, April 13, 2020

by Common Dreams

"At the bare minimum, we should aspire to be better than what we have been before," says New York Democrat in new interview. "People need to feel hope."

by Eoin Higgins, staff writer

 

27 Comments

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-N.Y.), at the Capitol on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

In an interview with the New York Times published Monday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues that presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has much work to do when it comes to motivating those within the progressive movement inspired and led by Sen. Bernie Sanders over the past five years.

"I don't think this conversation about changes that need to be made is one about throwing the progressive wing of the party a couple of bones—I think this is about how we can win," Ocasio-Cortez told the Times.

NEW: I interview @AOC abt Joe Biden and Democratic unity. What concessions she wants (plenty), if they've ever talked (no), whether we'll see a Biden-AOC unity rally (depends), and what she's thought abt his early health care outreach ("almost insulting")https://t.co/PytaBB0nk1

— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) April 13, 2020

In the Times interview, Ocasio-Cortez made clear she intends to support Biden if he is the nominee but said that thus far the former vice president's overtures to the Democratic Party's progressive wing leave much to be desired. 

The New York Democrat—who was a prominent and galvanizing surrogate for Sanders on the campaign trail before he dropped out of the race on April 8—said that while expectations for Biden's campaign should be realistic, there is a need for a forward-thinking agenda. 

"I think people understand that there are limits to what Biden will do and that's understandable—he didn't run as a progressive candidate," Ocasio-Cortez said. "But, at the bare minimum, we should aspire to be better than what we have been before."

At the same time, she said elsewhere in the interview, "people need to feel hope" when it comes to looking towards the next Democratic administration.

As Common Dreams reported last Thursday, a new policy proposal from Biden to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 was met with disappointment from the left—and Ocasio-Cortez agreed.

"They floated this olive branch to the progressive left of lowering the Medicare age to 60. And it's almost insulting," she said. "I think Hillary was looking at policies that lowered it to 50. So we're talking about a 'progressive concession' that is 10 years worse than what the nominee had in 2016."

AOC seems to be on the same wavelength as me in this interview: a baseline commitment to defeating Trump, but no shilling, no enthusiasm, nothing besides the most nominal support if Biden doesn't offer us anything... and he hasn't offered us anything. https://t.co/3YMIYATTgn https://t.co/5S7TgqT2ZO

— David Klion (@DavidKlion) April 13, 2020

Ocasio-Cortez added that the exit polling from the primaries made clear that the majority of Democratic voters are on board with progressive policies, a sign that Biden's victories are not necessarily an endorsement of all of the former vice president's political positions.

"While Biden is the nominee, we also know that he didn't win because of policy—I don't think he won because of his agenda, he won because of different factors," said Ocasio-Cortez, referring to an unprecedented coalescing from the rest of the field around Biden after the South Carolina primary.

"In state after state after state," she added, "Democratic voters support a progressive agenda."

Asked about her willingness to rally with Biden, Ocasio-Cortez allowed it was a possibility. But ultimately, she said, the former vice president has to do a better job reaching out to supporters of Sanders and fellow former primary candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

"I've always said that I will support the Democratic nominee," said Ocasio-Cortez. "But unity is a process, and figuring out what that looks like is part of this whole conversation that I think Bernie and Warren and other folks are a part of as well."

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'Abolish For-Profit Health Insurance': Analysis Warns Companies Could Hike Premiums by 40% Amid Pandemic

Published on Monday, March 30, 2020

by Common Dreams

"Corporate-run health insurance isn't about saving lives. It's about making as much money as possible. With Medicare for All we can finally put an end to this international disgrace," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

26 Comments

Staff and volunteers with Project C.U.R.E hold a drive outside the United Center to collect donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the community which will be used to supply hospitals and clinics that are experiencing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 29, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A new analysis warning that U.S. health insurance companies could hike already exorbitant premiums by 40 percent or more next year amid the coronavirus pandemic was received by Medicare for All advocates as further confirmation that America's healthcare system—driven first and foremost by the profit motive—is ill-equipped to provide necessary care for all, particularly in a time of nationwide crisis.

The research conducted by Covered California, the state insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, found (pdf) that "if carriers must recoup 2020 costs, price for the same level of costs next year, and protect their solvency, 2021 premium increases to individuals and employers from COVID-19 alone could range from 4 percent to more than 40 percent."

"They're doing healthcare to make money, not to take care of people."
—Dr. Judd Hollander, Thomas Jefferson University

The health and economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak are "potentially staggering," the analysis states, and could result in even more "consumers and employers no longer being able to afford coverage, leading to employer groups dropping coverage or individuals deciding to go uninsured."

More than 80 million people in the U.S. are currently uninsured or underinsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and millions more are losing their employer-provided insurance as the jobless rate spikes due to the coronavirus crisis.

"The impact of COVID-19 will be significant, and... absent federal action, consumers, employers, and our entire healthcare system may be facing unforeseen costs that could exceed $251 billion," Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California said in a statement. "Consumers will feel these costs through higher out-of-pocket expenses and premiums, as well as the potential of employers dropping coverage or shifting more costs to employees."

"These increased costs could mean that many of the 170 million Americans in the commercial market may lose their coverage and go without needed care as we battle a global health crisis," Lee added. "These are not 'insurer' costs—these are costs directly borne by individual Americans."

Abolish for-profit health insurance. https://t.co/c95gYxyc1T

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) March 29, 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose Medicare for All proposal would virtually eliminate private insurance in the U.S., tweeted in response to the Covered California study that "America's for-profit insurance industry is not compatible with healthcare as a human right."

"Now is not the time for greed," said Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. "Now is the time for Medicare for All."

