Among Israel’s numerous critics around the world today, it may come as a surprise that some of the most vocal critics of the Jewish State reside on the far-left of the political spectrum.
Those who assert they are “allies of the oppressed” and claim to stand against things like “colonization” and the “erasure of indigenous rights,” find themselves leading the fight against a state of indigenous people who decolonized their homeland to escape oppression.
In recent times, the dishonest attacks made by these radicals have become so common that they have moved from being chanted on college campuses to being echoed by politicians in congress.
So here are the four myths about the state of Israel and the truth behind each one.
<h2>Myth #1: Israel Is An Apartheid State</h2>
On May 15th, 2021 “squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took a jab at Israel on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1393673695433043976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “Apartheid states aren&#8217;t democracies.”
<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/apartheid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to Cornell Law, “Apartheid refers to the implementation and maintenance of a system of legalized racial segregation in which one racial group is deprived of political and civil rights.”
South Africa became an Apartheid state in June of 1948 when Daniel F. Malan’s National Party took control. Under Apartheid numerous laws were enacted, subjecting South Africa’s black majority population to strict forms of segregation.
In the state of Israel today, Israeli Arabs — who comprise around 20% of the total population — have full access to all of the rights and opportunities that their Jewish neighbors do. This is explicitly protected in the State’s <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Israel_2013.pdf?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">constitution</a>.
It’s <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-truth-about-Israeli-Arabs-475540" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been reported</a> that in 2016, 23% of Israeli doctors, 46% of Israeli pharmacists, and 16% of the students in all of Israeli higher education were Arabs. There are also <a href="https://knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mkindex_current_eng.asp?view=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">numerous</a> Arabs serving in the Knesset and Supreme Court, directly contributing to the future of the country.
There is also an argument to be made that because Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, Arabs living there have far more opportunity and freedom than their Arab brethren anywhere else in the region.
Aside from Israeli Arabs, oftentimes those who make accusations of &#8216;Israeli Apartheid&#8217; do so in reference to Israel&#8217;s treatment of Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The problem with this is, aside from select areas of the West Bank, Israel is not the governing body of either of these regions, so the definition of apartheid cannot be correctly applied.
The Gaza Strip has been under the control of Hamas — an internationally <a href="https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recognized</a> terror organization — since they were democratically elected in 2006, while the <a href="https://www.anera.org/what-are-area-a-area-b-and-area-c-in-the-west-bank/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">majority</a> of population-heavy cities in the West Bank have been controlled by the Palestinian Authority since the Oslo Accords were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8CFL6gHgxI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> in 1993.
While heightened security and occasional Israeli involvement in these areas occur due to terror threats, falsely attributing the poor quality of life Palestinians face to race-based ‘Israeli Apartheid’ instead of the terror organizations that run their communities is dishonest at best.
Take it <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/south-africas-de-klerk-israel-not-an-apartheid-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from</a> Fredrick W. De Klerk, the South African leader who won a <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1993/klerk/facts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nobel peace prize </a>for bringing South African apartheid to an end in 1993: “I think it’s unfair to call Israel an apartheid state.&#8221;
<h2>Myth #2: Israel Engages In Ethnic Cleansing</h2>
<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnic%20cleansing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to the Merriam Webster dictionary, ethnic cleansing can be defined as “the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity.” A few examples that come to mind are the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide and the Rwandan genocide.
In other words, some of the greatest atrocities in all of human history.
On November 5th, 2020 representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) lashed out on Twitter in response to an Israeli sanctioned <a href="https://twitter.com/israel_advocacy/status/1325832484685291521" target="_blank" rel="noopener">destruction</a> of Bedouin tents that were built illegally. She <a href="https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1324544555220455424" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a>, “The United States of America should not be bankrolling ethnic cleansing. Anywhere.”
The claim that Israel is ethnically cleansing its own Arab population or the Arab population in the Palestinian territories is undeniably false when looking at the numbers. <a href="https://embassies.gov.il/zagreb/Pages/Population-of-Israel-on-the-eve-of-2013---8-Million.aspx#_ftn2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to the Israeli Bureau of Statistics, in 2013 there were 1.648 million Arab Israelis who comprised a total of 20.6% of the population. Flash forward to today, the population has <a href="https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/mediarelease/pages/2022/population-of-israel-on-the-eve-of-2023.aspx#:~:text=7%2C106%2C000%20are%20Jews%20(73.6,and%20513%2C000%20Others%20(5.3%25)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">grown</a> to 2.03 million. That is an increase of roughly 380,000 in just ten years.
Likewise, significant population increases have also occurred in the Palestinian territories.
<a href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to the CIA, the estimated population of Gaza in 2022 was 1.99 million with a 2.02% annual growth rate. Compared to the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/population-growth-rate/country-comparison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full list</a> of populations that the CIA tracks, Gaza’s rate is relatively impressive. Furthermore, Andres Thomsen of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-population/u-n-sees-steep-gaza-population-growth-in-30-years-with-economic-problems-ahead-idUSKBN1491QJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that figure will double in the next few decades, reaching 4.8 million by 2050.
The CIA also <a href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> a healthy population increase in the West bank, with 2022 seeing a 1.69% growth rate and population of three million.
Considering all of the population growth, if the accusation of Israel ethnically cleansing Arabs — Israeli or Palestinian — were to be true, one thing is certain; Israel is terrible at it.
<h2>Myth #3: Israeli Settlements Are An Obstacle To Peace</h2>
From <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-voices-opposition-israels-plans-new-west-bank-settlement-homes-2021-10-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent</a> statements made by the Biden Administration to comments from the UN, a claim is often made that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are the primary obstacle to peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Taking Israel’s extensive history of pursuing peace into account, it’s no surprise the Jewish state has on many occasions taken the bait and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20101011-palestinians-reject-israeli-conditions-settlement-offer-jewish-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempted</a> to halt settlements.
Unfortunately, it has become apparent those concessions were made in vain because Palestinians largely see the entire state of Israel as a settlement. Not just the West Bank.
<a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/what-do-palestinians-want" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to the Washington Institute, over a six year polling period, “a plurality of respondents in the West Bank and Gaza have generally chosen ‘regaining all of historical Palestine from the river to the sea’ as their preference. There was an exception in 2017, when 44 percent of West Bank respondents, a seven-point plurality, said that ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to achieve a two-state solution was their main goal. By 2020, however, West Bank support for a maximalist Palestine rose sharply to two-thirds—even higher than in Gaza, where the option garnered 56 percent support.”
This sobering reality was demonstrated in Israel’s <a href="https://www.gov.il/en/departments/general/israel-s-disengagement-from-gaza-and-north-samaria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pullout</a> of the Gaza strip in 2005.
Israel not only withdrew its entire military presence from the Gaza strip, it also forcibly removed every single Jewish settlement within it. The Government was so fixated on an unlikely peace that they <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn3QvypxqDk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced</a> their own people out of their homes.
Flash forward to today, the Gaza strip can best be described as a terror powerhouse.
Various groups dedicated to Israel’s destruction such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad control the streets, frequently shooting rockets over the border into Israeli civilian areas.
If Israel were to completely remove itself and its Jewish citizens from the West Bank today, it would most likely suffer the same fate.
<h2>Myth #4: The Jews And Arabs Were At Peace Before 1948</h2>
Many claim that before 1948 there was a meaningful peace between Jews and Arabs living in the Levant. It wasn’t until the creation of Israel — they claim — that peace was destroyed.
This is blatant history revision.
Starting around 1920, nationalist Arab groups carried out some of the most <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/arab-riots-of-the-1920-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grotesque</a> violence against Jews the region had seen in a period of nearly two thousand years.
In 1936, Arabs living in the British mandate initiated the infamous <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Palestine/The-Arab-Revolt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arab Revolt</a>, a three year wave of violence against both the British and Jews.
As a result of the revolt, some 400 Jews were killed.
The 1937 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peel-Commission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peel Commission</a> which was sent by Britain to investigate the cause of the violence found that the revolt was largely motivated by the Arab’s desire for independence and a disapproval of Jewish immigration into the region.
This was not the only example of <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/arab-riots-of-the-1920-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violence</a>. Many instances such as the Nebi Musa riots of 1920, Jaffa riots of 1921, Hebron Massacre, and Palestine riots of 1921 were all initiated for similar reasons and collectively claimed the lives of hundreds of Jews.
Furthermore, the most prominent Arab leader to preside over the Mandate of Palestine was Haj Amin al-Husseini, a rabid antisemite. From 1941-1943 both <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/film/hajj-amin-al-husayni-meets-hitler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adolf Hitler</a> and <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/haj-amin-al-husseini" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SS Chief Heinrich Himmler</a> met with Haj Amin in Germany to discuss the continuation of Hitler’s persecution of Jews, this time in Palestine.
Hitler affirmed that his goal was “the annihilation of Jewry living in Arab space under the protection of British power.”
Jacob Falach is an associate producer at The Daily Wire. You can find him on Instagram at @thatjewishconservative.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The city of Jerusalem and its people

