Michigan Democrat Rep. Shri Thanedar renounced his membership in the largest socialist organization in the United States after the far-Left group promoted an anti-semitic rally in the wake of barbaric terrorist attacks on Israel from Hamas.
&#8220;Today, I am officially renouncing my membership in the Democratic Socialists of America,&#8221; Thanedar wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RepShriThanedar/status/1712181950176186851?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. &#8220;After the brutal terrorist attacks on Israel, which include the indiscriminate murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent men, women, and children, I can no longer associate with an organization unwilling to call out terrorism in all its forms.&#8221;
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which its <a href="https://www.dsausa.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> claims has over 92,000 members and chapters in all 50 states, promoted a rally in Times Square on Sunday alongside other organizations. At that rally, roughly 1,000 demonstrators celebrated Hamas&#8217; deadly attacks on Israel that has so far left more 1,200 Israelis — and 22 U.S. citizens — dead, and nearly 3,000 injured.
&#8220;Sunday&#8217;s hate-filled and anti-semitic rally in New York City, promoted by the NYC-DSA, makes it impossible for me to continue my affiliation,&#8221; Thanedar continued. &#8220;I stand with Israel and its right to defend itself.&#8221;
&#8220;There is no place for moral equivocation in the face of unadulterated evil as we have seen from Hamas,&#8221; he said, in part. &#8220;My ideals have not changed at all. I strongly believe that ending my association with DSA serves my constituents&#8217; interests as they expect me to represent them by helping to build a better, more just world, not fanning the flames of hatred.&#8221;
Thanedar&#8217;s response toward the socialist group&#8217;s demonstration joined a number of other political lawmakers who have distanced themselves from remarks that were said at the event.
&#8220;We are here in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are fighting 75 years of Israeli settler colonialism, settler violence, and 16 years of military blockade of Gaza,&#8221; Munir Atalla, a 30-year-old Palestinian Youth Movement group member, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nypd-to-conduct-perimeter-searches-around-synagogues-mayor-urges-religious-leaders-to-hire-extra-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said. &#8220;What we saw yesterday was the people of Gaza breaking out of their open-air prison.&#8221;
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the now five DSA members in Congress, reportedly called the &#8220;bigotry and callousness expressed&#8221; during the rally &#8220;were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment.&#8221;
&#8220;It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it. That is a core tenet of solidarity,&#8221; she said in a news release on Monday <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/10/aoc-pro-palestine-nyc-rally-00120684" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by POLITICO.
She added the event &#8220;also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas&#8217; horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation.&#8221;
DSA member and New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens) also criticized the rally.
&#8220;My support for Palestinian liberation should never be confused for a celebration of the loss of civilian life,&#8221; Mamdani said in a statement. &#8220;I condemn the killing of civilians and rhetoric at a rally [on Sunday] seeking to make light of such deaths.&#8221;
NYC Democratic Mayor Eric Adams condemned the organized rally.
&#8220;At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism,&#8221; Adams reportedly wrote in an X-post on Monday. &#8220;I reject this. New York City rejects this. Do not use our streets to spread your hate.&#8221;
NYC-DSA officials reportedly claimed they did not organize the rally, adding the group opposes harming and targeting civilians.
Steering Committee Member Nadia Tykulsker said the group promoted the event &#8220;at the request of a coalition partner because we believe in equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis, and we know that war will take more lives.&#8221;
&#8220;It is shameful that politicians in our state are exploiting this moment to target a socialist organization and divide the vibrant left in New York — whose sole aim in politics is to grow the power of working people for freedom against exploitation and oppression — instead of focusing our attention where it should be: on the atrocities and tragic loss of life in the region,&#8221; she added.