Corporate-run health insurance isn't about saving lives. It's about making as much money as possible. With Medicare for All we can finally put an end to this international disgrace. https://t.co/sZrb6FcUPz

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 29, 2020

The new research comes as the coronavirus crisis continues to expose systemic flaws in America's fragmented and dysfunctional healthcare system. The Guardian reported last Thursday that as the virus has spread rapidly across the U.S., "private health insurance companies have lagged behind: making incremental changes to plans even as health providers seek to change course."

"They're doing healthcare to make money, not to take care of people," Dr. Judd Hollander, emergency medicine physician and associate dean at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, told The Guardian.

Last week, a 17-year-old boy in Los Angeles County died from complications believed to have been caused by COVID-19 after he was denied treatment at an urgent care center. The reason: he was uninsured.

"He didn't have insurance, so they did not treat him," said R. Rex Parris, the mayor of Lancaster, California.

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'There Should Be Shame': Watch Ocasio-Cortez Excoriate GOP Over Massive Corporate Bailouts in Coronavirus Bill

Published on Friday, March 27, 2020

by Common Dreams

"What did the Senate majority fight for? One of the largest corporate bailouts, with as few strings as possible, in American history."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

11 Comments

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks on the House floor on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Photo: CSPAN/Screengrab)

In an impassioned speech on the House floor Friday just ahead of a vote on the Senate-passed coronavirus stimulus bill, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Republican senators should be ashamed of fighting for the inclusion of trillions of dollars in corporate bailout money while providing little more than "crumbs for our families."

"There should be shame about what was fought for in this bill and the choices that we have to make."
—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"We have to go into this vote eyes wide open," Ocasio-Cortez said. "What did the Senate majority fight for? One of the largest corporate bailouts, with as few strings as possible, in American history. Shameful."

Noting that she represents desperate communities in New York City—now the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic—Ocasio-Cortez excoriated Republican leaders for presenting lawmakers with an impossible choice: Do nothing for people in dire need of financial assistance or provide a small amount of relief alongside massive bailouts for large corporations.

"The greed of that fight is wrong," said the New York Democrat. "And the option that we have is to either let them suffer with nothing, or to allow this greed and billions of dollars—which will be leveraged into trillions of dollars—to contribute to the largest income inequality gap in our future. There should be shame about what was fought for in this bill and the choices that we have to make."

Watch:

With the vote on the bill expected later Friday, Ocasio-Cortez seemed to indicate she would vote in favor of it but clearly signaled—as have other progressives both inside and outside of Congress—that much more must be done to meet the urgent health and financial needs of the American people and vulnerable populations with additional legislation in the near future.

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Off the Top of My Head

The Fed Keeps On Bailing Out Failing Businesses

by John Lawrence, March 17, 2020

The Fed announced recently that it would cut interest rates to zero. It has also promised to insert $1.5 trillion of "liquidity" into the markets. It's clear that the US is a society that runs on debt, and the biggest non profit producing industry that has gorged itself on humungus amounts of debt is fracking. But investors are getting weary. S&P Global Ratings this month cut credit ratings of six shale gas producers citing the outlook for natural gas prices. "We are particularly concerned about some of the issuers' ability to access the capital markets given investor aversion to the space," S&P said. But no worries. A Fed bailout is on the way. Zero percent interest. Free money. Whoopee. Frack away.

Just a few days ago, CNBC host Jim Cramer exclaimed, "I'm done with fossil fuel," after disappointing earnings reports from Dow Jones energy giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil. "We're in the death knell phase," he warned. The fracking industry is deathly afraid that, if Bernie Sanders is elected, the gravy train will be over. Fracking has provided a lot of jobs for a lot of people, but it is not profitable if the world oil price is less than $40 a barrel. Right now, thanks to Russia and Saudi Arabia, the price of oil is $30 a barrel. A Green New Deal would have to provide jobs for all those workers in the fracking industry who have been making pretty good money even though the industry as a whole is unprofitable.

The Fed is doing its job to create another tower of debt in the US. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pointed out that the $1.5 trillion the Fed has injected into the system for "liquidity" could wipe out all the student loan debt in the US which now stands at $1.5 trillion. But the Fed insists that any stimulus to the economy which would actually help working people as opposed to investors has to come from the fiscal side meaning that Congress would have to appropriate the money. The Fed's job is to make sure that no major business player in the US economy goes bankrupt including the US government itself which is wallowing in debt to the tune of $1 trillion a year thanks to Trump's tax cuts for the rich similar to Ronald Reagan's tax cuts for the rich which quintupled the national debt. It took a Democrat, poor old Clinton, to reduce the deficit to zero.

The question naturally arises of why can't the Fed bail out American workers to the tune of $1000 a month as Andrew Yang has suggested especially now that the coronavirus has put a huge damper on consumption which is 70% of the economy. The Fed says, "Not my job. That's Congress' job." The Fed as it turns out is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street. It is not a publicly owned entity. Congress will do nothing to bail out the American people because of the Republican controlled Senate led by Mitch McConnell. Even if Democrats were to attain a majority in the Senate, the filibuster would prevent them from doing anything. So Joe Biden, even if elected, will get nothing substantial done including building on Obamacare. The only reason Obamacare was even passed in the first place was that Democrats had a majority in both Houses and a filibusterproof majority in the Senate (60 votes) for a very short period of time (4 months) during which Obamacare was passed. Good luck Joe.

If the Fed, instead of being privately controlled by Wall Street, were to become a truly public institution controlled by Congress, then maybe it could bail out the general American public instead of failing businesses. According to the rules of capitalism, failing businesses at some point should go bankrupt. The Fed is essentially preventing that from happening thus fueling the stock market. However, the stock market senses that at this point the Fed has used up all its tools and can do nothing further. There is probably too much liquidity in the markets already. Providing more wouldn't do any good. Interest rates are already at zero. The Fed could go to negative interest rates, but that would screw the economy up even more. Perhaps we'll all have to settle for a good old recession after all. But one thing is for certain. About six months from now, Trump will pull out all the stops to get the economy moving again just before the election since he is basing his reelection on a robust economy. However, it all depends on whether or not the coronavirus is under control at that point. If it is, Trump will take credit.

