Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez

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Comments

  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    my2hands said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    Wealth distribution needs to start at the top.

    The middle class is already burdened- they walk a fine line between a balanced home budget and a good quality of life.

    And I'm not sure why people feel good about watching people struggle? Just because we did doesn't mean everyone else should as well. There might be a better way.
    Where did anybody say anything about watching people struggle...

    what dreams point is simple... I think you've been teaching for over 10 years my friend... you ok making the same money as a 22yo that just started with the same credentials and zero experience? No? Me neither 

    20+

    Experience should definitely count for something and I'm not 'completely' in disagreement with what dreams was stating- I didn't necessarily like the tone of the post (which essentially stated millennials are entitled little snots that have no idea how the real world works)... or the notion (not his suggestion) that a revamped wealth distribution model needs to be redesigned with the middle class assuming the brunt of the responsibility.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • dignin
    dignin Posts: 9,478
    my2hands said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    Wealth distribution needs to start at the top.

    The middle class is already burdened- they walk a fine line between a balanced home budget and a good quality of life.

    And I'm not sure why people feel good about watching people struggle? Just because we did doesn't mean everyone else should as well. There might be a better way.
    Where did anybody say anything about watching people struggle...

    what dreams point is simple... I think you've been teaching for over 10 years my friend... you ok making the same money as a 22yo that just started with the same credentials and zero experience? No? Me neither 
    In your example should a new teacher have to take a second job to be able to put food on the table?
  • what dreams
    what dreams Posts: 1,761
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.
  • what dreams
    what dreams Posts: 1,761
    And please, I've lived in the DC metro area my entire life. Quit with the lectures. I know how the economy works here. But yes, I still read the article. It made me chuckle again at the naivete of Ms. Alexandria O. Cortez and the youthful, eager, innovators she brought to town with her. Please. 
  • dignin
    dignin Posts: 9,478
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.
    So you expect AOC to change the whole of the American system in the course of a few months?

    You realize she wants what you want right? And this is only the start.

    She is doing what she can and you go after her because why exactly?

    I really don't get the anger. Maybe you should reserve that for the people who don't want any change, there are plenty of those around that you can focus on. But here you are picking at this. Why?
  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.

    Hasn't she asserted multiple times that she is targeting the uber rich and corporations?

    It's getting harder and harder for each new generation to get live. Wages have not kept up with inflation at all. I would not like to be a millennial and am feeling very fortunate I 'got in' when I did.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • what dreams
    what dreams Posts: 1,761
    Yes, she has asserted we need to target the uber rich and corporations. Instead of working on that *legislation,* she launched a *non-binding reolution* called the Green New Deal that -- in fact -- demands multi-trillion dollar results practically overnight. I don't expect much legislative impact out of her at all, because she's too busy posting Instagram videos about herself. 

  • my2hands
    my2hands Posts: 17,117
    dignin said:
    my2hands said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    Wealth distribution needs to start at the top.

    The middle class is already burdened- they walk a fine line between a balanced home budget and a good quality of life.

    And I'm not sure why people feel good about watching people struggle? Just because we did doesn't mean everyone else should as well. There might be a better way.
    Where did anybody say anything about watching people struggle...

    what dreams point is simple... I think you've been teaching for over 10 years my friend... you ok making the same money as a 22yo that just started with the same credentials and zero experience? No? Me neither 
    In your example should a new teacher have to take a second job to be able to put food on the table?
    In the ideal world, no. Who says they have to anyway?

    To run with your question.... Should Thirty and the other experienced teachers be the ones to make that sacrifice? Absolutely not
  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    what dreams said:
    Yes, she has asserted we need to target the uber rich and corporations. Instead of working on that *legislation,* she launched a *non-binding reolution* called the Green New Deal that -- in fact -- demands multi-trillion dollar results practically overnight. I don't expect much legislative impact out of her at all, because she's too busy posting Instagram videos about herself. 


    So then isn't this the opportunity we know is right to pursue? This is true change. The only people truly fearing this approach would be the uber rich- people dipping into their pile of gold where their mound wouldn't be so high.

    Whether she can get it done or not remains to be seen... but people demonstrated they sought change in your last election. If change is what the people want... rolling the die on this venture seems a healthier bet than rolling the die on Donald don't you think?  
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • what dreams
    what dreams Posts: 1,761
    my2hands said:
    dignin said:
    my2hands said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    Wealth distribution needs to start at the top.

    The middle class is already burdened- they walk a fine line between a balanced home budget and a good quality of life.

    And I'm not sure why people feel good about watching people struggle? Just because we did doesn't mean everyone else should as well. There might be a better way.
    Where did anybody say anything about watching people struggle...

    what dreams point is simple... I think you've been teaching for over 10 years my friend... you ok making the same money as a 22yo that just started with the same credentials and zero experience? No? Me neither 
    In your example should a new teacher have to take a second job to be able to put food on the table?
    In the ideal world, no. Who says they have to anyway?