Congressional Progressive Caucus New Members

Dem Congressman Renounces Membership With Nation’s Largest Socialist Org Over Hamas Praise, Anti-Semitic Rally

Dem Congressman Renounces Membership With Nation's Largest Socialist Org Over Hamas Praise, Anti-Semitic Rally

Anti-Semitism

Democratic Socialism

Hamas

Israel

Michigan

New York City

Socialism

New York City police authorities will conduct perimeter searches around synagogues and other &#8220;key institutions&#8221; across the five boroughs following Hamas&#8217; deadly invasion of Israel over the weekend.
NYPD chief John Chell told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday that the police force would continue posturing multiple layers of security to protect the Jewish community and religious institutions.
&#8220;Whether it be the cops standing in front of church . . . late shift perimeter searches of some of the key institutions,&#8221; Chell <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1711769173615931824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;So we&#8217;re very good at this. We&#8217;ve done a lot, we&#8217;ll continue to do it, and we&#8217;ll monitor social media, intel, and we&#8217;ll adjust accordingly.&#8221;
Chell&#8217;s comments follow a pro-Palestinian rally held in Times Square on Sunday by the Democratic Socialists of America and other organizations, where roughly 1,000 demonstrators celebrated Hamas&#8217; barbaric attack on Israel that left more than 900 Israelis and several U.S. citizens dead.
&#8220;We are here in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are fighting 75 years of Israeli settler colonialism, settler violence, and 16 years of military blockade of Gaza,&#8221; Munir Atalla, a 30-year-old Palestinian Youth Movement group member, reportedly <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12615595/NYPD-perimeter-searches-synagogues.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said.</a> &#8220;What we saw yesterday was the people of Gaza breaking out of their open-air prison.&#8221;
NYC Democratic Mayor Eric Adams condemned the organized rally.
&#8220;At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism,&#8221; Adams reportedly wrote in an <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1711121143585731008" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X-post</a> on Monday. &#8220;I reject this. New York City rejects this. Do not use our streets to spread your hate.&#8221;
During Tuesday&#8217;s press conference, Adams said that although there are currently &#8220;no threats&#8221; to the city regarding the invasion of Israel, citizens should remain alert and urged synagogue leaders to designate a security team within the house of worship to conduct perimeter searches.
&#8220;We have to be high alert,&#8221; Adams said, noting NYC has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world outside of Israel. &#8220;We cannot let our guards down.&#8221;
&#8220;Don&#8217;t underestimate lone wolves,&#8221; Adams said earlier in the press conference.
Adams made a number of comments concerning Hamas&#8217; deadly invasion of Israel over the weekend, including vocalizing his support for Israel.
On Monday night, the mayor and other city officials held a vigil for the victims of the terrorist attacks.
&#8220;I am devastated, and I am angry,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/755-23/transcript-mayor-adams-holds-vigil-victims-terrorist-attacks-israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;And I am going to really refrain from allowing that anger to really display the human part of me.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-48276">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
&#8220;But I am in so much pain from what I saw and what I witnessed,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Nothing can justify pulling innocent children from their homes, murdering them, dragging them through the streets, laying your feet across their bodies. Nothing can justify what we witnessed. Nothing can justify what we witnessed.&#8221;
Police in major cities across the United States have taken <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-beef-up-security-at-jewish-synagogues-across-u-s-after-hamas-attacks-israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extra precautions</a> to protect Jewish citizens as Israel goes to war against Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netanyahu-those-who-attacked-israel-will-remember-israels-military-response-for-generations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Monday that what Israel is preparing to do to those responsible for the heinous attacks on the nation will be remembered for decades.
&#8220;Hamas will understand that by attacking us, they have made a mistake of historic proportions,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel&#8217;s other enemies for decades to come.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-defense-forces-veterans-hired-to-protect-jewish-communities-in-los-angeles">Israel Defense Forces Veterans Hired To Protect Jewish Communities In Los Angeles</a>

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests

NYPD To Conduct Perimeter Searches Around Synagogues, Mayor Urges Religious Leaders To Hire Extra Security

Eric Adams

New York Police Department (NYPD)

Terrorism

U.S.