'Right Now Is the Moment to Decide If You Are Pro-Peace or Not': Ocasio-Cortez Joins Progressive Chorus Against War With Iran

Published on Friday, January 03, 2020

by Common Dreams

"Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its power to stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific consequences."

by Eoin Higgins, staff writer

 

70 Comments

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) attends Women's March 2019 on January 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Progressives on Friday, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for Congressional action to rein in the administration after a drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, a move seen by observers as an act of war that is nearly certain to exacerbate a historically tense moment in the Persian Gulf region.

"Right now is the moment to decide if you are pro-peace or not," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.

Last night the President engaged in what is widely being recognized as an act of war against Iran, one that now risks the lives of millions of innocent people.

Now is the moment to prevent war & protect innocent people - the question for many is how, publicly & Congressionally:

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 3, 2020

"Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its power to stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific consequences," the congresswoman added.

Ocasio-Cortez joined a growing chorus from the left urging restraint and diplomacy from the U.S. and Iran. 

"There is no military solution to this crisis," Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement. "Instead, we must pursue meaningful diplomacy to achieve peace and stability in the region."

There is no military solution to this crisis — instead, we must pursue meaningful diplomacy to achieve peace and stability in the region.

Full statement from @repmarkpocan & @RepJayapal ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/x5Yz3o40pI

— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) January 3, 2020

Jayapal added in a tweet that Soleimani's killing "dangerously doubles down on reckless military brinkmanship."

The attack on Soleimani, one of the leaders of Iran's Quds Force and a major figure in the Iranian government, and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis came on Friday morning near the Baghdad airport. 

By striking the Iranian leader, Ploughshares Fund director of programs Michelle Dover told Common Dreams in an email, the U.S. "has imperiled any near term chances for diplomacy."

"The primary question now is whether the U.S. government is prepared for the Iranian response," said Dover. "The U.S. public should be calling on Congress to assert its authorities and oversight roles to prevent an unintentional slide into war." 

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in a statement called for peace and noted that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), first passed by Congress in 2001 days after the 9/11 attacks with Lee as the sole dissenting vote, was used by the White House as the justification for the strike. 

"We must work to prevent further military action in the region," said Lee. "We have known for years that there is no military solution, and it's past time to return to a diplomatic strategy with our allies. We must protect our national security, our brave troops, our allies, and the American people."

Lee included in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) an amendment which would have repealed the AUMF, but, as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out on Twitter, that language was stripped from the final bill delivering the president billions in war funding, which passed Congress with bipartisan support. 

There were two amendments stripped from the NDAA that could have prevented tonight's escalation.

My amendment to prevent funding for war with Iran without Congressional approval.@BLeeForCongress's amendment to repeal the 2001 AUMF.

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 3, 2020

Liberal advocacy group MoveOn on Friday launched a petition asking Congress to halt the march to war. 

"Congress is the only branch of government that has the constitutional power to decide where and whether to send U.S. forces into harm's way," the group said. "We urge you to act immediately to stop a catastrophic war with Iran."

The Nation's Jeet Heer warned Friday that Congress has not been known recently for its bravery in the face of war-time presidents.

"Trump's petty motives and incoherent policy have been enabled by a Congress that has long been derelict in its duty to provide oversight over foreign policy," said Heer. "This abdication of responsibility is all too typical of American politics since the 9/11 terrorist attacks—under both Democratic and Republican presidents."

There is no justification for starting a war w/ Iran.

Endless wars kill innocent people and put trillions of $ in the pockets war profiteers.

We can't allow Trump to thrust us into another costly & deadly war.

Sign here to Stop War with Iran:https://t.co/7NafViabSq

— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 3, 2020

In a statement to Common Dreams, Alliance for Peacebuilding president and CEO Uzra Zeya said that the correct response to the continuing tensions is trying to find a way forward without violence.

"We must reject retribution and military action towards all-out war that endangers the future of Iranians and Americans alike," said Zeya. "Peacebuilding—in the form of de-escalation, dialogue, restraint, and diplomacy—is now more important than ever."

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'We Were Proven Right,' Says AOC After Amazon Expands in New York Without Taking Billions in Public Cash

Published on Saturday, December 07, 2019

by Common Dreams

"Maybe the Trump admininistration should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer

 

61 Comments

People opposed to Amazon's plan to locate a headquarters in New York City are seen outside a store in 2018.  (Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested the Trump administration "focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families" after news broke Friday that Amazon was expanding its presence in New York City without the state giving the company billions in tax incentives.

Won’t you look at that: Amazon is coming to NYC anyway - *without* requiring the public to finance shady deals, helipad handouts for Jeff Bezos, & corporate giveaways.

Maybe the Trump admin should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families. https://t.co/BbqhXbB9MM

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 6, 2019

The decision by the online giant to lease 335,000 square feet of office space in Manhattan and employee 1,500 employees in the consumer and advertising departments was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. 

The announcement came roughly 10 months after Amazon announced it was ditching its widely condemned plan to locate a second headquarters site in Long Island City, Queens—a plan for which New York state would have given the online giant nearly $3 billion in tax incentives.

Ocasio-Cortez was among that plan's most vocal critics, asking at the time, "Why should corporations that contribute nothing to the pot be in a position to take billions from the public?"

In a Twitter thread Saturday morning, the New York Democrat said that Amazon would now be "bringing work without the welfare." Ocasio-Cortez also countered the Republican talking point that the city was losing out on thousands of jobs.

Me waiting on the haters to apologize after we were proven right on Amazon and saved the public billions https://t.co/AC64pG0nZI pic.twitter.com/xzCepkX4AV

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 6, 2019

- “It’s in Manhattan, not Queens”: If you live in NYC, you would know people commute to work. Amazon would not have paid taxes for many, many years and not contribute to fixing our crumbling subway system. So lots of added strain, no benefit.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 7, 2019

New York state Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris—who was also among the critics of Amazon's so-called HQ2 plan for the city—weighed in on the news as well Friday.