Four Pervasive Myths About Israel And Why They’re Wrong 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ilhan Omar

Israel

Palestinians

Readers Pass

World

An organization that Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) is a member of has accepted sizable donations from ByteDance, the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> parent company of the social media platform <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>, which the democratic socialist recently defended from a possible nationwide ban.
Jake Denton, a technology policy expert at the Heritage Foundation, <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJDenton/status/1639992544766357506" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the advisory council for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit entity that received $150,000 at the end of last year from ByteDance, according to a lobbying contribution <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/contribution/d373b963-30ad-4688-b7ae-720e1b4730e7/print/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>. “What a coincidence,” Denton said on social media.
Ocasio-Cortez recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-takes-to-tiktok-to-defend-chinese-owned-app-from-possible-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> on TikTok that a ban of the platform over national security and privacy concerns would be “unprecedented” and said that such a move does not “really address the core of the issue, which is the fact that major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you do not know about.” She added that lawmakers should instead pass a broader data privacy bill for social media firms.
“The United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the books,” she remarked, asserting that regulators should “actually protect Americans from this kind of egregious data harvesting that companies can do without your significant ability to say no.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has also publicly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/squad-member-defends-tiktok-amid-debate-over-possible-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended</a> TikTok. He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, while his wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, has <a href="https://www.cbcfinc.org/about/cbc-spouses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked</a> with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which also received $150,000 from ByteDance.
“TikTok as a platform has created a community and a space for free speech for 150 million Americans and counting,” Bowman said last week. “It is also a place where 5 million small businesses are selling their products and services and making a living.”
Renewed scrutiny of TikTok, which former President Donald Trump considered banning at the end of his term, comes amid increasingly strained relations between the United States and China. President Joe Biden and some state officials have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-unanimously-votes-to-ban-tiktok-on-government-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> TikTok from government devices after reports <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktoks-parent-company-in-china-planned-to-use-platform-to-track-locations-of-specific-americans-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicated</a> that ByteDance employees in China used the platform to monitor the locations of specific American users.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-swears-company-is-not-an-agent-of-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week about the extent to which officials in China maintain authority and influence over TikTok and ByteDance, vowing that the latter is not an “agent of China or any other country.”
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“I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party. There have even been calls to ban us or require divestment,” the executive said. “Divestment does not address the fundamental concerns that I have heard, as a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. This is not an issue of nationality.”
When pressed by lawmakers, however, Chew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-refuses-to-say-whether-officials-at-chinese-parent-company-helped-him-prepare-for-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to provide a clear answer on whether individuals associated with ByteDance helped him prepare for his testimony. He admitted that the attorneys who represent TikTok also represent ByteDance.

