Free Republic

Democratic Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the “Green New Deal” plan she supports would be used to achieve liberal “economic, social and racial justice” goals along with fighting global warming. “[W]e can use the transition to 100 percent energy as the vehicle to truly deliver and establish economic, social and racial justice in the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a Tuesday panel discussion alongside Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and environmental activist Bill McKibben. The soon-to-be New York representative has spent her time in Washington, D.C. promoting a “Green New Deal” to transition the U.S. to 100...

Experts decry 'pie in the sky' environmental plan Since sweeping into Congress atop a wave of far-left support, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has been very clear what her number one goal is: a Green New Deal for America. The freshman congresswoman first attracted attention to the proposal when she joined more than 200 protesters staging a sit-in in support of a GND in Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) office. Since then and with Ocasio-Cortez's backing, the idea has swept through left-leaning media, attracting fawning reviews. It also has the support of a number of prominent left-wing environmental activists:...

The question above is often asked rhetorically in response to Twitter posts by the embattled freshman congressman, who has become something of an ideological lightning rod since her emergence on the political scene. ... So how did this utterly unspectacular creature, who previously worked as a bartender and a waitress in a taqueria, win a seat in Congress at the tender age of 28? A lot can be construed from census data on New York’s 14th congressional district, which she clutched away from a veteran Democratic congressman.

Full title: CRIMINAL ACT: Democrat Ocasio-Cortez Broke 42 US Code § 1983 By Threatening Donald Trump Jr. with Retaliation Over Snarky Meme It appears Ocasio-Cortez broke federal law by threatening a US citizen with retaliation for snarky tweets. You can’t use the power of the law to get back at people for their Instagram memes, Alexandria! According to — 42 U.S. Code § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected,...

One of the most comforting talking points in politics is to claim that your political opponents are irrationally obsessed. I'm sure this is as old as time, but I first noticed it in the late 1990s. Many of Bill Clinton's most ardent supporters responded to every new criticism by claiming the president's enemies were twisted by hate for the man. During the George W. Bush administration, thanks in part to a phrase coined by my late friend Charles Krauthammer, conservatives deflected criticism of the president by claiming his foes suffered from "Bush derangement syndrome." The term caught on, and Obama...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just violated House Ethics rules when she threatened to use her Congressional power of subpoena against someone who criticized her According to this news article that was just published by CNN, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted the following:I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up. Please, keep it coming Jr – it’s definitely a “very, very large brain” idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month. Have fun!Ocasio-Cortez is threatening to use her power as a federal lawmaker to punish someone...

Democratic Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) fired back at Donald Trump Jr. on Friday after the president’s eldest son shared a meme implying that her democratic socialist views would lead to Americans eating dogs. “I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter. “Please, keep it coming Jr - it’s definitely a ‘very, very large brain’ idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month.” “Have fun!” she added. Her tweet was in response to a two-paneled meme shared...

Newly elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-MY) vowed to "mete out sweet revenge" in response to Donald Trump Jr. sharing a meme predicting that if her socialist views are implemented Americans would end up eating their dogs. "He may think he's clever mocking me," Ocasio-Cortez said, "but in another month I'll have the subpoena power I need to make his life a living Hell. On the specific topic of eating dogs, though, Junior is overlooking the positive impact that would have on mitigating global warming. So really, the joke is on him." In related news, Google advised journalist John Stossel that...

Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not yet been sworn into Congress, but she’s already eyeing a seat at one of the most powerful House committees in charge of taxation laws. The Democratic Socialist’s spokesperson confirmed to Vice News that she will seek a seat on the House Ways and Means committee, which is traditionally packed with seasoned legislators with experience in writing tax code. Rep. Joe Crawley, the top Democrat who was unseated by Ocasio-Cortez this year, was among the members of the committee. She is eyeing the exact same seat that is customarily reserved for New York City.

Now that Democrats will soon control one branch of Congress, President Trump is again signaling that infrastructure could be an area of compromise. We agree, but if the president wanted to earn Democratic support in the Senate, any infrastructure bill would have to include policies and funding that help transition our country to a clean-energy economy and mitigate the risks the United States already faces from climate change. For too long, Congress has failed to act in a meaningful way to combat the threat posed by climate change. It’s impossible to overstate the urgency with which America needs to confront...

