As Critics Obsess Over Her Finances, Ocasio-Cortez Urges Media to Focus on Issue 'Actually Worth Airtime': Low-Wage Jobs

Day after day I hear polarizing propaganda and limiting interviews and perspectives - including on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and other corporate media - which all too often neglect, refrain, or refuse to take us to where we most need to go.There is the focus on Trump, on the points illustrated in this article, on how we are different, on how everyone is defined as left or right or moderate or centrist, etc. Meanwhile, digging deep into the actual issues which most impact us all - global warming, the poisoning of our planet, healthcare and education, endless wars which have nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with lining the pockets of the already extremely wealthy, the immoral and criminal redistribution of wealth upward, the dark money which has infiltrated most of the political system in America, the toxicity of the military-pharmaceutical-fossil fuel-Wall Street industries and complexes, etc., etc. - is rarely broached. WE ARE NOT ALL THAT DIFFERENT. WE ARE JUST BRAINWASHED TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE. Meanwhile, the truth is that we all want clean air to breathe and water to drink, we all want and deserve free quality healthcare and education, we all want a peaceful world, we all want to address the root causes of our warming planet and its catastrophic consequences, we all want to be seen as valued and respected and cared about, we all want to live by the Golden Rule. Sure, there are many who do not act like these things are important. AND these are the people who have been brainwashed and disconnected from who they truly are. We all can take responsibility - like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is! - for adding more truth and kindness, more fierce compassionate action, more wisdom and depth, more courage and caring, and more respect for all of life to this beautiful, troubled world we share. This is something we all have a role to play in. Tag, we are all it! — Molly

"While we‘re discussing personal finances," says newly-elected progressive, "Trump's tax dodges represent millions of dollars taken from schoolchildren, teachers, firehouses, senior centers, and more."

By

Andrea Germanos

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued to shoot back at those who draw attention to—and criticize—the amount in her savings account by calling for coverage instead of far more worthy issues—the nation's pervasive low-wage jobs and President Donald Trump's "public theft"—and accusing some sitting congresspeople of lashing out at her because they are blinded by privilege, and thus unable to represent their constituents.

The latest push-back follows a CNBC report in which Corbin Trent, Ocasio-Cortez's director of communications, said the newly-elected progressive Democrat had "well below $7,000" in her savings account. The news report also included comments from financial experts who said someone of her age should have between $8,750 and $30,000 in savings and at least $27,000 tucked away for retirement—amounts some derided as "unrealistic" for millennials given burdensome student loan debt, low wages, and high housing prices.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted late Tuesday night:

Here’s something actually worth airtime talking about:

Half of the jobs in America pay less than $18/hour. https://t.co/rBjNRQ9f52

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 21, 2018

While we‘re discussing personal finances: Trump’s tax dodges represent millions of dollars taken from schoolchildren, teachers, firehouses, senior centers & more.

Strange that my normal, working class checking account attracts more attn than public theft.https://t.co/SH4Jfo5zna

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 20, 2018

In another tweet, Ocasio-Cortez pointed to what she sees as the real "fear" motivating the intense look at her bank account and what her wardrobe costs:

The actual fear driving the attacks on my clothes, my checking account, my rent, isn’t that these folks are scared that I shouldn’t represent people in Congress.

It’s fear that they’ve allowed their riches, their privilege, + their bias to put them to a point where they can’t.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 20, 2018

According reporter Leah Fessler, critics' continued attention on Ocasio-Cortez's finances is a backfire.  What they "still don't understand," she writes at Quartz, "is that their focus on how she doesn't meet their expectations only amplifies her power—and deepens her connection to the young, ambitious, working- and middle-class Americans who see her as their representative on the national stage."

Some of those Americans took to Twitter to make that connection clear:

Grew up on food stamps. Moved around (a lot). Worked since 16. Lost our home after Iraq deployment—paid for my mom to get an apartment. First to graduate college in my family. Used my #GIBill to earn my AA, BA, & MA. And I also wear a lot of black. Sure can relate to @Ocasio2018https://t.co/H4xXnJF2dj

— Kate Hoit (@KateHoit) November 20, 2018

I will never forget that one of the first recurring donations to my campaign was $1/month from a dishwasher in New Jersey.

Working people have always been the core of this movement, and that is why we fight so fiercely on the issues.

Thank you for empowering me do so. https://t.co/ZghbMrgByb

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 19, 2018

Please go here for the original piece: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/21/critics-obsess-over-her-finances-ocasio-cortez-urges-media-focus-issue-actually?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork&fbclid=IwAR1cVObZUlbVQuNJvGpqPtxmjJ_61IX2Sx7DkskFdnSYEvlRLC7iEQJ6DFw