‘What A Coincidence’: Massive Donations Come To Light After AOC Defends TikTok From Possible Ban

Donations From TikTok's Owner Come To Light After AOC Defends Company From Possible Ban

China

Congress

Jamaal Bowman

National Security

Politics

TikTok

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/your-platform-should-be-banned-congresswoman-rips-into-tiktok-ceo-for-targeting-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cathy McMorris Rodgers</a> (R-WA) said Sunday that Congress should pass a ban on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> and a federal data privacy law.
Appearing on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; Sunday, McMorris Rodgers said that TikTok&#8217;s relationship with the Chinese company ByteDance is a threat to the privacy and safety of American citizens but added that the U.S. needs a national data privacy law to stop other tech giants from stealing Americans&#8217; data.
&#8220;What we are seeing is that TikTok and Mr. Chew have repeatedly been caught in this lie that there&#8217;s not a connection to ByteDance and ultimately the [Chinese Communist Party],&#8221; McMorris Rodgers said. &#8220;So they cannot be trusted to protect our data. They cannot be trusted to ensure that our children&#8217;s mental health is a priority.&#8221;
&#8220;We need a national data privacy standard also,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;And that&#8217;s what Ranking Member [Frank] Pallone (D-NJ) and I have worked on and we&#8217;re going to introduce this Congress, because we need to take action, whether it&#8217;s TikTok, big tech, or other data brokers, to restrict the amount of data that they&#8217;re collecting to begin with.&#8221;
&#8220;We need to ensure that individuals have the right to know what their profile might be or it &#8212; or to be alerted if their information, their personal data is being accessed or transferred to another country like China. We need to protect kids, and we have the strongest protections for kids in the privacy proposal that we have been working on to protect anyone under the age of 17. And we need to stop this listening on devices of people.&#8221;
McMorris Rodgers said that a ban on TikTok should take priority.
&#8220;I would say there&#8217;s an immediate threat via TikTok from the Chinese Communist Party, that is the reason that I believe we need to ban TikTok immediately.&#8221;
New York Democratic Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-takes-to-tiktok-to-defend-chinese-owned-app-from-possible-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> called for a national data privacy law on Saturday while at the same time defending TikTok from a bipartisan effort to ban the Chinese-owned app.
AOC said that banning TikTok “doesn’t really address the core of the issue, which is the fact that major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you don’t know about, without really any significant regulation whatsoever.”
“In fact, the United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the books,” she said. Instead of banning TikTok, which has 150 million users, outright, the answer is to “actually protect Americans from this kind of egregious data harvesting that companies can do without your significant ability to say no,” she added.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew Testifies At U.S. House Hearing

Top GOP Rep. Says Congress Should Pass A TikTok Ban And A Federal Data Privacy Law

Big Tech

House Republicans

Privacy

Social Media

State of the Union

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio Cortez</a> (D-NY) entered the debate about a nationwide ban on Chinese-owned social media app <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>.
The Democratic Socialist and member of the left-wing &#8220;Squad&#8221; took to TikTok on Saturday morning to push back against bipartisan support for a nationwide ban on the app. AOC minimized concerns about security and data privacy, saying that TikTok was just one app that harvests massive troves of data. Instead of banning a single app, she called for a broader data privacy law.
“Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No,” AOC opened. The <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@aocinthehouse/video/7214318917135830318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> is her first post on the app, despite having created the account more than a year ago.
“First of all, I think it&#8217;s important to discuss how unprecedented of a move this would be,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The United States has never before banned a social media company from existence, from operating in our borders and this is an app that has over 150 million Americans on it,”
Ocasio-Cortez first discussed criticisms that the app is a vessel for Chinese surveillance, and that it steals user data. She minimized those concerns, saying that banning TikTok “doesn’t really address the core of the issue, which is the fact that major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you don’t know about, without really any significant regulation whatsoever.&#8221;
“In fact, the United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the books,” she said. Instead of banning TikTok, which has 150 million users, outright, the answer is to &#8220;actually protect Americans from this kind of egregious data harvesting that companies can do without your significant ability to say no,&#8221; she added.
Ocasio-Cortez also criticized the national security concerns about the app. When Congress is considering legislation that has national security implications, they are given a classified briefing; Congress has not received a classified briefing. “Why would we be proposing a ban regarding such a significant issue without being clued in on this at all?&#8221; she asked. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.” She also said that Congress needs to make its case for banning TikTok to the public.
&#8220;But frankly, I think a lot of this is putting the cart before the horse,&#8221; she concluded. &#8220;Our first priority should be in protecting your ability to exist without social media companies harvesting and commodifying every single piece of data about you without you and without your consent.&#8221;
As of the publishing of this article, the video has garnered more than 2.3 million views.
AOC is not the first member of the Democratic Party to oppose a ban on TikTok. Her &#8220;Squad&#8221; colleague Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/squad-member-defends-tiktok-amid-debate-over-possible-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamaal Bowman</a> (D-NY), posted a video on the app Thursday lobbying against a ban. “TikTok as a platform has created a community and a space for free speech for 150 million Americans and counting,” Bowman said in the video. “It is also a place where 5 million small businesses are selling their products and services and making a living.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) also defended TikTok this week.

AOC Takes To TikTok To Defend Chinese-Owned App From Possible Nationwide Ban

AOC Takes To TikTok To Defend Chinese-Owned App From Possible Nationwide Ban, Calls For Data Privacy Law Instead

Chinese Communist Party

The Squad

U.S.

