Source: Twitter @AOC
BREAKING NEWS — Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi roll out bill to close the gender gap in salaries
This morning, the New York Daily News broke the news that in marking the anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that let women sue if they are paid unequally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ledbetter and a cadre of advocates and lawmakers, including Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, unveiled a new version of a bill called the Paycheck Fairness Act that failed to pass previous Republican-dominated Congresses.
Trash Talk
The NY Post’s Rich Calder filed a report about a senior aide to AOC used Twitter to dump on City Council Speaker Corey Johnson Tuesday, “accusing him of being a political opportunist trying to ride the congresswoman’s progressive coattails to become mayor.”
Naureen Akhter, Ocasio-Cortez’s deputy district director — who worked in the congresswoman’s campaign that defeated veteran Rep. Joseph Crowley — accused Johnson of being two-faced.Specifically, she charged that Johnson’s self-imposed contribution cap of $250 to limit the influence of big money in his 2021 mayoral campaign is an effort to emulate AOC. Through her spokesman Corbin Trent, the congresswoman said backs Johnson’s progressive fundraising plan. There was no comment on her aide’s tweet, though.
This not the first time that an AOC ally targeted a fellow Democrat. Last December, Politico reported, as did The Hill, that “Ocasio-Cortez eyeing Jeffries as 2020 target.” Politico claimed that AOC and her ally Justice Democrats targeted Rep. Hakeem Jeffries because he defeated Rep. Barbara Lee for caucus chairman — and took campaign contributions from corporate interests. A spokesperson for the congresswoman, however, denied that she was seeking to unseat the Brooklyn Democrat.
Yet the Justice Democrats have been vocal about wanting to replicate their success with AOC elsewhere. The group has set its eyes on a number of moderate House lawmakers in safe blue districts, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) as the first target. Apparently, the Justice Democrats want to show that AOC’s victory wasn’t a fluke or due her Bronx/Queens district’s racial demographics. By targeting Cuellar, the progressive group intends to prove that voters in blue districts want further-left representatives.
Ocasio-Cortez is rumored to be in the political crosshairs herself as a result. The Observer followed up on a report in The Hill that establishment Democrats were encouraging “a New York coup against the socialist newcomer.” AOC called the rumor “birdcage lining.” Other lawmakers, including Rep. Jeffries, dismissed any talk of a primary challenge to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. The mischief-making is strong in the swamp.
‘Broken mentality’ of politics
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted the “broken mentality” of politics after a fellow Democrat suggested she moved into her House seat too fast and the party should mount a primary election challenge against her. “That broken mentality, that public office is something you wait in line for, instead of earning through hard organizing, is exactly what voters want to change,” Ocasio-Cortez, 29, said on her Twitter account. “Shows you how disconnected some folks here are.” She also immediately reached out to her supporters to begin fundraising in case she does have an opponent. [New York Post]
Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, an independent running for president, also took it on the chin from AOC after telling CNBC, “I don’t think we want a 70 percent income tax in America.” “Why don’t people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to ‘work their way up’ or that ‘maybe they should start with city council first?’” she tweeted on Wednesday.
Rush Limbaugh seeks relevance
Talk about silly exaggerations and somehow Rush Limbaugh rushes to fill the gap. Newsweek recently noted that the conservative commentator and radio host quoted actor and political commentator Ben Stein’s (“Bueller, Bueller”) recent comments comparing Ocasio-Cortez to Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong, claiming her socialist policies will lead to mass murder and dictatorship on Premiere Radio Networks’ The Rush Limbaugh Show. Limbaugh rabidly claimed that Democrats are “Stalinists to their core.” Limbaugh often compared former president Barack Obama to Hitler many times. Rush needs to return to hibernation once again.
Disappointment with tech giants giving a platform to ‘climate-change’ deniers, not addressing AI bias
Fortune magazine reveals that the Bronx representative and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) “co-wrote an open letter Monday to the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Microsoft that accuses them of giving their “implicit support” to climate change deniers.” Google responded saying, “We sponsor organizations from across the political spectrum to promote strong technology laws” and that sponsorship or collaboration doesn’t equate endorsement of agenda or ideas.” Concerning the dangers of misinformation campaigns the congresswoman tweeted: “We can disagree on policy, but climate change is real. Period.”
We cannot allow the financing of misinformation campaigns to shape our democracy.
We can disagree on policy, but climate change is real. Period.
Proud to have joined @chelliepingree on this letter asking for greater responsibility to our democracy and planet. https://t.co/5hLsg1FmgT
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 28, 2019
Previously, AOC took big tech to task over artificial intelligence (AI) perpetuating bias. Earlier this week, GeekWire noted that Ocasio-Cortez called for safeguards against algorithmic bias — a phenomenon, GW reports, that researchers and civil rights activists have been sounding the alarm over for months. AOC tweeted: “When you don’t address human bias, that bias gets automated. Machines are reflections of their creators, which means they are flawed, & we should be mindful of that.” I wonder how Common feels since the actor/rapper shills Microsoft’s AI technology. Presciently, the ad ends with Common asking, “All this power you have at your fingertips, what will you do with it?”
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