"Amazon is coming to New York, just as they always planned. Fortunately, we dodged a $3 billion bullet by not agreeing to their subsidy shakedown earlier this year," Gianaris said in a statement. "Now, we must enact reforms to our economic development programs to ensure no company can seek to take advantage of the public again."

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At COP 25 Kickoff, Spain's Socialist Leader Rips 'Fanatics' Like Trump Who Deny Climate Crisis

Published on Monday, December 02, 2019

by Common Dreams

"No one can escape this challenge by themselves. There is no wall that can protect any country, regardless of how powerful it is."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

4 Comments

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez delivers a speech during the first day of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) on December 02, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: Europa Press News/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez kicked off COP 25 in Madrid, Spain on Monday by condemning the "handful of fanatics" who continue to deny the reality of the climate crisis as it wreaks havoc across the globe and threatens to render large swathes of the planet uninhabitable.

Sánchez, leader of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and proponent of a Green New Deal for Spain, did not condemn any nations or world leaders by name. But Sánchez implored the international community to combat "alternative facts," an apparent shot at the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"No one can escape this challenge by themselves. There is no wall that can protect any country, regardless of how powerful it is."
—Pedro Sánchez, Spanish prime minister

"For years, several versions of climate change denial were in circulation," said Sánchez. "Today, luckily only a handful of fanatics deny the evidence. No one can escape this challenge by themselves."

"There is no wall that can protect any country, regardless of how powerful it is," Sánchez added in another thinly veiled jab at the Trump White House, which took the first step toward withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord last month.

Sánchez said Spain will "lead by example" by crafting climate policy that phases out fossil fuels with sufficient urgency while ensuring a just transition for workers and vulnerable communities.

The PSOE emerged victorious in parliamentary elections in April and November after running on a Green New Deal platform. Following its November win, the PSOE agreed to form a coalition with the left-wing Podemos party as the far-right, climate-denying Vox party quickly gained ground in parliament.

As HuffPost's Alexander Kaufman wrote Sunday, "if Sánchez's center-left vision of a Green New Deal could be criticized for not being ambitious enough, the inclusion of the anti-austerity Podemos could make the country the first to seriously attempt the kind of Green New Deal progressives elsewhere have laid out to curb soaring economic inequality and planet-heating emissions."

"Green New Dealers on both sides of the Atlantic argue that addressing both crises at once is key to staving off a resurgent neo-fascist right wing," Kaufman wrote.

During his speech on Monday, Sánchez stressed the importance of ensuring that the "ecological transition" away from fossil fuels is fair and equitable.

"It must be the lever of change against inequality, it must imply justice and equity," said Sánchez. "Our country has assumed that mandate and is determined to act. Progress, if not sustainable, does not deserve to be called progress."

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Democrats Not Headed Too Far Left, Says Ocasio-Cortez, 'We Are Bringing the Party Home'

Published on Sunday, November 17, 2019

by Common Dreams

"I want to be the party of the New Deal again," says the progressive congresswoman from New York. "The party of the Civil Rights Act, the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people."

by Jon Queally, staff writer

 

52 Comments

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during the Climate Crisis Summit before introducing Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at Drake University on November 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. Ocasio-Cortez has been campaigning in support of Sanders after endorsing him last month in New York City. (Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

As part of a wave of reaction to comments made by former President Barack Obama who reportedly suggested to "liberal wealthy" party donors late last week that some Democrats were going "too far left," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying progressives are not pushing in some new, radical direction but rather trying to bring it back to where it came from.

"I want to be the party of the New Deal again," tweeted the freshman Democrat from New York on Saturday, referencing the era of progressive change under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt last century.

"The party of the Civil Rights Act, the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people. For that, many would call us radical," she said.

"We aren't 'pushing the party left,'" Ocasio-Cortez concluded, "we are bringing the party home."

The tweet also included a new campaign ad for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed in the Democratic presidential primary. The two recently campaigned together in Iowa where they championed the need for a Green New Deal and spent time with local residents in the early voting states.

I want to be the party of the New Deal again.

The party of the Civil Rights Act,
the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people.

For that, many would call us radical.
But we aren’t “pushing the party left,”
we are bringing the party home.pic.twitter.com/wLeDaxCHkZ

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2019

"This is about a people's movement in the United States," Ocasio-Cortez tells Iowans during a living-room meeting featured in the ad, "and this campaign is a part of that and electing Bernie Sanders is the beginning of a transformational movement in the direction of working people in America."

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'Pure Propaganda': New York Times Condemned for Comparing Sanders Green New Deal to Trump Border Wall

Published on Friday, November 15, 2019

by Common Dreams

"Article misses a key 'expert' perspective: The climate scientists who are saying we need to radically transform every aspect of our economy in the next decade if we want even a 50 percent chance of averting catostrophic climate crisis."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) introduce public housing legislation as part of the Green New Deal outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, November 14, 2019. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

The New York Times sparked fierce backlash from environmentalists Friday for publishing a news story that leads with a matter-of-fact comparison between Sen. Bernie Sanders' plan to finance the Green New Deal by taxing and fining the fossil fuel industry and President Donald Trump's claim that Mexico would pay for the construction of a border wall.

"Sanders' $16 trillion vision for arresting global warming would put the government in charge of the power sector and promise that, by 2030, the country's electricity and transportation systems would run entirely on wind, solar, hydropower, or geothermal energy, with the fossil fuel industry footing much of the bill much as Mexico was to pay for the border wall," wrote Times climate reporter Lisa Friedman in her article's opening paragraph.

