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
Hey, that Nixon ditz has plenty of money - why doesn’t she ask HER for a loan?
I swear, these people are so stupid and so arrogant (Dunning-Krueger Club, anyone?) that they probably want to make millions want to simply shoot them (and, NO, I am neither planning to do so, nor advocating that anyone else do so, either - none of these walking pieces of dog crap are worth it).
Sleep on a cot in the office, like some other congressmen do.
Actually, I recall Paul Ryan did that when he first was elected.
Crystal City
There’s plenty of cheap places to rent on the south side of the Anacostia within walking distance of the House side of the Capitol.
To say this women is dumber than a bag of hammers would be a disservice to hammers
Housing is too much money these days contrasted with pay. She is right.
But housing is NOT a human right.
As I recall, the Republican House Members camped in their offices. Not bad digs.
I can fix that real quick. Over 40% of DC's population is on welfare. Eliminate welfare in DC, make the welfare population move to Maryland, and thus free up housing for working people.
In Rep Scarborough’s office there was so little room for the staff to sleep that his intern had to lay her head on a hard table.
She could do like Paul Ryan did when he was first elected and came to DC. He slept on a cot in a closet at the house of reps.
She can live with her peeps in the hood but she’s better than that now
Hmmmm.......I see a GoFundMe page starting up any minute now.....unless I missed it and one has already been started?
it's DC!!! let the silly frunt room wi some of the other n00bies
Doesn’t sound like she did much advance planning. That said, she shouldn’t have a problem getting a short term loan with an annual salary of close to 200K.
Why doesn’t she just pay for her apartment with funds from the same place she’s going to pay for free healthcare for all and free student loans......
Did you think she would?
Socialists typically have bad credit, so she will just have to stick it out in her Affordable Housing until that government dole arrives
She can rent a room with someone else, possibly a member of Congress (for which a Republican congressman was highly criticized, unjustly).
Her “partner” can pay for it. Do ex-”baristas” have “barpimps”?
She can work the streets of DC for a while in order to get used to the place. There are homeless shelters all around, except in the lilly white wealthy areas or black upper class areas.
Hell, she can sleep at the Obama Motel and Bordello. Why not? It already has Michelle and Valerie Jarrett in it. What’s one more anti-American, Marxist, greedy, whiny Democrat bitch? Besides, Barack, the “One we’ve been waiting for”, might like to have some younger lady in the house to talk about politics.
Gee, he could be another Bill Clinton. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!
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