No Other Word but 'Tantrum' for AOC's Response to Criticism over Tanking NYC Amazon Deal
Avowed democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not having a good week.
Her hostility to Amazon’s second headquarters, or “HQ2,” is no secret, and earlier this month she got what she wanted: Amazon announced they would not be building in New York City.
Unfortunately for New Yorkers, this also meant their city would not receive the massive influx of jobs and cash. Understandably, this left residents upset- especially since the district Amazon was eyeing is not even represented by Ocasio-Cortez.
Suddenly, people began to turn on her. Pundits who once defended her were left scratching their heads as she chased away a deal literally worth billions.
I’ve been telling @AOC critics that she is smart, but what do I say when she says nonsense like “we could invest those $3 billion in [@amazon tax breaks] in our district. We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways, we can put a lot of people to work for that money”
— Erik Engquist (@erik_engquist) February 19, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez was not happy with being held accountable for depriving the Big Apple of endless possibilities.
So, naturally, she took to Twitter to defend herself. Instead of making her point in one short tweet, Ocasio-Cortez went on an absolute tear, unleashing five back-to-back tweets.
Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going.
$500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.*
$2.5 billion in tax breaks.
It’s fair to ask why we don’t invest the capital for public use, + why we don’t give working people a tax break. https://t.co/jUqaugUHYP
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I “don’t understand” how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing.
No, it’s not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
There’s NO WAY that this deal – one of the biggest giveaways in state history – could possibly have been bad, right?
Surely there can’t be anything wrong with suddenly announcing a massive restructuring & pricing out of a community without any advance notice or input from them.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
There’s no CHANCE that the speculative insider real-estate buys that were creating immediate spikes in rent in one of the most rent-burdened communities in NYC could have possibly been unpopular?https://t.co/wArbA7B1Q6
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
In her last tweet, she even took a swipe at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, painting it as a Big Brother-like organization hellbent on keeping non-whites out of America.
Or that a technology giant of big-brother-esque potential was selling (notoriously flawed & racially biased) facial recognition technology to ICE while trying to move into 1 of the most immigrant-dense areas of the world?
No, it must be because I’m dumb.https://t.co/IoBixav34r
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019
Amazon, in an unsurprising move, is not pointing fingers at any single person or group (you don’t grow to become the biggest online retailer by distancing customers), although they did give some insight into their decision in a statement posted to the company’s blog.
“While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment,” the blog reads, “a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.”
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Ocasio-Cortez appears to be sticking to her guns, however, and continues to believe that Amazon’s HQ2 would be bad for New York City.
She even told NBC News cameras that it was “incredible” that the massive company decided not to invest billions in her city.
For many New Yorkers who may have been excited about opportunities with Amazon, Ocasio-Cortez may have literally killed their dreams. With an avowed socialist representing them, the residents of NYC likely have many more of these “victories” to look forward to.
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