Green energy has been a very hot topic for the last several years. Windmills and solar power have dominated the discussion. New York&#8217;s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has championed her Green New Deal. President Joe Biden’s inappropriately named Inflation Reduction Act served to only inject money into Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez’s green plans.
The truth that most supporters of “green energy” neglect is that you cannot have a serious conversation about green energy without discussing nuclear power.  
In 2021, 61% of “electricity generation came from burning coal, natural gas, or petroleum. Only 20% of the electricity in the U.S. came from renewables, mostly wind energy, hydropower, and solar energy … another 19% came from nuclear power,” per <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/29/why-isnt-the-us-electrical-grid-run-on-100percent-renewable-energy-yet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC.</a>
Since nuclear power produces its energy via nuclear fission “rather than chemical burning, it generates baseload electricity with no output of carbon, the villainous element of global warming. Switching from coal to <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-nuclear-power-must-be-part-of-the-energy-solution-environmentalists-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear power</a> is radically decarbonizing, since nuclear power plants release greenhouse gasses only from the ancillary use of fossil fuels during their construction, mining, fuel processing, maintenance, and decommissioning – about as much as solar power,” according to author and historian Richard Rhodes. In fact, a 2019 report from the International Energy Agency says “over the past 50 years, the use of <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/nuclear-power-in-a-clean-energy-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear power</a> has reduced CO2 emissions by over 60 gigatons – nearly two years’ worth of global energy-related emissions,”
In addition, nuclear power is extremely inexpensive. The <a href="https://encoreuranium.com/benefits-of-nuclear/benefits-of-nuclear-energy-for-the-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost</a> of nuclear power was $35/MWh in 2018. This is “less than half the cost of coal- and gas-fired power plants.”  
Many people will argue that nuclear is dangerous and a threat to the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. To quote <a href="https://www.frontier-cf252.com/blog/nuclear-energy-advantages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill Gates</a>, not a Right-wing advocate, “nuclear energy, in terms of an overall safety record, is better than other energy.” In nuclear power’s history as an energy source, “there have only been three major incidents worldwide.” Three incidents against the “backdrop of 60 years of nuclear <a href="https://www.frontier-cf252.com/blog/nuclear-energy-advantages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">production</a>, totaling more than 17,000 cumulative reactor years … in 33 nations.”
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Going 100% green is not practical. As <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-energy-land-use-economy/">Bloomberg</a> reports, in order to achieve President Biden’s goal of an emission-free grid by 2035, &#8220;the U.S. needs to increase its carbon-free capacity by at least 150%. Expanding wind and solar by 10% annually until 2030 would require a chunk of land equal to the state of South Dakota. By 2050, when Biden wants the entire economy to be carbon free, the U.S. would need up to four additional South Dakotas to develop enough clean power to run all the electric vehicles, factories and more.&#8221; Nuclear energy would require a much smaller footprint.  
In addition, there is enough energy in nuclear waste in the United States to “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/02/nuclear-waste-us-could-power-the-us-for-100-years.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">power</a> the entire country for 100 years. The technology necessary to turn nuclear waste into energy is known as a nuclear fast reactor, and has existed for decades. For political and economic reasons, the technology has never been developed at commercial scale.” Imagine a source of energy where the waste can be recycled to create even more energy. Is there anything more green than that?
Is nuclear power the only answer? Certainly not. A balanced energy policy will include every available source: coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar, and hydroelectric. If Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez and congress are serious about renewable and green energy, nuclear power must be a part of the plan.
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Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and The Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Tihange Nuclear Power Station

Why We Can’t Go Green Without Nuclear Energy

Energy

Green New Deal

Joe Biden

Nuclear

Nuclear Power

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez truly despises the 1%, so much so that when she attended the world’s number one social event for the rich and famous — attended by the top 0.000002% — she wore a dress emblazoned with a slash of red that said &#8220;Tax The Rich.&#8221;
But the Democratic socialist has, once again, proved her deep hypocrisy and sense of entitlement. She had begged for free tickets (worth $70,000), stiffed the makers of her dress and the hotel where she stayed for months, and then sought to cover up the whole mess, according to House investigators probing her for ethics violations.
AOC makes $174,000 a year — putting her far ahead of the average American — drives a Tesla, and lives in a luxury apartment building in a posh D.C. neighborhood where even a studio apartment costs more than $2,000 a month (she&#8217;s got an infinity pool, which might equal her ego).
And that&#8217;s still not enough. The 33-year-old former bartender decided she wanted to rub elbows with the rich and beautiful people in Manhattan at the 2021 annual Met Gala. But she didn&#8217;t want to pay. Please. A pair of tickets costs $70,000 — if you could get them. It&#8217;s pretty much an invite-only kinda&#8217; deal.
So the media darling traded off her position to get an invite — helped along &#8220;after much prodding by her campaign staffer,&#8221; the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/05/aoc-begged-to-go-to-met-gala-even-if-it-meant-breaking-the-rules/">reported</a>. She cozied up to the super-famous Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who runs the Gala, and got an invitation for her and her boyfriend that said they&#8217;d be &#8220;guests of Vogue.&#8221;
But new documents from the Congressional Ethics Committee investigation into her attendance revealed that her lawyers had cautioned her against attending the Gala, noting that she couldn&#8217;t accept a gift that large. The rule is clear: Lawmakers are prohibited from accepting gifts from companies that use lobbyists which Vogue&#8217;s parent company, Advance Media Publications, does.
In a message to her staff before the Gala, an attorney for AOC advised her how she could attend legally. &#8220;&#8216;The Congresswoman could accept an invitation from [the Met], but not from Vogue,&#8217; he wrote, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11813881/Substantial-reason-believe-AOC-violated-ethics-committee-says.html">according</a> to the Daily Mail. &#8220;Since Advance Publications is a registered lobbyist, we&#8217;ll need to be extra careful!&#8221;
That&#8217;s seems pretty clear. But AOC attended anyway, making a splash with that dress. Shortly afterward, the documents show she (or maybe her staff), sought to downplay it all. Damn the little people, let them eat &#8230; whatever they eat, who knows.
Then the coverup began, The Mail reported.
<blockquote>&#8220;The day after the gala however, Vogue staffers reached out to AOC&#8217;s office to inform them they had received a number of media inquiries about the nature of the congresswoman&#8217;s attendance, and to say they were telling outlets she had been Wintour&#8217;s personal guest instead of saying she was a guest of the magazine.
&#8220;&#8216;Hope the [C]ongresswoman had a great time last night!,&#8217; a Vogue staffer wrote. &#8216;We have had a number of inquiries re: AOC&#8217;s invitation and if she paid for her ticket. Mainly from Page Six,'&#8221; of the New York Post.
&#8220;We also alerted the museum. Given that she was a guest of Vogue, we were planning to say on background that she was a guest of Anna [Wintour]&#8217;s. Of course wanted to check with you before responding.'&#8221;</blockquote>
Huh. Sure seems like a lot of revisionist history. So, there&#8217;s that.
But there&#8217;s so much more that has emerged from the House probe that shows the true nature of AOC.
The documents also show that AOC was billed $1,300 for her dress, but her staff was able to cut $1,100 cut off the price tag, along with getting the price of her $635 shoes knocked down by listing them as rentals, too, the Mail reported.
The socialist then failed to pay back thousands of dollars in bills from the Gala night, including $344.85 in makeup costs that had to be passed on to a collections agency as &#8220;extremely overdue.&#8221;
She also took so long to pay back $477.73 for hair styling that a a rep for the stylist &#8220;reached out to her staff and said &#8216;it would look terrible if we had to file a complaint with the NY Dept of Labor against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,'&#8221; the Mail reported. It took her nearly a year to pay that bill, Business Insider <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/aoc-only-paid-for-her-met-gala-outfit-and-other-possible-impermissible-gifts-after-investigators-asked-about-it-ethics-agency-finds/ar-AA189m9Q">reported</a>.
And it took eight months for her to pay more than $1,000 for transportation that was footed by Conde Nast, and she took nearly a year to pay $4,602.92 in bills at the Carlisle Hotel from the evening, according to the Post.
&#8220;In addition, a publicist associated with the company that supplied Ocasio-Cortez with her rental items — a gown, a handbag and shoes — provided a final invoice to the campaign staffer in September 2021 for about $990, but it went unpaid for months. The company then identified in April that $5,579.99 worth of unpaid goods and services had been provided to Ocasio-Cortez and her partner for the event, the report said,&#8221; NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-ethics-panel-investigate-ocasio-cortez-met-gala-gifts-rcna73182">reported</a>.
By the way, it&#8217;s worth noting that AOC only paid her bills after House investigators began their probe.
As liberals do, AOC passed the buck. It wasn&#8217;t her, it was her incompetent staff.
&#8220;I just never, ever, ever would have allowed that to happen knowing what I have learned, but that I wasn&#8217;t privy to the invoices, wasn&#8217;t privy to the ones that had been sent,&#8221; she told investigators, the Mail reported.
&#8220;And it is just a deeply regrettable situation. I feel l terrible for especially the small businesses that were impacted.&#8221; She then pulled a great Nixonian excuse: &#8220;There was a ball that was dropped.&#8221;
Aw, poor AOC. Everyone she has hired is incompetent. That&#8217;s horrible.
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AOC brought in her lawyer, David Mitrani, to explain. He said the congresswoman &#8220;finds these [payment] delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez talks a good game about the oppressed &#8230; but the businesses she owed money to are the oppressed. And AOC didn&#8217;t give a whit about them until investigators came asking questions.
There&#8217;s another Democratic socialist in Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He owns three houses and is a multimillionaire.
AOC is well on her way to following in his footsteps.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion – Street Sightings