    To run with your question.... Should Thirty and the other experienced teachers be the ones to make that sacrifice? Absolutely not
    As a new teacher, I worked a second job to put food on the table. But I was also incredibly irresponsible with my money. Negligent, in fact, in how I wasted it on things. Additionally, in the NOVA economy, I paid the rent by having multiple roommates. That's what young people do here. 

    I also knew I didn't have to choose teaching as a career. I could have done, and was encouraged by my family to do, something more lucrative. It was a choice I made.

    Twenty-five years later, I can afford to live alone and I have most definitely learned to live responsibly on my most average income.

    The incomes of educated people like me -- and the young staffers on Capitol Hill whose best years are ahead -- are not the ones I lose sleep over.   
  • oftenreading
    oftenreading Victoria, BC Posts: 12,856
    AOC is in favour of a living wage for all. As a concrete expression of that, she has put it into place in the one environment she has most influence - her own office. This is the step she can take, and she’s taken it.  Contrary to what people seem to be claiming, it isn’t a flat pay structure - those with more experience and responsibility do get paid substantially more, just not as much as in other, less equitable workplaces. This is one model for change; there are many other possible models. Whether or not this applies to low wage industries is completely irrelevant because that’s not what she has hiring responsibility for at this moment. “She’s implementing a living wage and equitable salary structure with her staff - damn her for not solving poverty instantly!”   It really looks like some people are reaching for something to criticize. 
    my small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,836
    What is “equitable salary” though?

    seems a weird add to an otherwise solid post. She has control over it, she should do what she thinks is right. People that don’t like it don’t have to apply for her jobs. 
    hippiemom = goodness
  • what dreams
    what dreams Posts: 1,761
    The only economy she will affect is the attention economy. And with that attention, she will impact elections, probably not for the better in vast swaths of this country. That is my criticism.
    Gotta go shopping now (at the bargain basement). Have a fun day, ya'll.
      
  • oftenreading
    oftenreading Victoria, BC Posts: 12,856
    cincybearcat said:
    What is “equitable salary” though?

    seems a weird add to an otherwise solid post. She has control over it, she should do what she thinks is right. People that don’t like it don’t have to apply for her jobs. 
    "More equitable salary structure" probably would have been a better phrase. 

    To my mind, it is both reasonable and equitable, i.e. fair, that people working at a full time, demanding job get paid a living wage. It is also fair that there is a less extreme range between lowest earners and highest earners. Ocasio-Corez has, I think, made it clear that she wants to tackle the areas of extremes, the super-rich CEOs, but that's not what she's dealing with in her own office. She wants to make that wage gap a bit narrower. It's a step in the right direction. 
    my small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf
  • mrussel1
    mrussel1 Posts: 30,882
    what dreams said:
    NOVA resident here, gearing up to welcome Amazon. 

    We already complain about traffic. We already have overcrowded schools. Rents are already outrageous. Nothing new here. Absorbing 25,000 additional people isn't really going to be that big a deal, if all of them even come from elsewhere. Amazon already has warehouses in NOVA, we've got a Google headquarters, IBM, AT&T. Bezos himself has lived in DC for a year or so now after buying the WaPo. Highly educated tech people already reside here. Basically it's going to be a restructuring of an already sprawling landscape. People are excited to see what happens. 

    They're going into an area near National Airport (aka Reagan) called Crystal City that had been developed decades ago for exactly this kind of thing, but that plan fell flat, never living up to its promise. My understanding is that there's already a lot of empty warehouse space waiting for them. There's a transit line, with a history of malfunction we're used to, but bringing in Amazon has spurred renewed commitment to upgrade it. I imagine the airport itself might feel some strain. Reagan can't really expand much because of the geography, and it's not that big of an airport. So there's that.

    Retailers and restaurants can't wait for the increased foot traffic. It's not a high density residential area, so those kinds of businesses in that area generally struggle. There will be a boom for them, for sure, and maybe some new residential building. There aren't really a lot of current residents to displace. In fact, I read an article about a lot of condos and apartments sitting empty.  This will actually vitalize an area that's been waiting for it. I haven't read one single negative piece of press or heard one person gripe. I guess that's how we're different than NY???

    I'm neutral about the whole thing. We like welcoming big companies here. We like jobs, even though, yes, the fucking traffic sucks. If you drive the 95 corridor you expect gridlock, but there's already plans to widen south of DC to about halfway to Richmond. There are hardly any more trees to cut down in the process, so that's not a concern. Maybe it will become a slightly bigger pain in the ass to get to the airport, but that's about the extent of how it might impact me personally. I don't have any other reason to head over to that part of the burbs. But who knows? It could become super trendy like all the hipsters remade Brooklyn, and then I'll have hang out there to be cool.
    Er...what?  Crystal City?  Now my drive to the Anthem will be even more painful.  Fuck what I said in the last 25 posts.. NO AMAZON IN VA!  
    I had just assumed it would be in the Dulles Corridor. 
  • mrussel1
    mrussel1 Posts: 30,882
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.