The future may be female, but critics say Kirsten Gillibrand's role may be limited. The Democratic U.S. senator from New York was widely mocked Wednesday after saying the future is “female” and “intersectional,” in a wink to the progressive wing of her party. “Our future is: Female, Intersectional, Powered by our belief in one another. And we’re just getting started,” Gillibrand wrote in a tweet. Critics claimed Gillibrand was trying to pander to progressives ahead of a likely run for president in 2020, looking to portray herself as a feminist firebrand. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for one, fired back...

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday night confirmed she will pay her interns at least $15 an hour. “Time to walk the walk,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Very few members of Congress actually pay their interns. We will be one of them.” Her message came after The Washington Post confirmed with her chief of staff that she intended to pay her interns the amount. Her tweet comes the day after Ocasio-Cortez called for lawmakers to increase pay for their interns and staffers. The rising Democratic star, a self-described democratic socialist, tweeted Monday that she visited a restaurant in Washington where she met...

The Washington Post "Fact-checker" column awarded Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) "four Pinocchios" on Tuesday after she said in a tweet that a "$21 trillion mistake" by the Pentagon could have paid for about two-thirds the cost of a Medicare for all bill. “$21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions ‘could not be traced, documented, or explained.’ $21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T. That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon," she wrote to her 1.46 million followers. The column said the tweet was wrong on a couple of counts. First,...

Democratic Socialist darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn't even been sworn into office yet and she's already shaking things up in Washington, D.C. Scratch that. She hasn't even been sworn in as a Congresswoman yet and she's already making demands of her fellow legislators...before meeting and working with them.First, she complained that she couldn't find adequate housing that she could afford. Then, she complained about health insurance as a means of advocating for Medicare For All. And who could forget her crazy comparisons between the Central American caravan and the Holocaust? Or that she didn't know what the three branches of government are?Now, she's...

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Monday the Trump administration will end subsidies for electric cars and renewable energy sources, Reuters reports. Kudlow said he expected subsidies for electric cars would end by 2020 or 2021, according to the report. The remarks were made in response to a question about what the administration would do about General Motors' plans to layoff 15,000 people and shutter five plants across North America. The company's plans have sparked outrage in Washington from both parties. Trump last week floated cutting GM's subsidies for electric vehicles and raising auto tariffs to punish the...

Prominent Buffalo developer Louis Ciminelli has been sentenced to 28 months in Federal prison along with a $500 thousand fine for his conviction on charges in connection with the 'Buffalo Billion' program. Ciminelli is out on bail pending appeal. Ciminelli was sentenced Monday in federal court for a pay-to-play conspiracy in which his firm won a development job worth a half billion dollars. Ciminelli and three others were convicted over the summer. Prosecutors say the scheme involved state-funded contracts worth more than $850 million. Prosecutors say Ciminelli and others in his company contributed nearly $100,000 to Cuomo's campaign. The Democratic...

Before we delve into her new "argument," I'd like to make a point about why the conservative commentariat sometimes seems fixated on Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  First, she entered the national spotlight as a media fascination and darling -- a young woman of color who shook up the Democratic Party from the left by defeating an establishment fixture.  She wasn't randomly plucked from relative obscurity by right-wing writers or pundits for sport; she was elevated by a mainstream media that loves covering, and sympathizes with, rising liberal stars.  And please recall the DNC Chairman referring to her as "the future of...

MSNBC host Joy Reid is catching major heat from Jane Sanders, wife of Bernie Sanders. During a typical rant on Twitter, Reid accused Sanders of mistreating his wife. @SenSanders Bernie Sanders.— Jeffrey Cawthorne (@zo7vette) November 29, 2017 Um... I get that he has a hardcore following, but his own attitudes toward women, from his weird early writings to his physical dismissal of women in his presence (including his own wife) make that an incredibly dubious prospect.— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) November 29, 2017 Her comments did not go unnoticed.  I didn't answer your biased reporting about Bernie during the last 2...

WASHINGTON - Two police departments in the northeastern United States decided over the past week to cancel their participation in a program that involves visiting Israel and meeting Israeli police officers, due to public pressure by a coalition of progressive organisations, including a number of groups affiliated with the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement (BDS).

A study by Mark Perry, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan, should give pause to advocates of democratic socialism in the United States. According to the study, the more socialistic economic policies of western European countries has both retarded output and boosted the cost of living. The index of average individual consumption for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is set at 100. Inhabitants in nations falling below this mark can afford less than the average European. Inhabitants in nations exceeding this mark can afford more. The...