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Ocasio-Cortez Compares Herself to Lincoln, FDR, Calls for Enormous Tax Increase

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New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has emerged as a prominent voice for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, is calling for tax rates as high as 70 percent.

The freshman representative, who officially took office Thursday, spoke in an interview with Anderson Cooper for “60 Minutes.”

The full interview will air Sunday.

Ocasio-Cortez became a media sensation last year after she defeated 10-term incumbent Joseph Crowley in the Democratic primary for the New York City district she now represents.

She said the massive tax increase is necessary to pay for her “Green New Deal,” CBS reported. The plan calls for the elimination of carbon emissions in 12 years.

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“It’s going to require a lot of rapid change that we don’t even conceive as possible right now. What is the problem with trying to push our technological capacities to the furthest extent possible?” she said in the interview.

Change requires money, and the rich have it, she argued.

“You know, you look at our tax rates back in the 60s, and when you have a progressive tax rate system, your tax rate, you know, let’s say, from zero to $75,000 may be 10 percent or 15 percent, et cetera,” she said.

“But once you get to, like, the tippy tops, on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent. That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder you should be contributing more,” she said.

Does this call for higher taxers worry you?

Cooper replied that she was proposing a “radical agenda,” sparking a burst of pride from Ocasio-Cortez.

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“I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country,” she said.



“Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like Social Security. That is radical,” she said.

“If that’s what radical means, call me a radical,” she said.

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Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




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