&#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).
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
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.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

Capitalism

Congress

Politics

Sen. <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/bernie-sanders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bernie Sanders</a> (I-VT) is selling tickets priced as high as $95 for an event that will promote his new book, “It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism.”
Admirers of the democratic socialist can <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/senator-bernie-sanders-its-okay-to-washington-district-of-columbia-03-01-2023/event/15005E397F6416F0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchase</a> seats on Ticketmaster, a company which has recently faced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ticketmaster-live-nation-are-a-joke-break-up-their-monopoly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accusations</a> of anticompetitive practices, for prices ranging between $35 and $95. The event will be hosted on March 1 at The Anthem, a music venue and auditorium in Washington, D.C. Holders of the more expensive tickets will receive a free copy of Sanders’ new book, which is <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667864/its-ok-to-be-angry-about-capitalism-by-bernie-sanders-with-john-nichols/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">available</a> for $28 from Penguin Random House.
The publishing company said that the lawmaker’s work is “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.”
“Reflecting on our turbulent times, Senator Bernie Sanders takes on the billionaire class and speaks blunt truths about our country’s failure to address the destructive nature of a system that is fueled by uncontrolled greed and rigidly committed to prioritizing corporate profits over the needs of ordinary Americans,” the description of the book asserts. “Sanders believes that, in the face of these overwhelming challenges, the American people must ask tough questions about the systems that have failed us and demand fundamental economic and political change. This is where the path forward begins.”
The lawmaker is also hosting a book tour event at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in New York City, where tickets are <a href="https://www.bam.org/talks/2023/senator-bernie-sanders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">selling</a> for $40. Penguin Random House also <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2018350/senator-bernie-sanders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lists</a> upcoming book tour events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Tucson, Arizona.
Sanders is by no means a stranger to accusations of hypocrisy with respect to his views on wealth accumulation. Though he is known for railing against large corporations and billionaire entrepreneurs, Sanders is a “millionaire with three houses,” as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bloomberg-nails-socialist-bernie-youre-a-millionaire-with-3-houses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> by former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg during the party’s most recent presidential primary cycle.
“What a wonderful country we have. The best known socialist happens to be a millionaire with three houses. What’d I miss here?” Bloomberg asked. Sanders responded that he has a house in Washington, a home in Burlington, Vermont, and a “summer camp.”
Sanders claimed that Bloomberg’s workers earned his fortune; the former New York City mayor rebutted that the comments from Sanders would drive voters toward President Donald Trump because of their radical nature. “We are not going to throw out capitalism, we tried that, other countries tried that, it was called communism and it just didn’t work,” he contended.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the first female member of the Democratic Socialists of America to serve in Congress, has also received <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-launches-tax-the-rich-merchandise-collection-after-met-gala-stunt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> for selling “Tax The Rich” merchandise, which she promoted during the Met Gala two years ago. Customers can buy $58 sweatshirts, $27 t-shirts, $27 mugs, and $27 tote bags, among other items.
Sanders recently made headlines for voting against a measure that exercised authority granted to Congress by the Railway Labor Act to prevent a nationwide rail strike. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-legislation-to-avoid-a-nationwide-rail-strike-bernie-sanders-intends-to-block-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> on social media that workers should receive at least seven paid sick days as rail companies earn “record profits” and shared his desire to “block consideration of the rail legislation” until a roll call vote guaranteed workers the benefit.

