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AOC Slams Congress Over Delayed PPP Funds That She Literally Voted Against Herself

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Here’s a statement that’s probably not going to surprise anyone who’s a regular reader of The Western Journal: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a hypocrite.

What’s surprising, instead, is the understatement. It’s a bit like saying that Pete Rose occasionally likes placing a wager or Keith Richards sometimes partakes in recreational substances.

This is someone whose career is mostly woven out of hypocrisy.

So, why should it be surprising that AOC is now lambasting Congress for sending small businesses on a “wild goose chase” for the Paycheck Protection Program funds she voted against?

In a tweet Tuesday, AOC retweeted NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur’s post about Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts “team[ing] up on a new proposal to halt big mergers during the coronavirus pandemic.”

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“Congress gave a $4 TRILLION check to Wall Street while sending mom+pops on a wild goose chase for PPP,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. (The $4 trillion isn’t entirely accurate as well, though you can read more about that here.)

“That is major, oligarchic, economy-shaping power Congress just gave the wealthy.

Is AOC a hypocrite?

“The LEAST we should do is halt big mergers during COVID to slow the consolidation of sectors.”

Now, before you hit that button I know you want to hit, please be aware that AOC isn’t necessarily wrong about that “wild goose chase for PPP” part.

The infrastructure clearly wasn’t in place to deal with what was one of the most important parts of the coronavirus relief package.

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Any member of Congress willing to hold other members of Congress accountable for this is a good thing. Yes, even (shudder)(retch)(come on, you can say this, C. Douglas. You can do it) Alexand… (where’s that airsickness bag I ganked from Delta last time?) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Whew. OK. That’s done.

Now, is the fact that she’s somewhat correct about the “wild goose chase” a non sequitur entirely extraneous to her argument about canceling mergers during the pandemic crisis “to slow the consolidation of sectors?” Very much so.

Does it have anything with her argument? Not in the least.

And perhaps most importantly, does she have any place to talk about the PPP? Of course not. She opposed both bills that funded it.

First off, AOC was on the record as opposing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which allocated $349 billion for small business loans via the PPP, on the grounds that it was one of “the largest corporate bailouts” in “American history,” according to The Intercept.

The so-called “phase 3” coronavirus relief bill passed the House in a voice vote, meaning lawmakers’ votes weren’t recorded.

But guess what? AOC also opposed the follow-up legislation that replenished the PPP.

“Debating the latest coronavirus aid package on the House floor Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her parts of the Bronx and Queens comprise ‘the most impacted district in America,'” the New York Daily News wrote in a Sunday editorial criticizing her for voting against the so-called “phase 3.5” version of coronavirus relief legislation, the one that contained an additional $484 billion in funding for the PPP.

“We’ll go further: She’s from the hardest-hit part of the hardest-hit city of the hardest-hit state in the hardest-hit country on Earth.

“So why was she one of just five members of Congress to vote against the $484 billion bill delivering boatloads of urgently needed help to small business, and to hospitals, and to ramp up testing? Her four comrades in arms were right-wing Republicans from far-less impacted districts down South or out West.

“AOC claims it’s because the bill didn’t go far enough. Yeah: The first aid bill didn’t go far enough. Nor did the second. Nor did the third. The fourth didn’t get there either, but the response to crises happen in steps. If everyone said no to each massive package because it didn’t go all the way, we’d all be even deader in the water.”

Agreed. So she was against both bills that contained Paycheck Protection Program money, but she’s also making a big deal out of how it’s being doled out.

Now, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that unless you’re using it to make a point about how you’re … going to stop corporate mergers. Not necessarily corporate mergers that involve companies that received bailouts. Just big companies, period.

“The ‘Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act’ would impose a moratorium on mergers and acquisitions involving large companies until the Federal Trade Commission ‘determines that small businesses, workers, and consumers are no longer under severe financial distress,’ according to a summary of the proposal reviewed by NBC News,” the network reported.

“Affected firms would include businesses with over $100 million in revenue or financial firms with market capitalization of over $100 million; private equity companies and hedge funds (or entities that are majority-owned by them); businesses that have an exclusive patent on products like personal protective equipment which pertain to the crisis; and other transactions are already required by law to be reported to the FTC.”

So, why did AOC vote against $484 billion in funding to help keep small businesses afloat?

“My concern is that we are giving away the farm,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Fox News, adding that she didn’t feel the bill provided enough relief for her constituents.

“I cannot go back to my communities and tell them to just wait for CARES four because we have now passed three, four pieces of legislation that’s related to coronavirus. And every time it’s the next one, the next one, the next one, and my constituents are dying.”

So she voted against a plan that included PPP, which ensured that people would get relief. She’s now upset that they can’t access that relief easily enough.

It’s not just regular hypocrisy; it’s hypocrisy on a massive scale. Good work, AOC!

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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