AOC Exposed For The Extraordinary Hypocrite She Truly Is

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Exposed For The Extraordinary Hypocrite She Truly Is

Met Gala

Business tycoon and &#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; investor Kevin O&#8217;Leary ripped into Democrats&#8217; economic policies and specifically went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for being &#8220;great at killing jobs.&#8221;
O&#8217;Leary explained Friday on &#8220;CNN This Morning&#8221; that New York was an &#8220;uninvestable&#8221; state, detailing a project being pulled from The Empire State and moved to Norway.
&#8220;The regulatory environment is punitive,&#8221; the investor said. &#8220;I had a project in Upstate New York behind the grid in Niagara Falls for electricity — a global data center we were building. Eventually, it got so bad with the politicians in the local region and the state policy we moved it to Norway, and all the jobs. Norway has it now — thousands of jobs coming out of that.&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, that&#8217;s New York: uninvestable,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary added. &#8220;Sorry, don&#8217;t shoot the messenger. Just telling you the way it is. That&#8217;s it: uninvestable.&#8221;
&#8220;I think we&#8217;d get some pushback from our elected officials in New York,&#8221; CNN co-host Kaitlan Collins chimed in, before New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul was named.
&#8220;I&#8217;ll debate them any time of the day you want, particularly AOC,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary responded. &#8220;She&#8217;s great at killing jobs. She kills jobs by the thousands.&#8221;
&#8220;Where did Amazon take their jobs? They took them away from her. She threatened to sue them if they created jobs. I mean, this is a reality,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;He&#8217;s saying what a lot of people are saying, especially with this Amazon thing in New York,&#8221; co-host Don Lemon acknowledged.
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Amazon pulled out of a proposal to build a massive headquarters in New York City four years ago following opposition from Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats. The project was expected to produce some 25,000 jobs.
WATCH:
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O&#8217;Leary, who&#8217;s expressed a mixed view on politics, last year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-boosts-elon-musk-bid-slams-twitter-censorship-says-fire-board-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s bid to acquire Twitter, ripping the company for censoring views and board members for being ineffective.
Months later, in October 2022, Musk indeed became the owner and CEO of Twitter.
“The best way to look at this is, you gave them a decade, why not get the whacking stick out and just start all over again?” O’Leary proposed. “And that’s what Elon Musk is proposing.”
&#8220;The cost of free speech, the cost to society, is allowing the lunatic fringe to have a voice,” the businessman emphasized. “And that’s always been the case, back to when they were writing newspapers by hand.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
How strong is the job market really? The number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 190,000 last week.<a href="https://twitter.com/kevinolearytv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kevinolearytv</a> is here to discuss <a href="https://t.co/DgkfJtZNpn">pic.twitter.com/DgkfJtZNpn</a>
&mdash; CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNThisMorning/status/1631642942736613379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-boosts-elon-musk-bid-slams-twitter-censorship-says-fire-board-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Boosts Elon Musk Bid, Slams Twitter Censorship, Says ‘Fire’ Board Members</a>

Kevin O’Leary Visits “Mornings With Maria”

‘Great At Killing Jobs’: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Rips AOC, Dems On CNN Airwaves