"Why in the hell are youth striking in every country on Earth? It's because of shit like this."
—Eric Holthaus

 

Friedman appeared to be referring to the portion of Sanders' sweeping Green New Deal proposal that calls for "making the fossil fuel industry pay for their pollution, through litigation, fees, and taxes, and eliminating federal fossil fuel subsidies"—which constitutes just one part of Sanders' plan to finance the Green New Deal.

Critics were quick to condemn the notion that Sanders' call for taxes and fines against big oil is in any way on par with Trump's farcical insistence that Mexico would foot the bill for his proposed wall on the southern border.

"The difference? The [fossil fuel] industry owes Americans and global community an uncountable debt for poisoning our communities," tweeted Isa Flores-Jones, a press fellow with the youth-led Sunrise Movement. "Not to mention all those billions of dollars in subsidies owed to the American people. Which brings us to a daily reminder that we pay FF industry $5.2 trillion a year to destroy us."

Josh Orton, Sanders' national policy director, ridiculed the Times story:

BERNIE on FOSSIL FUEL EXECS: they knew of deadly product for 30 years, made hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars killing planet and badly harming communities of color. They should pay.

TRUMP on MEXICO: they’re sending rapists and we need a racist wall

NYT: eh basically the same https://t.co/zq5f9KC4jP

— Josh Orton (@joshorton) November 15, 2019

Progressives didn't merely have a problem with the opening paragraph of the Times story.

The headline of the article states that "experts aren't impressed" by Sanders' ambitious Green New Deal plan, which calls for a 10-year mobilization to transition the U.S. economy to 100 percent renewable energy.

But as the left-wing magazine Current Affairs and others pointed out on Twitter, the "experts" cited by the Times include an adviser to South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a business professor and maxed-out Hillary Clinton donor, and a Democratic strategist who does public relations work for the chemical industry.

"This is pure propaganda, nothing whatsoever to do with science," tweeted Current Affairs. "If you want a scientific assessment have climate scientists evaluate the plan. Pretty galling that the New York Times doesn't disclose the obvious political biases of its sources."

NYT article claims that "experts" think Sanders' climate change plan is unscientific, implying it means experts on climate change. But actually quotes people like: a business school professor/maxed out Hillary donor and a former Hillary staffer & PR guy for the chemical industry pic.twitter.com/hGiSD4cVq9

— Current Affairs (@curaffairs) November 15, 2019

🙄How does the @nytimes publish an article about "expert" takes on climate policy w/out discussing climate science?

Maybe this article should mention the fact that we're heading towards civilizational breakdown & need an energy revolution to salvage any shot at a livable future https://t.co/NDB6ki8hcl

— Zina Precht-Rodriguez (@zina__pr) November 15, 2019

Critics also took aim at the Times story's broad assertion that "climate scientists and energy economists say the plan is technically impractical, politically unfeasible, and possibly ineffective."

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus tweeted that the "experts quoted here get it wrong."

"The Bernie Sanders GND is the only federal climate policy ever proposed in line with what [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scientists say is necessary: 'transformative change' in 'all aspects of society,'" said Holthaus. "If experts don't agree with that, they're not experts."

Why in the hell are youth striking in every country on Earth? It's because of shit like this.#loggingoff

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) November 15, 2019

In a series of tweets Friday, Sunrise Movement political director Evan Weber said the Times "article misses a key 'expert' perspective: The climate scientists who are saying we need to radically transform every aspect of our economy in the next decade if we want even a 50 percent chance of averting catostrophic climate crisis."

"As someone who spends almost all of his time straddling policy experts, political strategists, and social movements... I'm incredibly disappointed but not surprised by this article," Weber wrote. "Where has 'reasonable and measured' gotten us in the last 40 years? It's gotten us to the point of societal extinction. Now is the time to demand what we need, not what we think might be feasible."

"Fossil fuel CEOs didn't hold back for fear of it being 'impossible' for them to get away with cooking the planet for decades," said Weber. "We need to be as relentless as our opponents."

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To Solve Multiple Crises at Once, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Unveil 'Green New Deal for Public Housing'

Published on Thursday, November 14, 2019

by Common Dreams

"This bill shows that we can address our climate and affordable housing crises by making public housing a model of efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) field questions from audience members at the Climate Crisis Summit at Drake University on November 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Framing the climate crisis as both an existential threat and a "tremendous opportunity" to fundamentally transform American society, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday unveiled a Green New Deal for Public Housing that would eliminate carbon emissions from federal housing, invest $180 billion over ten years in retrofitting and repairs, and create nearly 250,000 decent-paying union jobs per year.

"Faced with the global crisis of climate change, the United States must lead the world in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy," Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement.

"We can create millions of jobs in this country by actually rising to the challenge of addressing what this crisis is going to represent."
—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

/p>

"The Green New Deal is not just about climate change," the Vermont senator added. "It is an economic plan to create millions of good-paying jobs, strengthen our infrastructure, and invest in our country's frontline and vulnerable communities. This bill shows that we can address our climate and affordable housing crises by making public housing a model of efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency."

The 54-page Green New Deal for Public Housing Act (pdf), which Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez will introduce at a press conference Thursday afternoon, was co-sponsored in the Senate by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and endorsed by more than 50 climate and affordable housing organizations.

In an interview with the Washington Post Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said the bill demonstrates that fighting the climate crisis "is not a jobs versus environment paradigm."

"We need electrical workers. We need construction workers. And it doesn't have to just be fossil fuel pipelines that create these kinds of jobs," said the New York Democrat. "We can create millions of jobs in this country by actually rising to the challenge of addressing what this crisis is going to represent."

Today is a very big day!