    Hasn't she asserted multiple times that she is targeting the uber rich and corporations?

    It's getting harder and harder for each new generation to get live. Wages have not kept up with inflation at all. I would not like to be a millennial and am feeling very fortunate I 'got in' when I did.
    There is some irony in all of this...  The two things that enabled me to move up the "class" income level were:
    1. Working for a corporation.  As 'evil' as we like to portray them, they by and large provide better pay and benefits than doing comparable work for an independent/family/small business. 
    2. Getting married - let's not discount the huge economic advantages you get when you pool resources.  For many of us, we spent little time living alone in our lives.  I only lived for one year in a way where I did not share expenses.  I basically went from roommates to living with my gf to married.  Many people do this.  And statistically, being married provides significantly more economic security.  
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    ‘You didn’t vote for me’: U.S. Democratic senator has testy visit with schoolkids over Green New Deal

    https://globalnews.ca/news/4991413/dianne-feinstein-kids-green-new-deal/?utm_medium=Facebook&utm_source=GlobalNews&fbclid=IwAR1csk3lryFPIzihPQSk9T6vga2T_fp8VbgX9KYsaAyaqoAotOkW-sqKmDY

    lol
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,836
    mrussel1 said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.

    Hasn't she asserted multiple times that she is targeting the uber rich and corporations?

    It's getting harder and harder for each new generation to get live. Wages have not kept up with inflation at all. I would not like to be a millennial and am feeling very fortunate I 'got in' when I did.
    There is some irony in all of this...  The two things that enabled me to move up the "class" income level were:
    1. Working for a corporation.  As 'evil' as we like to portray them, they by and large provide better pay and benefits than doing comparable work for an independent/family/small business. 
    2. Getting married - let's not discount the huge economic advantages you get when you pool resources.  For many of us, we spent little time living alone in our lives.  I only lived for one year in a way where I did not share expenses.  I basically went from roommates to living with my gf to married.  Many people do this.  And statistically, being married provides significantly more economic security.  
    I don’t know for 50% or more people marriage is simply a delayed 50% tax!
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    mrussel1 said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.

    Hasn't she asserted multiple times that she is targeting the uber rich and corporations?

    It's getting harder and harder for each new generation to get live. Wages have not kept up with inflation at all. I would not like to be a millennial and am feeling very fortunate I 'got in' when I did.
    There is some irony in all of this...  The two things that enabled me to move up the "class" income level were:
    1. Working for a corporation.  As 'evil' as we like to portray them, they by and large provide better pay and benefits than doing comparable work for an independent/family/small business. 
    2. Getting married - let's not discount the huge economic advantages you get when you pool resources.  For many of us, we spent little time living alone in our lives.  I only lived for one year in a way where I did not share expenses.  I basically went from roommates to living with my gf to married.  Many people do this.  And statistically, being married provides significantly more economic security.  
    What's the divorce rate 50%...because an awful lot of people toss away the economic advantage fairly easily in divorce.
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,836
    Meltdown99 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    what dreams said:
    These solutions target the so-called middle and working classes at yet again responsible for fixing the problem. It may help someone at the bottom upgrade from their inflatable raft to a canoe. The people on a speed boat downgrade to a canoe. Meanwhile, the folks on the yachts can also own a rocket to outer space. It does NOTHING to address income inequality.
    My niece is 30 years old living in DC working for a "subsistence" wage at a non-profit. She was able to buy a condo in the newly gentrified 14th Street district at 27. How? She saved. She sacrificed. She budgeted. She shopped around for a smart mortgage. She worked an extra job. Oh, wait. That's an andecdote. Never mind.   
    I'm not opposed to addressing income inequality through measures that might actually work, like a wealth tax that doesn't redistribute income from the bottom. How the hell is it logical to solve income inequality by asking a middle income earner to make less when they too are already living paycheck to paycheck? 
    But props to the 10 people working in the AOC's office.  Good for them. They get to make -- and continue to make -- 52,000 forever.

    Hasn't she asserted multiple times that she is targeting the uber rich and corporations?

    It's getting harder and harder for each new generation to get live. Wages have not kept up with inflation at all. I would not like to be a millennial and am feeling very fortunate I 'got in' when I did.
    There is some irony in all of this...  The two things that enabled me to move up the "class" income level were:
    1. Working for a corporation.  As 'evil' as we like to portray them, they by and large provide better pay and benefits than doing comparable work for an independent/family/small business. 
    2. Getting married - let's not discount the huge economic advantages you get when you pool resources.  For many of us, we spent little time living alone in our lives.  I only lived for one year in a way where I did not share expenses.  I basically went from roommates to living with my gf to married.  Many people do this.  And statistically, being married provides significantly more economic security.  
    What's the divorce rate 50%...because an awful lot of people toss away the economic advantage fairly easily in divorce.
    Great minds  ;)
    hippiemom = goodness

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