Shark Tank’s Kevin O'Leary Rips AOC, Dems On CNN Airwaves

Economy

There is &#8220;substantial reason to believe&#8221; that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accepted &#8220;impermissible gifts&#8221; in connection to her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021, according to a newly disclosed report from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).
The OCE Board voted unanimously in June of last year to recommend further investigation by the House Committee on Ethics into the matter as Ocasio-Cortez &#8220;may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law,&#8221; <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-chairman-and-ranking-member-committee-ethics-regarding-representative-70">per</a> the report.
&#8220;The Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation concerning Rep. Ocasio-Cortez because there is substantial reason to believe that she accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021,&#8221; the report says.
The report was released on Thursday by leaders of the House Committee on Ethics who said they received a referral about Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s conduct in June of last year. They jointly decided on December 7, 2022, to extend the committee’s review of the matter, <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-chairman-and-ranking-member-committee-ethics-regarding-representative-70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a press release</a>.
&#8220;The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,&#8221; the House Committee on Ethics leaders said.
David Mitrani, Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s counsel, issued a response in a letter which noted the OCE identified that there were delays in paying vendors for costs associated with the congresswoman’s attendance at the Met Gala.
&#8220;The Congresswoman finds these delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again,&#8221; Mitrani said.
His letter to the House Committee on Ethics, dated February 27, also claims that no ethics violations were found.
&#8220;However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law,&#8221; <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/Representative%20Ocasio-Cortez%27s%20Response_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mitrani wrote</a>. &#8220;Even after OCE’s exhaustive review of the Congresswoman’s personal communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses. To the contrary, the record clearly shows that the Congresswoman always understood that she had to pay for these expenses personally – and she even worked with the undersigned counsel prior to the event to ensure that she complied with all applicable ethics rules.&#8221;
&#8220;We are confident the Committee on Ethics will dismiss this matter,&#8221; Mitrani concluded.
The House Committee on Ethics first confirmed its investigation in December after two groups — the American Accountability Foundation and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) — <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/12/07/aoc-subject-of-congressional-ethics-probe/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed complaints to the OCE</a> alleging Ocasio-Cortez improperly accepted free gifts beyond what House rules allow for members attending charity events. The <a href="https://oce.house.gov/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OCE says</a> it is &#8220;an independent, non-partisan entity&#8221; charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct within the House of Representatives which may then be sent to the Committee on Ethics.
The OCE report says Ocasio-Cortez was invited to and attended the Met Gala with her partner, Riley Roberts. Tickets to the star-studded event hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast’s global chief content officer Anna Wintour, which took place in September 2021 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, reportedly <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/look-money-behind-met-gala" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost at least $30,000</a>. Ocasio-Cortez wore a &#8220;Tax the Rich&#8221; dress made by designer Aurora James, whose Brother Vellies fashion brand rented to the couple with other items, per OCE.
&#8220;As part of her attendance, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was provided with a couture dress, handbag, shoes, and jewelry,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;She also received hair, makeup, transportation, and ready-room services. Riley Roberts received a bowtie and shoes in advance of the event.&#8221;
The report goes on to indicate suspicion that Ocasio-Cortez would not have paid thousands of dollars worth of services, as she told OCE she would do, if not for the OCE review.
&#8220;While Rep. Ocasio-Cortez appears to have now paid for the rental value of the attire she wore to the Met Gala and for the goods and services she and her partner received in connection with this September 2021 event, payment for these goods and services did not occur until after the OCE contacted her in connection with this review,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;But for the OCE opening this review, it appears that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez may not have paid for several thousands of dollars’ worth of goods and services provided to her.&#8221;
The OCE report says Ocasio-Cortez claimed to have relied on a campaign staffer to pay the bills. Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged “there was a ball that was dropped” and described the situation as “deeply regrettable,&#8221; the report says.
The OCE report also states James, Brother Vellies, and Janna Pea, a publicist associated with Brother Vellies, refused to cooperate with its review. Although the office recommended subpoenas, it&#8217;s unclear whether the House ethics panel has issued any subpoenas.
The Daily Wire reached out to Brother Vellies for comment.
&#8220;NLPC is pleased that the Office of Congressional Ethics released the results of its investigation of our 2021 complaint against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and unanimously concluded that she received illegal gifts associated with her attending the Met Gala Ball in 2021 in the form of her famous &#8216;Tax the Rich&#8217; dress, makeup, jewelry, limo services, and other services,&#8221; Paul Kamenar, counsel for NLPC, told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;The House Ethics Committee will now pick up the recommendation to issue subpoenas to the parties who refused to cooperate with OCE and impose appropriate penalties on AOC,&#8221; Kamenar added.&#8221;Those penalties can include a fine, reprimand, censure, or expulsion from the House, and a referral to other enforcement agencies, including the Federal Election Commission if AOC&#8217;s repayment of the services came from her campaign account instead of her personal account as it appeared to be.&#8221;

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Met Gala 2021

‘Substantial Reason To Believe’ AOC Accepted ‘Impermissible Gifts’ With Met Gala Appearance, Ethics Probe Finds

'Substantial Reason To Believe' AOC Accepted 'Impermissible Gifts' With Met Gala Appearance, Ethics Probe Finds