We’re unveiling our FIRST-ever Green New Deal infrastructure bill!👷🏽‍♀️🌎

The GND for Public Housing Act will:
🏙 Decarbonize the entire US public housing stock
👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 Improve quality of life for residents
📈 Create 100s of thousands of jobs in the process https://t.co/z8h3EPby00

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 14, 2019

According to a summary (pdf) released by Sanders' office, the legislation would:

• Transition the entire public housing stock of the United States, as swiftly and seamlessly as possible, into zero-carbon, highly energy-efficient developments that produce on-site renewable energy;
• Address the substantial public housing capital backlog by ensuring all public housing is brought up to safe and sanitary condition;
• Expand federal programs to provide residents with meaningful work investing in their communities;
• Expand resident councils so that public housing residents have a seat at the table for important decisions regarding their homes; and
• Repeal the Faircloth Amendment, which limits the construction of new public housing developments.

HuffPost's Alexander Kaufman called the bill "one of the boldest efforts yet to legislate the Green New Deal movement that, since its debut in mainstream politics with a series of protests a year ago, has reframed the global climate policy debate, providing a popular alternative to the market-friendly dogma that's dominated Western politics for decades."

Last weekend, Sanders was joined by Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed the candidate's presidential bid last month, at a rally in Iowa focused on the climate crisis and the need for a Green New Deal.

According to a Data for Progress analysis released Thursday, the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act "would retrofit over 1 million public housing units, vastly improving the living conditions of nearly 2 million residents and creating over 240,000 jobs per year across the United States."

"These green retrofits would cut 5.6 million tons of annual carbon emissions—the equivalent of taking 1.2 million cars off the road," Data for Progress found. "Retrofits and jobs would benefit communities on the frontlines of climate change, poverty, and pollution and the country as a whole. Our analysis shows the legislation would create 32,552 jobs per year in New York City alone."

In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation would "improve the quality of life" for all public housing residents.
 
"I am proud to begin the hard work of codifying the Green New Deal into law with my friend and colleague, Senator Bernie Sanders," Ocasio-Cortez added.

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WATCH: Sanders Joined by Naomi Klein and Sunrise Movement at Climate Crisis Summit in Iowa

Published on Saturday, November 09, 2019

by Common Dreams

"The world is on fire and our most credible hope of beating the arsonists is Bernie Sanders."

by Julia Conley, staff writer

 

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Sen. Bernie Sanders will be joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, author Naomi Klein, climate activists Isra Hirsi and Zina Precht-Rodriguez, and his Iowa campaign co-chair Stacey Walker at a summit on the climate emergency in Des Moines on Saturday. (Photo: Bernie Sanders)

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was joined at a Climate Crisis Summit in Des Moines Saturday afternoon by author Naomi Klein, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and other influential figures in the grassroots effort to pass a Green New Deal and achieve environmental justice for all.

Ahead of the summit, Klein said on Twitter that she was planning at the event to announce her endorsement of the senator's 2020 presidential campaign.

"The world is on fire and our most credible hope of beating the arsonists is Bernie Sanders," Klein tweeted.

I’ve written about my preferences but I have never formally endorsed a candidate for President in my life - never mind spoken at a campaign rally.

That ends today in #Iowa.

The world is on fire and our most credible hope of beating the arsonists is #Bernie2020 #NotMeUs

— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) November 9, 2019

The Sanders campaign sent an email to supporters on Friday highlighting a number of polls showing that the Vermont independent senator is seen as a climate leader in the Democratic primary.

"Bernie's leadership on climate is set to be particularly critical to his Iowa campaign, because the state has already been so battered by climate change," wrote the campaign. "Climate-intensified flooding in Iowa has caused billions of dollars of damage and bludgeoned the state’s agriculture sector—all while fossil fuel corporations have polluted the state with pipeline leaks and oil spills."

Also joining Sanders at Drake University on Saturday was Isra Hirsi, a leader of the U.S. Climate Strike movement; Zina Precht-Rodriguez of the Sunrise Movement, and Sanders's Iowa campaign co-chair, Stacey Walker.

The summit was scheduled to begin at 12:00pm central time/1:00pm Eastern.

Watch the summit below:

 

An overarching message of the summit echoed Ocasio-Cortez's call at a rally in Council Bluffs on Friday night, where she asked the 2,400 people gathered in the room to join in solidarity with people across the country whose struggles may differ from theirs.

 

The congresswoman again introduced Sanders, garnering applause as she spoke about her rejection of the perennial question "How are we going to pay for it?" regarding the Green New Deal and explained how her answer lies within frontline communities across the country. Americans across the country, she argued, have spent years paying for the inaction of a government beholden to the climate-warming fossil fuel industry.

"As though the Midwest wasn't underwater this year, as though 3,000 Americans didn't die in Puerto Rico in Hurricane Maria, as though Hurricane Katrina didn't happen," she said. "As though sea levels aren't rising, as though California isn't on fire. How do we pay for that? The way that we pay for this is through a people-powered movement, we're going to come together."

"When it comes to a #GreenNewDeal, people say 'How Are You Going To Pay For It,' as tho we're not paying for it now. As if the midwest wasn't underwater, as if Hurricane Katrina didn't happen, as if sea levels aren't rising, as if CA isn't on fire. HOW DO WE PAY FOR THAT?" @AOC pic.twitter.com/p73AEkEbNX

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) November 9, 2019

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The Radical Vision of a 'Homes Guarantee' for All

from truthdig, October 22, 2019, by Celisa Calacal

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AP)

In late September, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled The Place to Prosper Act, one plan out of a larger policy package called “A Just Society,” dedicated to protecting and enforcing tenants’ rights. That same month, before the introduction of that plan, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders had released his own housing plan to address this country’s growing housing crisis through such proposals as a national rent cap and a $70 billion investment into public housing.But before these two progressive leaders publicized their plans, a grassroots coalition of affordable housing advocates came out with its own housing policy, called a Homes Guarantee, dedicated to eradicating homelessness and providing affordable, sustainable housing for all Americans.

But before these two progressive leaders publicized their plans, a grassroots coalition of affordable housing advocates came out with its own housing policy, called a Homes Guarantee, dedicated to eradicating homelessness and providing affordable, sustainable housing for all Americans.

