AOC hits back at the MSM

[GaryCnf]

35. I'll be glad to answer this

Because throwing up the Democratic Platform ad nauseam as proof of what constitutes the "Mainstream Democratic Party" is about as dishonest as a person can get. (Except to the extent that it shows "centrist Democrats" and "leftist Democrats" can get together in a room and come up with a document they will both sign, which, outside of here, really is what being a Democrat is all about). Centrist candidates' campaigns run away from the leftists provisions and leftist candidates' campaigns run away from the centrist provisions. It says nothing about what it means to be "establishment."

Before I go further I want to say something now. I am going to paste in Sharice Davids' policy positions from her website and they are long and I don't want this part of what I want to say to get lost because it is IMHO a million times more important than the incessant bullshit that goes on here. For reasons I will not state, because they actually are divisive, I will never support a centrist candidate in a primary. I did not support Sharice Davids in the primary. However, I started donating to her GE campaign through Bold PAC the morning after the primary. It is important for her to win not just because she is a Democrat but because she is symbolic of what I believe we should stand for as a party. Anyone who doesn't, now that the primary is over, needs to look seriously at why they do not.

That being said, I want to paste in her policy positions and repeat something I said earlier.

Sharice believes -
•The current Republican tax bill is a corporate giveaway and a handout to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
•Worst yet, the tax bill saddles our future generations with a crippling financial burden and further in debts our country to foreign nations, such as China.
•Small businesses are the lifeblood of America and need to be front of mind when creating economic policy.
•Modernizing our aging infrastructure is necessary to maintain our communities and our economies. It would create thousands of jobs and provide a foundation for decades of future growth.

Sharice plans to -
•Fight for a true tax cut for the middle class.
•Incentivize health care benefits for small businesses and create a small business standard deduction to lower administrative costs.
•Create a childcare tax credit to help working families across America.
•Support efforts to increase broadband access, which is key to economic success in the modern economy.

______________

Sharice believes -
•Every student should have access to quality public education, regardless of their zip code, ability, or special needs.
•Supporting early childhood education and afterschool programs benefits families and gives children more opportunities to succeed.
•The cost of obtaining a college degree has skyrocketed and so has the likelihood of crushing student loans. We should be implementing policies that encourage and facilitate the opportunity for higher education.
•Students should be exposed to careers in trades and technical areas - skills that are vitally important to a robust economy.

Sharice plans to -
•Implement a holistic approach to education, focusing on access to quality public options from pre-K through secondary higher education and promoting strong, skills-based training programs.
•Prioritize access to public education and facilitate ways for Congress to partner with and support states in implementing robust K-12 systems. Sharice will work to support opportunities to hone technical skills through apprenticeships and partnerships with community colleges and trade schools.
•Support Head Start programs and ensure they are operating effectively. Sharice understands the importance of afterschool and summer programs for educational success, particularly in households where adults are working long hours to support their families.
•Support policies that enable people to refinance student loans at lower rates and make it easier to renegotiate a loan’s terms.
•Support initiatives such as loan forgiveness programs for those entering public service.

__________________

Sharice believes -
•We must demand more than condolences from our lawmakers. We need swift legislation to enact common sense gun safety laws.
•We can not allow legislators who accept millions of dollars from the gun rights lobby to continue risking the safety of our children and communities in exchange for campaign contributions.
•Guns do have their place. As part of a military family, Sharice recognizes that firearms have a role in society. That place is not in schools, in hospitals, in mental health facilities, or in the homes of domestic abusers.

Sharice plans to -
•Support a holistic approach to reducing gun violence and deaths in our country.
•Treat gun violence as a public health issue, allowing us to study it and regulate it as such.
•Never accept any campaign contributions or endorsements from the gun lobby.
•Support expanded background checks and higher standards for conceal-and-carry permits.

All of these are good policies but you'd be hard pressed to find a single Democrat, not even Joe Manchin or Heidi Heitkamp, who is to the right of Davids on any of the issues. Mind you, I think we should be proud of that fact BUT being no further left that Joe or Heidi is not being "progressive."

The reason we have a progressive wing and a centrist wing is because they disagree on policy. If folks want to have a debate on that outside of races where we have not already selected our candidate, that is fine, but to suggest that there is "something" that divides leftist and centrist Democrats OTHER than policy - as we see here - is a LIE, is going to destroy our party, and needs to stop.