Ethics

Office of Government Ethics

&#8220;Never trust a socialist with a summer house.&#8221; &#8212; Colin Quinn
***
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermontistan) has got the greatest gig on earth. It&#8217;s a job anyone can do, as long as you&#8217;re missing a conscience and a sense of irony.
Next week, Sanders will hold court at a hip music venue in Washington, D.C., during an event titled &#8220;It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism.&#8221; There, he&#8217;ll hype his new book &#8220;It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism.&#8221;
So here&#8217;s what&#8217;s great. The top-tier tickets &#8212; sold through <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/senator-bernie-sanders-its-okay-to-washington-district-of-columbia-03-01-2023/event/15005E397F6416F0">Ticketmaster</a>, the scourge of the universe &#8212; will cost you $95. But no they won&#8217;t. Ticketmaster tacks on a $16.45 &#8220;service fee&#8221; even when you order a ticket online.
The venue, called The Anthem, holds about 2,500 people when it&#8217;s configured for such an event. The prices range from $35 to $95, but most are $75 and above. Let&#8217;s say he sells half the tickets at an average of $75, that&#8217;d haul in $93,750. Nearly $100,000 to hear a millionaire bash capitalism.
Here&#8217;s another great thing: Buy a ticket priced $55 and above, and you get a free copy of his new book, &#8220;It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism.&#8221;
So perfect. Sanders will give the more monied Americans a free book. Can&#8217;t afford the top-tier tickets? Well, no book for you.
The irony is totally lost on Bernie. As a Democratic socialist, it oughta&#8217; be exactly the opposite &#8212; pay $35, get a free book; pay $95, well, you can afford that so you can clearly afford to buy the book (&#8220;It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism,&#8221; now available from <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667864/its-ok-to-be-angry-about-capitalism-by-bernie-sanders-with-john-nichols/">Penguin</a> for $28).
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The publishing company says in a blurb that the book is &#8220;a progressive takedown of the uber-capitalist status quo that has enriched millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the working class, and a blueprint for what transformational change would actually look like.&#8221;
But Sanders has sucked off the government teat for most of his life, starting as mayor of Burlington in 1981 and then serving in Congress for decades. He&#8217;s had an even better scam of late: Run for president. That way, you collect hundreds of millions of dollars &#8212; mostly from the people Sanders rails against &#8212; and you write off nearly everything as a &#8220;campaign expense.&#8221;
Along the way, Sanders got super rich &#8212; even though a senator makes only $174,000 a year (which, incidentally, puts him in the top 4% of U.S. earners). But bashing capitalism pays: He pulled down a $900,000 advance for some recently published books and, in 2016, hauled in more than $1 million (not bad for a socialist!).
On the campaign trail, Sanders talks about taxing the rich as he pushes for free everything for everybody — free health care, free college tuition, even free money in the form of universal basic income, in which the government collects taxpayer money and redistributes it.
But he hasn&#8217;t redistributed his money. Vermont <a href="https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2016/08/08/bernie-sanders-buys-a-summer-home-in-north-hero">magazine</a> Seven Days reported in 2016 that Sanders and his wife bought a four-bedroom house on the shore of Lake Champlain in Vermont — with 500 feet of lake frontage — for about $600,000. The Sanders own at least three houses, with another in Burlington, Vermont, and one on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
And then it&#8217;s just too perfect that Sanders&#8217; event is being fronted by Ticketmaster, one of the few truly terrible things about capitalism. The ticket behemoth controls virtually the entire market for entertainment and sporting events.
Another Democratic socialist, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), has railed about Ticketmaster, and in one rare occurrence, she&#8217;s exactly correct.
“One of the things we’ve been increasingly seeing,” AOC said in November, “is that these price increases because of inflation and abuse of market power are due to market consolidation. It’s gotten so bad that we’re really seeing it affect our everyday lives, from how much we’re paying at grocery stores, to not being able to see our favorite artists without paying an arm and a leg.”
But Sanders has got that covered: &#8220;Tickets are non-transferable until 24 hours prior to the show time,&#8221; Ticketmaster says. &#8220;Any tickets suspected of being purchased for the sole purpose of reselling can be cancelled at the discretion of The Anthem/Ticketmaster, and buyers may be denied future ticket purchases for I.M.P. shows.&#8221;
Take that, capitalists!
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Senate Democratic Leaders Hold News Conference On Trump’s FY2018 Budget

So Perfect. Pay Bernie Sanders $95 To Hear Him Bash Capitalism.

Bernie Sanders

Capitalism

Democratic Socialism

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) appears to be at the top of the shortlist for a key spot on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
The leftist firebrand <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/27/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-could-become-number-two-democrat-on-oversight-panel-00079938" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told POLITICO</a> on Friday there have been &#8220;conversations&#8221; about her being picked as vice ranking member, but she stressed &#8220;nothing&#8217;s been finalized.&#8221;
If she were chosen for the No. 2 position, Ocasio-Cortez would become the lieutenant to ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and play a leading role in setting the course for Democrats to counter GOP plans to investigate various aspects of the Biden administration.
Because Raskin is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democratic-rep-jamie-raskin-announces-cancer-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">undergoing cancer treatment</a>, his deputy could take on more responsibility, including sitting in for the ranking member for hearings during any absences. However, a Democratic aide insisted to POLITICO that any member can sit in for the ranking member.
“I have the greatest admiration for her skill, and I’m sure we’re going to be able to deploy her to maximum effect on the committee, along with all these other amazing new members,” Raskin said of Ocasio-Cortez, who is in her third term.
Party aides told the news outlet that Democrats on the panel are expected to meet on Monday to hash out their plan for the next two years. The report said the meeting could be used to finalize leadership positions. It also noted how Ocasio-Cortez previously served as Raskin&#8217;s vice chairwoman on the oversight subcommittee on civil rights issues, which fostered a &#8220;close relationship&#8221; that &#8220;fueled some speculation among some Democrats&#8221; about such a dynamic being repeated as Raskin ascended to the top minority party spot on the full committee.
Already there are hearings being scheduled for next week. <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/chairman-comer-announces-hearing-on-waste-fraud-and-abuse-in-pandemic-recovery-programs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One is set to take place on Wednesday</a> and is titled, “Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.&#8221;
Among the other Democrats <a href="https://twitter.com/maxpcohen/status/1618731849257451522" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picked to be on the House Oversight Committee</a> for this nascent session of Congress are Reps. Ro Khanna (CA), Katie Porter (CA), Cori Bush (MO), and Dan Goldman (NY).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“I’m very excited to welcome these extraordinary new members of our Committee, whose remarkable experiences and gifts will soon be known to the whole country.”
—RM <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRaskin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepRaskin</a> welcoming the newest <a href="https://twitter.com/OversightDems?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OversightDems</a> 
Full statement: <a href="https://t.co/CI7CHO0Z0q">https://t.co/CI7CHO0Z0q</a> <a href="https://t.co/HO0R6PF0jn">pic.twitter.com/HO0R6PF0jn</a>
&mdash; Oversight Committee Democrats (@OversightDems) <a href="https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/1618741893755719680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The Republicans are led by Chairman James Comer (R-KY). Their members will include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Paul Gosar (AZ), both of whom were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-set-to-make-comeback-with-new-committee-assignments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">selected this month for committee assignments</a> after being removed from their seats in flashes of controversy during the last session of Congress, as well as Lauren Boebert (CO).
In anticipation of fiery confrontations with his Democratic counterparts over the next couple of years, Comer told Axios that the oversight panel is &#8220;<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/25/house-oversight-committee-exciting-comer-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">probably the most exciting committee</a>&#8221; in congressional history.
Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Friday that she thinks she is going to &#8220;have a lot of fun on this committee.” Democrats will have the &#8220;opportunity and platform to de-legitimize a lot of the disinformation that they&#8217;ve been advancing,&#8221; she added.