Senators Sanders And Menendez Discuss SALT Deductions At Press Conference

Bernie Sanders Selling $95 Tickets For ‘It’s Okay To Be Angry About Capitalism’ Event

Bernie Sanders Selling $95 Tickets For Anti-Capitalism Event

General

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/norway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norway</a> plans to increase <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxes</a> on billionaires attempting to flee the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/socialism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">socialistic</a> nation, where residents already experience one of the highest tax burdens on the planet.
Officials across multiple Norwegian parties agreed to end a five-year time limit on exit taxes for unrealized gains and extend the rules “to apply to the transfer of shares to close family members living abroad” with immediate effect, according to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-29/norway-to-hit-fleeing-billionaires-with-higher-expatriate-tax?srnd=premium&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Bloomberg. As the country’s left-leaning government continues to increase taxes on the wealthy, a higher number of wealthy citizens have been seeking emigration.
Only three European countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development levy a net wealth tax, by which individuals must pay the government according to the market value of their assets minus liabilities, according to a <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/net-wealth-tax-europe-2022/#:~:text=The%20concept%20of%20a%20net,Norway%2C%20Spain%2C%20and%20Switzerland." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Tax Foundation. As of this spring, citizens with a net worth above $190,000 must pay 0.95%, while those with a net worth above $2.3 million must pay 1.1%.
Kjell Inge Rokke, who owns two-thirds of shipping and offshore drilling conglomerate Aker, recently moved to Switzerland. The entrepreneur, who entered the business world by selling fish from a trawler in the United States, is worth $4.9 billion, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/kjell-inge-rokke/?sh=619aa78cbfcf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from Forbes. Bjorn Daehlie, an Olympic cross-country skiing champion, has likewise relocated since the nation’s new government took control last year.
The top individual income tax rate in Norway equates to 47.8%, according to an <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/norway#:~:text=Norway%27s%20economic%20freedom%20score%20is,the%20regional%20and%20world%20averages." target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Heritage Foundation, which noted that the country’s overall tax burden equals 39.9% of total domestic income while government spending amounts to 51.8% of economic output. In comparison, the United States’ top income tax is 37%, while the overall tax burden equals 24.5% of total domestic income and government spending amounts to 38.9% of output.
Democratic lawmakers in the United States have recently pushed measures to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-blue-state-passes-another-blue-state-rejects-hefty-new-taxes-on-millionaires" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise taxes</a> on the wealthy. Voters in Massachusetts approved a significant tax hike on millionaires during the most recent midterm elections while voters in California rejected a similar measure, even though both states are among the most heavily taxed in the nation. Wealthy Americans already provide an outsized share of federal tax revenue, even when compared to the rich in other developed countries, according to another <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/rich-pay-their-fair-share-of-taxes/#Burden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Tax Foundation, which noted that the top 1% of earners paid more than 40% of federal income taxes in 2018.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elizabeth-warren-proposes-ultra-millionaire-wealth-tax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> a federal “ultra-millionaire” tax that would establish a 2% annual levy on households and trusts with net worths above $50 million, effectively functioning as a wealth tax. Households and trusts with a net worth of more than $1 billion would pay another 1% annual surtax.
“A wealth tax is popular among voters on both sides for good reason: because they understand the system is rigged to benefit the wealthy and large corporations,” she contended. “As Congress develops additional plans to help our economy, the wealth tax should be at the top of the list to help pay for these plans because of the huge amounts of revenue it would generate.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has lauded Norway’s government-run <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1170084212197810177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">education system</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1144417873999421440" target="_blank" rel="noopener">universal healthcare programs</a>. He <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1518664388223414272" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met</a> with Anniken Krutnes, the Norwegian ambassador to the United States, earlier this year to discuss “becoming a government that works for all.”

