Posted on 11/09/2018 12:34:47 PM PST by Kaslin
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected to Congress and a Democratic socialist, told The New York Times Wednesday that she can’t afford an apartment in D.C. until she gets her Congressional salary in three months.
Ocasio-Cortez, 29, said the transition period will be “very unusual, because I can’t really take a salary. I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real.”
She added that she has saved money before leaving her bartending job and “planned accordingly with her partner.”
“We’re kind of just dealing with the logistics of it day by day, but I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to January,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the issue Thursday arguing that it was an example of “many little ways in which our electoral system isn’t even designed (nor prepared) for working-class people to lead.”
There are many little ways in which our electoral system isn’t even designed (nor prepared) for working-class people to lead.
This is one of them (don’t worry btw - we’re working it out!)
?? https://t.co/PEQ5ccSDSO— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 8, 2018
NBC noted that Ocasio-Cortez will make $174,000 a year as a member of Congress and that the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in D.C. is $2,170 a month, making it the seventh-highest rent in the nation.
However, Ocasio-Cortez is moving from New York which has the second highest median rent in the nation for a one bedroom apartment costing $2,850 a month.
As Townhall noted earlier this year, reports, including from Harvard and the New Democrat Coalition, indicate that the affordable housing crisis is exacerbated by burdensome government regulations.
According to one recent report, released in June by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), “regulation imposed by all levels of government accounts for an average of 32.1 percent of multifamily development costs,” and “in a quarter of cases, that number can reach as high as 42.6 percent.”
Ocasio-Cortez believes that housing is "a human right" and "Congress must tip the balance away from housing as a gambling chip for Wall Street banks and fight for accessible housing that's actually within working families' reach."
Her solution to the crisis, however, is not deregulation but costly government intervention. She wants to "give tax benefits to working- and middle-class homeowners, expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, provide housing for the homeless, and permanently fund the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund."
Some on Twitter who disagreed with her politically did sympathize with her difficulty with the cost of housing in the city.
I am no fan of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but I'm a bit mystified that people are making fun of her for having trouble finding/affording housing in DC. That's, uh, a very relatable problem!— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) November 9, 2018
This is actually correct. There, I said it, OCASIO-CORTEZ IS RIGHT. https://t.co/jAeeTYTMsK— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) November 9, 2018
I hope the media pays constant attention to her. Please, interview her 24 hours a day. Quote the hell out of her.
“She should be able to find something free somewhere?”
Yes.
Her office.
Other congressmen sleep in their offices. She can too.
It highlights the fact that she is clueless.
Your problem and your dinero is some DC area familia’s January housing payment solution.
Capitalism works, if you think about it.
her thinking is so occasional,
so unbalanced, that she must have received
her ‘education’ in bars or pole dancing, if at all.
President Gerald Ford lived in Park Fairfax(?) in Alexandria, VA when he was a Congressman.
She has no kids and makes $7500/mo. Rent will be a couple Grand, leaving about 5 Grand for the rest of things. If she cannot make it on that, she’s as dumb as we suspect.
This is so crazy. She will have no problem crashing with someone there, until she starts getting paid from Congress in January. Heck she might even be invited to live with some nice liberal or Hispanic family for the duration of her time in Washington. And they might even let her live there rent free, because they love her so much because of politics.
I hear what she’s saying, but in her particular case, she has no problems at all.
Someone else who got a new job in a new city and has to move might have problems with this, but she herself will not have those problems.
Ya, what’s with this “partner”? Is he like a boyfriend? Do they live together? Does he work and contribute to household finances? What’s the deal here?
How can someone as smart as this, especially in economics, not have three month’s rent worth of savings? How is this possible?
I saw “partner” too and immediately got a little ill - WTH is wrong with people these days? It’s either your boyfriend or girlfriend - “partner” in the context she’s using it is elitist drivel.
You know, I never thought I would say this but I’m glad she won. This dimwit is going to be comedy gold for the next two years.
Dear Alexandria,
If you will keep your mouth shut for a couple of weeks an apartment, new car, etc. will not be a problem. See you in Congress!
Love,
Nancy Pelosi
DC International Hostel $28-$46/night
Unfussy dorms in a functional hostel with a common kitchen, coin-operated lockers & free Wi-Fi.
“Very good price hostel but the bathrooms and showers are unisex”
https://hotpads.com/washington-dc/apartments-for-rent?lat=38.8991&lon=-77.0145&orderBy=lowPrice&z=12
starting at $675/month
Uh, back around 1978/1980, when Jim Jeffords was first elected to Congress, he spent his first months living in a motor home or camper in Greenbelt Park.
Silly little communist bitch. Her economic ignorance isn’t going to be decreased one bit by this little dose of reality.
Surprised that Soros or 0bama hasn’t set her up in a nice D.C. house already.
Bingo. As I predicted on FR earlier.
She is virtue signaling for the “THE RENT IS TOO DAMNED HIGH” campaign.
There’s nothing affordable about D.C. ... but I’m sure that her Economics degree will help her find a way to afford something. /s
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