Posted on 06/11/2019 11:02:06 AM PDT by Red Badger
The freshman Democrat wants more money in her paycheck, calling it a cost of living increase rather than a raise.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that she doesn’t believe that a $4,500 pay increase for members of Congress should be a considered a raise but rather a cost of living increase.
She argued that members of Congress aren’t paid enough, and so they often turn to lobbying or other related fields in which they can make more money. The current base salary for a member of Congress is $174,000. The average American’s salary is $56,616.
.@AOC defends a $4,500 pay raise for herself: "It's not even like a raise." pic.twitter.com/ugFaZuSm7c — Molly Prince (@mollyfprince) June 11, 2019
“Members of Congress, retail workers, everybody should get cost of living increases to account for the changes in our economy, and then when we don’t do that, it only increases the pressure on members to exploit loopholes like insider trading loopholes to make it on the backend.”
Ocasio-Cortez called opposition to the pay hike “superficial” and argued everyone should get a pay raise.
“It may be politically convenient, and it may make you look good in the short term for saying, ‘Oh, we’re not voting for pay increases,’ but we should be fighting for pay increase for every American worker,” she said. “We should be fighting for a $15 minimum wage tied to inflation so that everybody in the United States with a salary, with a wage, gets a cost of living increase.”
“You can vote against pay increases all you want. In my opinion, voting against a pay – it’s not even like a raise, it’s a cost of living adjustment. So, you can vote against a cost of living adjustment all you want,” Ocasio-Cortez said, but that’s just going to contribute to member burn out and corruption.
Voting to increase her own pay “may not be great optics,” she admitted, but she reiterated that it was the right thing to do.
Yep. Voting against cost of living increases for members of Congress may sound nice, but doing so only increases pressure on them to keep dark money loopholes open.
This makes campaign finance reform *harder.*
ALL workers deserve cost of living increases, incl min wage workers. https://t.co/fCdgHKx4G1 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 11, 2019
I'll ask my boss, and see if he agrees it's not 'like a raise'................
Works for me. I'm all for Congress getting paid $15 per hour as their minimum wage for freshmen representatives and senators.
Thanks to H1b, my income stayed constant for almost 10 years.
Brought to you by The Swamp and the Uniparty.
Who are the shape shifters propping this dimwit up, and for what purpose? She's in the "glass of water" district in New York city, Pelosi said it best.
Her abilities don’t even qualify her for a minimum wage job..and I don’t mean a $15/hr one.
Raise your hand if you believe that $4500 will keep these poor, starving congress critters from dipping into lobbyist and special interest funding. Anyone???
That’s like 375 like dollars like per like month
That’s like a car payment, like enough, you know?...............
If she puts the $4500 into a 401K or IRA, it’s an investment. Something she knows nothing about?
Yep, pay them 15$/hr since they like the idea so much.
OK, then let’s REDUCE your pay $4500. If it’s no big deal.
Hey you commie skank, if you don’t like the pay, go back to being a Barista who steals tips from her co-workers. You are a worthless Bitch.
Its like OMG a raise like like..and she’s a member of Congress..OY
Only rich capitalists have those................
Exactly!..................
think of it as a really big tip sweetie...
That you steal from the taxpayers...............
Her abilities qualify her for a horizontal position.................
Mine just said shut up and get back to work
Thus endeth the rise of the socialist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.