NORWAY-BRITAIN-ROYALS-QUEEN

Norway’s Left-Wing Government To Hit Fleeing Billionaires With Even Higher Taxes

Norway To Increase Taxes On The Wealthy

Norway

Social Issues

Taxes

World

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles-county" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles County</a> officials said Tuesday that a guaranteed basic income program has begun to roll out, with 1,000 residents now receiving $1,000 a month until 2025.
Fox LA <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.foxla.com/news/chosen-la-county-residents-will-start-getting-1000-a-month?taid=630eab9847502200013f48b7&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=trueanthem&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> the recipients for the program were chosen randomly out of more than 180,000 applicants.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said that given the number of county residents who applied, it&#8217;s &#8220;abundantly clear&#8221; that the time has come for the program idea.
&#8220;I&#8217;m confident that we will see what other pilots have already shown,&#8221; Kuehl said according to Fox LA. &#8220;That a guaranteed basic income, by giving people a bit of financial breathing room, allows them to stabilize their lives and that of their family.&#8221;
Kuehl added that three years from now, she feels &#8220;confident&#8221; that the county program would be viewed as a &#8220;foundation stone&#8221; for every eligible American household to receive economic opportunity and stability.
Los Angeles County supervisors voted last year to develop a pilot program called BIG:LEAP, which developers modeled after a similar program in Stockton, California.
According to the program&#8217;s <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://bigleap.lacity.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>, poverty affects two out of every ten residents in the city of Los Angeles, of whom 31% are children. And with rents skyrocketing across the county and insufficient wages to match the cost of living, about one-third of working Angelenos struggle to support their families on one full-time income.
To qualify for the program, participants 18 and older negatively impacted by the pandemic can only have a house income under $56,000 for a single person or $96,000 for a family of four. If approved, the recipients would access the money via debit card.
Program officials told FOX LA that those chosen range in age from 18 to 91 years old, come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and have an administrator from Strength Based Community Change who will stay in touch with the individuals.
Payments will be part of the state&#8217;s Fiscal Year 2021/22 budget that both Governor Gavin Newsom and the Legislature approved.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Holly Mitchell said in a <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/groundbreaking-guaranteed-income-program-to-provide-la-county-residents-financial-room-to-breathe-301499877.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> in March at the time of enrollment that the poverty that residents experience on any given day cannot be addressed with a “one-size-fits-all approach.”
&#8220;Now is our opportunity to invest in support that directly reaches our residents,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;It&#8217;s time that we trust that our residents know how best to meet their needs when given the resources to do so.&#8221;
However, taxpayer associations view the move from county officials to give residents free money as a slippery slope that would reduce work ethic.
Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a nonprofit standing up for taxpayer rights, told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/la-considers-24-million-universal-basic-income-program_3824501.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Epoch Times</a> at the time of the program&#8217;s proposal that work experience gives people value, social networks, and a sense of purpose for contributing to society.
Coupal called the universal basic income program &#8220;pure politics&#8221; by county officials.
&#8220;There&#8217;s an old saying, &#8216;If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the vote of Paul,’” he said.
Coupal also advocated for mandated government oversight of the program, similar to other social services.
&#8220;If it&#8217;s the government&#8217;s money, they should absolutely be able to control how it&#8217;s spent. You don&#8217;t want people going out and buying cigarettes and booze with this,&#8221; Coupal said. &#8220;It would be more consistent with existing programs, for example the SNAP program, the food stamp program, you get vouchers to buy food. Same with Section Eight housing, you get vouchers to purchase housing.&#8221;

homeless on skid row

L.A. County Rolls Out Universal Basic Income Pilot; 1,000 Residents To Get $1,000 Per Month