Jamie Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC May Get Key Spot On Oversight Committee: Report

Jamie Raskin

U.S. House of Representatives

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) claimed that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax</a> cuts passed under former President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> have been the “largest contributor” to federal budget deficits over the past few years rather than the spending agenda enacted by President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yellen-warns-congress-extraordinary-measures-have-begun-after-debt-ceiling-breached" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other lawmakers in a <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> that the debt ceiling, an arbitrary cap on the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-debt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national debt</a> established by Congress, exceeded the statutory limit of nearly $31.4 trillion, starting a debate on the future of federal deficit spending. Ocasio-Cortez was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOgIGpGG7AM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> by a journalist on Thursday to discuss whether she believes her own party is culpable for recent record deficits.
“Democrats have been in charge for the past two years; do you think Democrats have spent too much money?” the reporter asked. “I think the largest contributor to the debt ceiling, to our deficit, has been the Trump tax cuts,” the lawmaker responded.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which constitutes the most significant legislative accomplishment of the Trump administration, is projected to decrease federal revenues by $1.9 trillion between 2018 and 2028, according to an <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53651-outlook-appendixb.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Congressional Budget Office. On the other hand, spending packages approved by Biden will contribute more than $4.8 trillion in new deficit spending between 2021 and 2031, according to an <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/biden-administration-has-approved-48-trillion-new-borrowing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, exceeding the $1.9 trillion added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Removing the effect of the American Rescue Plan implies $2.5 trillion of new deficits.
Trump presided over federal budget deficits ranging between $665 billion and $984 billion ahead of the lockdown-induced recession, during which the deficit rose to $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 as a result of stimulus measures such as the CARES Act, according to <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Office of Management and Budget. Biden oversaw a $2.8 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2021, largely due to the passage of his American Rescue Plan. Though the commander-in-chief has repeatedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-calls-gop-fiscally-demented-here-are-some-facts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> that he has successfully reduced the budget deficit, the shortfall of $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2022 significantly exceeds the deficits witnessed before the recession.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously received criticism for proposing ambitious legislation that would require significant federal expenditures. The first iteration of her Green New Deal would have <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-25/group-sees-ocasio-cortez-s-green-new-deal-costing-93-trillion?leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost</a> between $51 trillion and $93 trillion over the course of a single decade.
More broadly, however, both Republican and Democratic administrations have maintained unsustainable budget deficits and inflated the national debt to more than $31.5 trillion. The most recent breach of the debt ceiling comes after Republican lawmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-concessions-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-gave-to-republican-holdouts-to-win-their-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struck a deal</a> with McCarthy under which the party’s new majority vowed to introduce a budget that refrains from increasing the statutory debt limit.
A recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/government-must-raise-taxes-40-or-cut-spending-30-to-achieve-fiscal-balance-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School revealed that a 30% decrease in spending or a 40% increase in taxation would be necessary to handle current deficit spending and future obligations. A similar <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-spending-must-be-cut-26-to-balance-budget-even-more-to-keep-core-social-defense-programs-intact-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that policymakers must enact 26% across-the-board spending cuts in order to balance the budget within the next decade; in order to balance the budget while exempting programs such as defense, veteran benefits, Social Security, and Medicare from cuts, all other federal spending would have to be reduced 85%.

AOC Tries To Blame Trump Tax Cuts, Not Runaway Spending, For Massive Deficits

Debt Ceiling

Donald Trump

National Debt

Taxes

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) was mocked online Wednesday after an image emerged of her using a gas stove purportedly in her residence after she previously stated that exposure to gas stoves could cause cognitive issues.
Consumer Product Safety Commission Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr remarked in a Monday interview with Bloomberg that gas stoves present a “hidden hazard” and said “any option is on the table” for banning the appliances.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), a former White House physician, responded on Tuesday: &#8220;I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove.&#8221;
&#8220;If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands,&#8221; he said. &#8220;COME AND TAKE IT!!&#8221;
AOC responded, &#8220;Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance[?]&#8221;
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Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance <a href="https://t.co/1bjmHqnHVa">https://t.co/1bjmHqnHVa</a>
&mdash; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1612973043583696897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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However, a screenshot emerged Wednesday of a video that Ocasio-Cortez posted on Instagram of her cooking in what appears to be her kitchen using a gas stove.
&#8220;@aoc says gas stoves cause &#8216;reduced cognitive performance&#8217; &#8211; yet she uses a gas stove?&#8221; Jackson wrote. &#8220;Is this a self diagnosis? AOC, as a medical doctor, I can tell you this: what’s wrong with your head IS NOT caused by stoves. Something WAY BIGGER is causing your decreased cognitive function!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aoc</a> says gas stoves cause “reduced cognitive performance” &#8211; yet she uses a gas stove? Is this a self diagnosis? AOC, as a medical doctor, I can tell you this: what’s wrong with your head IS NOT caused by stoves. Something WAY BIGGER is causing your decreased cognitive function! <a href="https://t.co/yYF90wXiGu">pic.twitter.com/yYF90wXiGu</a>
&mdash; Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonnyJacksonTX/status/1613179678000300035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) proposed legislation on Wednesday barring the federal government from banning stoves powered by natural gas.
“The last thing Americans need or want is another big government bureaucratic decision telling us which appliance we can have in our home,” Huizenga said in a press release. “The STOVE Act is a common-sense measure that will stop bureaucrats from banning gas stoves or ranges. Americans should have the ability to choose the most affordable and most available way to cook food in their own home. It is absolutely ridiculous how out of control and out of touch the nanny state in Washington has become.”
Some 38% of American households use gas stoves for cooking, with the figure approaching 70% for states such as California and New Jersey, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
The legislation says no federal agency “may propose, implement, or finalize a rule or guidance that restricts or bans the use and purchase of gas-powered stoves, cooktops, ranges, or ovens” in the United States. Introduction of the bill follows a statement from CPSC Chairman Alex Hoehn-Saric clarifying that neither he nor the agency is planning to ban gas stoves after the comments from Trumka, an appointee of President Joe Biden and the son of former AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, garnered nationwide controversy.

House And Senate Convene For The 118th Congress On Capitol Hill

AOC Takes Shot At Ronny Jackson Over Gas Stoves. Jackson Nukes Her.

Gas stoves

Ronny Jackson

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