The Democrat’s newest socialist in the House, Alexandria Ocasio, is already opposing Nancy Pelosi on her first day in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez is trying to lead a coalition to defeat a big rule that Pelosi is trying to pass today to govern how Democrats pay for their policies.
CNN – Leading progressives are threatening to reject a rules package backed by Democratic leadership over a requirement they believe could thwart their most ambitious policy plans.
New York Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Rep. Ro Khanna said Wednesday they will vote against any guidelines that include a provision known as “PAYGO,” or “pay as you go,” which requires that new spending be offset by matching cuts or increases in revenue.
Progressives who support programs like “Medicare-for-all” and other policies likely to increase government expenditures worry that the rule would create a self-imposed obstacle with limited political upside — and come across as a sign that Democrats are committed to the austerity economics championed, at least rhetorically, by conservative groups.
“I do not understand why the Democrats don’t have the courage of our convictions and make the case that our policies will lead to growth,” Khanna said, arguing that the rule was ultimately a self-defeating political calculation: “PAYGO is to protect members in vulnerable districts who can say that Democrats are for fiscal responsibility. I’m all for raising taxes on the 1% and multinational corporations and stopping our excessive spending on the bad wars. But we should make an economic growth argument in swing districts instead of thinking the ’90s playbook of fiscal responsibility will work.”
Ocasio-Cortez also said on Wednesday she would vote against the package when it comes up soon after she is sworn in on Thursday.
“PAYGO isn’t only bad economics,” she tweeted, “it’s also a dark political maneuver designed to hamstring progress on healthcare + other leg. We shouldn’t hinder ourselves from the start.”
Tomorrow I will also vote No on the rules package, which is trying to slip in #PAYGO.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 2, 2019
PAYGO isn’t only bad economics, as @RoKhanna explains; it’s also a dark political maneuver designed to hamstring progress on healthcare+other leg.
We shouldn’t hinder ourselves from the start. https://t.co/WW3UaBs7vh
I love it.
What’s hilarious about this fight is that other Democrats are only voting for PAYGO because they believe the rule will be waived whenever they need to pass serious legislation:
Top Congressional Progressive Caucus officials, in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, expressed their concern over reviving the rule, but said they were confident after talks with party leadership that their priorities wouldn’t be blocked.
“We all agree that the real problem with PAYGO exists in the statute that requires it. That is why we will be introducing legislation in the 116th Congress to end PAYGO,” they said. “In the meantime, Chairman McGovern and House Leadership have committed to us that PAYGO will not be an impediment to advancing key progressive priorities in the 116th Congress. With the assurances that PAYGO can be waived, we do plan to vote for the House rules package and proceed with legislation to fix the statute.”
That’s why this whole thing is a fraud.
And while I love Democrats opposing other Democrats on big issues like this, I do have to admit that at least Ocasio-Cortez is being honest about not wanting to pay for her uber-expensive socialist policies. That’s more than I can say for Pelosi and her ilk that simply want voters to think they are going to be fiscally responsible, when in reality that’s far from the case.