At its core, the Homes Guarantee seeks to tackle the growing housing crisis in large cities and small towns across the U.S. by decommodifying housing and divorcing the need for housing from its current market-based, capitalist-driven system. To accomplish this, the Homes Guarantee calls for building 12 million new social housing units—a public option for housing, in which rents are set at below-market rates—over the next 10 years and offering at least 600,000 “permanent supportive housing” units, which combine affordable housing with social services to help people who face chronic homelessness. The plan also calls for a $30 billion reinvestment in public housing over the next five years, a stark contrast to the federal government’s massive disinvestment in public housing over the past few decades.

In late September, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled The Place to Prosper Act, one plan out of a larger policy package called “A Just Society,” dedicated to protecting and enforcing tenants’ rights. That same month, before the introduction of that plan, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders had released his own housing plan to address this country’s growing housing crisis through such proposals as a national rent cap and a $70 billion investment into public housing.

While the left has seen bold visions in the form of the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All” to address the climate crisis and health care, respectively, it hasn’t yet seen a similar plan or movement to address the housing crisis in the U.S. The coalition behind the Homes Guarantee hopes to change that.

“We want it to be in the same string of other progressive demands, like Medicare for All, Green New Deal,” said Tara Raghuveer of the grassroots movement People’s Action, who helped put the plan together. “We think it is that vision—what is the boldest set of structural reforms? It’s a Homes Guarantee.”

The publishing of the Homes Guarantee, in addition to Ocasio-Cortez’s Place to Prosper Act and Sanders’ plan, reflects a growing effort by grassroots advocates to demand more political action addressing the housing crisis impacting millions across the country.

WATCH: To Combat Hate and Gun Violence, Ocasio-Cortez Urges US to 'Go Deep' and 'Love Bigger' to Break Grip of White Supremacy

Published on Wednesday, August 07, 2019

by Common Dreams

"We will always be here and hold space for you to come back," AOC said directly to those now mired in racist ideologies. "We will love you back. You are not too far gone."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

 

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks during a vigil for the victims of the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio in Grand Army Plaza on August 5, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In now viral footage of remarks from a Monday night vigil for victims of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio this past weekend, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appealed directly to the growing number of Americans who are "falling into the grips of white supremacy" in an effort to combat divisiveness and hatred with a message of love.

"What I have to say to the young men and increasingly some of the young women in this country... that find themselves getting radicalized in a funnel of vitriol towards Latinos, towards immigrants, towards African Americans, towards all people black, towards all people Jewish, towards all people of different faiths, what I have to say to you is, come back," said Ocasio-Cortez. "Because there is a mother waiting for you. I know it."

"I know there's a teacher waiting for you, saying, 'What happened to my kid? What happened to my friend?'" the New York congresswoman continued. "And we will always be here and hold space for you to come back. We will love you back. You are not too far gone."

Ocasio-Cortez's speech spread quickly online, with nearly two million people viewing the clip since it was posted Tuesday.

The New York Democrat also spoke bluntly about President Donald Trump's hate-filled rhetoric, saying there is no reason to ask whether the president is a racist.

"When we allude to people as an invasion, as an infestation, we are directly pulling from the language of white supremacy," said Ocasio-Cortez. "So I don't want to hear the question, 'Is this president racist?' anymore. He is."

Watch:

‘I don’t want to hear the question ‘is this president racist?’ anymore. He is.’ — @AOC held nothing back while condemning Trump for using the language of white supremacy pic.twitter.com/3rWCkdYq6n

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 6, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez's direct confrontation of the threat of white supremacy in the United States contrasted sharply with the message of Fox News host and Trump favorite Tucker Carlson, who said Tuesday night that white supremacy is a "hoax," a "conspiracy theory," and "actually not a real problem in America."

"This is a hoax, just like the Russia hoax," Carlson said just days after a white supremacist gunman opened fire in an El Paso Walmart, killing 22 people. "It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power. That's exactly what's going on."

During the vigil in Brooklyn Monday, Ocasio-Cortez said the United States needs to "go deep" to solve the nation's gun violence crisis.

"This is not just about assault weapons," said the congresswoman. "This is about gun violence in all of our communities. So whether it's from misogyny or whether it's from racism, you're not more of a man with a gun. You're not more of a man if you are capable of violence."

"You are not stronger if you tear another life down. We have to make sure we address that in our culture," she continued. "Fixing this is about fixing the laws, but it's about addressing our culture. We're gonna have to go deep. We need to go deep. Because it's not just those that have succumbed to hate that have to change. We need to learn to love bigger, to bring them back."

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AOC, Bernie Sanders to Introduce Resolution Calling 'Existential Threat' of the Climate Crisis an 'Emergency'

Published on

Monday, July 08, 2019

by

Common Dreams

"We are facing a climate emergency that requires a massive and immediate federal mobilization."

by 

Eoin Higgins, staff writer

 21 Comments

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks to the media after the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27, 2019 in Miami. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

A cohort of progressive Democrats plan to introduce a resolution declaring a climate emergency Tuesday in Congress, a move that could open the door to decisive action on the crisis.

The Guardian's Emily Holden reported Monday afternoon that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) are expected to introduce a resolution calling for naming the climate crisis an "emergency" on Tuesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, also plans to introduce the resolution in the upper chamber, according to the reporting.

In comment to The Guardian, Blumenauer's office said that the congressman "decided to draft the resolution after Donald Trump declared an emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico so he could pursue building a wall between the two countries."

In her reporting, Holden urged caution.

"Even if the resolution passed and was signed by the president, it would not force any action on climate change," wrote Holden. "But advocates say similar efforts in Canada and the United Kingdom have served as a leverage point, highlighting the hypocrisy between the government position that the situation is an emergency and individual decisions that would exacerbate the problem."

A spokesperson for Sanders said the senator was moving forward on the resolution because President Donald Trump's policies are making things worse. 

"On the existential threat of climate change, Trump insists on calling it a hoax," said the spokesperson. "Senator Sanders is proud to partner with his House colleagues to challenge this absurdity and have Congress declare what we all know: we are facing a climate emergency that requires a massive and immediate federal mobilization."

The news came just before Trump delivered a climate address dismissed by the Environmental Working Group as an "utter fantasy."

On Twitter, Sanders leveled criticisms on the president donning the mantle of a climate advocate. 

"We don't have time for more lies," said Sanders. "We must address the climate crisis now."

News of the upcoming resolution was welcomed by progressive organizations. 

"The climate crisis is a true emergency, and it must be dealt with as such," the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee tweeted, thanking the lawmakers for their action. 

The Democratic Socialists of America said on Twitter that Sanders understands "this isn't just climate change, it's a climate emergency."

"The solution is to reorganize our economy so it works for both people and the planet, not the profit of fossil fuel companies," the group added.

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Ocasio-Cortez Details 'Horrifying' Conditions at Migrant Detention Facility

Congresswoman said people were ‘drinking out of toilets’ and denounced alleged sexual threats by CBP officers towards her

 

• From the Guardian

Tom McCarthyin New York

 @TeeMcSee

 

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Mon 1 Jul 2019 20.57 EDTFirst published on Mon 1 Jul 2019 17.45 EDT

 

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 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the border with congressman Joaquin Castro, whose brother Julian is running for president. Photograph: Christ Chavez/Getty Images

Following a visit to a migrant detention center in Texas on Monday, the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called conditions “horrifying” and denounced sexualized threats against her – allegedly made by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers – in the lead-up to the visit.

Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic colleagues were en route to a facility in Clint, Texas, when ProPublica revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group, branded as a forum for CBP officers, with 9,500 members, some of whom ProPublica linked to public Facebook pages for verified officers.

The numbers game: how migrants at the border await their fate

 

 

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Posts in the Facebook group included one that encouraged officers to throw a “burrito at these bitches”, one saying “Fuck the hoes”, one saying “There should be no photo ops for these scum buckets”, and one depicting Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex at a detention center. Another post questioned the veracity of a recently published photo of a drowned father and daughter in the Rio Grande.

“9,500 CBP officers sharing memes about dead migrants and discussing violence and sexual misconduct towards members of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in reaction to the report. “How on earth can CBP’s culture be trusted to care for refugees humanely? PS I have no plans to change my itinerary & will visit the CBP station today.”

What Ocasio-Cortez saw inside the facility, which has been plagued by recent reports of abusive treatment of detained children, was “horrifying”, she tweeted.

She reported officers forcing women to drink out of toilets:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

 

✔@AOC

 

 

Just left the 1st CBP facility.

I see why CBP officers were being so physically &sexually threatening towards me.

Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets.

This was them on their GOOD behavior in front of members of Congress.

 

139K

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Ocasio-Cortez said she saw officers making light of conditions inside the facility:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

 

✔@AOC

 

 

Now I’ve seen the inside of these facilities.

It’s not just the kids. It’s everyone. People drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members Congress.

I brought it up to their superiors. They said “officers are under stress & act out sometimes.” No accountability.

 

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She said detainees told her officers were abusing them:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

 

✔@AOC

 

 

After I forced myself into a cell w/ women&began speaking to them, one of them described their treatment at the hands of officers as “psychological warfare” - waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.

Tell me what about that is due to a “lack of funding?”

 

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With serial visits by Democratic presidential candidates and elected officials to migrant detention centers in recent days, the Trump administration has forcefully rejected claims of systemic abuse of detainees, calling them “unsubstantiated”.

Late on Monday, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice) confirmed the death in their custody of a 30-year-old Honduran man, Yimi Alexis Balderramos-Torres, marking the sixth person to die in ICE custody since October 2018. The death was first reported by BuzzFeed News.

Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro, who also visited the centers, tweeted footage of a crowded cell, writing that some detainees had been separated from their children:

 

Joaquin Castro

 

✔@JoaquinCastrotx

 

 

This moment captures what it’s like for women in CBP custody to share a cramped cell—some held for 50 days—for them to be denied showers for up to 15 days and life-saving medication. For some, it also means being separated from their children. This is El Paso Border Station #1.

 

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As Ocasio-Cortez visited the Texas facility, NBC News revealed an internal Department of Homeland Security report that said conditions inside an El Paso center were so dire that as early as May, border agents were arming themselves against possible riots.

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Inspectors at the facility noted “only four showers were available for 756 immigrants, more than half of the immigrants were being held outside, and immigrants inside were being kept in cells maxed out at more than five times their capacity”, NBC reported.

“A cell meant for a maximum of 35 held 155 adult males with only one toilet and sink. The cell was so crowded the men could not lie down to sleep,” the report went on. “With limited access to showers and clean clothing, detainees were wearing soiled clothing for days or weeks.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not reply to a request for comment.

At a news conference last week, the homeland security secretary, Kevin McAleenan, assured the public that the detention centers were “clean and well managed”, despite a legal report that documented children inside the centers given insufficient food and wearing soiled clothing and diapers.

Drowned father and daughter mourned in private El Salvador ceremony

 

 

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“All of this received relatively little attention and little action until this past week on the Hill,” McAleenan said. “But unsubstantiated allegations regarding a single border patrol facility in Clint station in Texas created a sensation.”

However, the California congresswoman Judy Chu, also on the trip with Ocasio-Cortez, said she met a woman who had been told by a border agent: “If you want water, just drink from a toilet.”

“These are the same CBP personnel who threatened to throw burritos at members of Congress,” Chu tweeted. “Changes must be made.”

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that migrants were being treated “like animals”.

She wrote: “This has been horrifying so far. It is hard to understate the enormity of the problem. We’re talking systemic cruelty [with] a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals.”