Los Angeles

Minimum Wage

The Nordic Countries… Denmark. Norway. Sweden.
You might think of Vikings. Over 250 years of conquest through Europe. 
You might think of the middle ages. Medieval battles, kingdoms, Kings and Queens.
Or maybe you think of design. Simplicity. Minimalism. That thing you bought from Ikea that is always missing just the part you need.
But the left thinks of an economic ideal. An example of how socialism can shape society. 
First, let’s define socialism: communal ownership of the means of production and distribution. It is important to differentiate between socialist programs and socialist economies – they are not the same thing. Socialist programs redistribute; socialist economies abolish private property and nationalize industry in order to override the profit incentives that drive the market.
For example, nationalized health care is socialized medicine – but Canada is not a “socialist economy.” It is a privatized, capitalist economy with socialist redistribution programs. That’s an important distinction, because it allows us to see what works and what doesn’t work. Socialist programs are always inefficient, because they involve taking money from those who are most efficient and giving it to those who are less efficient through governmental compulsion – through force.
Now, to Scandinavia. 
While Bernie Sanders says “we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people,” he misses the point: All those countries are ardently pro-free trade and rely heavily on the free market. Denmark is actually ranked above the United States in the Heritage Foundation index of economic freedom. So are the Netherlands; Sweden is ranked essentially even with the United States. Even Norway is ranked only slightly behind the United States. 
The idea that Scandinavia is fully socialist really started to propagate after the Swedish ‘Third Way’ was promoted in the 1970’s with a very heavy welfare state. And then by the 1980’s it was already in remission because it had failed so dramatically in the 70’s. 
Speaking at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2015, Denmark’s prime minister explained, “I know that some people in the US associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore I would like to make one thing clear: Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.”
Prosperity is generated by innovation, by free trade, by people exchanging goods and services. And then socialists come in and pretend they’re the ones who created prosperity and redistribute all the goods. 
Most of the things socialists love about the Scandinavian countries developed in advance of their move to the far Left. Scandinavia does have high life expectancy and good health outcomes in areas such as infant mortality. But this predates the socialist programs: In 1960, Norway had the highest life expectancy in the OECD, followed by Sweden, Iceland and Denmark in third, fourth and fifth positions. By 2005, the gap in life expectancy between Scandinavian countries and both the UK and the US had shrunk considerably. Iceland, with a moderately sized welfare sector, has over time outpaced the four major Scandinavian countries in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality. 
The same is true with regard to income inequality. Scandinavia’s more equal societies also developed well before the welfare states expanded. Income inequality reduced dramatically during the last three decades of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century. Indeed, most of the shift towards greater equality happened before the introduction of a large public sector and high taxes.
<h4>Scandinavia Is Not Paradise</h4>
Sweden gained riches only after embracing capitalism in the mid-19th century; from 1975 to 1993, the country dropped from fourth in the world wealth rankings to 14th. Swedish scholar Nima Sanandaji called the country’s embrace of socialism a “colossal failure.” Between 1870 and 1936, Sweden enjoyed the highest growth rate in the industrialized world. However, between 1936 and 2008, the growth rate was only 13th out of 28 industrialized nations. In 1960, for every 100 Swedes working in private industry, 38 worked for the government or were on welfare. By 1990, that number was 51. From 1970 to 1984, the government was the largest “job creator” in the country. In response, Sweden cut back its taxation scheme – for example, the estate tax (65 percent in the 1970s) was abolished in 2004. Sweden also killed its wealth tax. 
Denmark has a top tax bracket of 55.9 percent, which kicks in at 1.3 times the average income (that would be around $65,000 in the United States). Denmark has a 22 percent corporate tax rate. Denmark also has a national sales tax of 25 percent. Between 2007 and 2015, Denmark experienced a 5.5 percent decline in real GDP. That led to the election of a center-right coalition in Denmark.
Norway, the Left’s current favorite country (they’ve moved on from Denmark and Sweden), is propped up by massive oil assets that support its social welfare schemes – but even their national oil company runs along private lines, with profit margin as the driving factor in decision making, and the government acting like any other shareholder.
As of 2018, in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway, the top 10 percent of wealth owners hold between 65 and 69 percent of all wealth in their countries.
Just 55 percent of Swedes agree that you should never claim government benefits to which you are not entitled; by the mid-1990s, a fifth of Sweden’s working age population was relying on sick leave, unemployment, and early retirement. 
<h4>America Is Still The Land Of Opportunity</h4>
Furthermore, immigrants do far better in the US than in Scandinavia. Swedish economist Benny Carlson reports, for example, that Somali employment in Minnesota is twice as high as in Sweden, and self-employment is eight times as high. Migrants make up 26 percent of Sweden’s prison population and half the criminals in prison for serious offenses. Fully six in ten men convicted of rape and attempted rape in Sweden from 2013 to 2018 were immigrants.
One of the elements that the Nordic countries have always had is high levels of social solidarity – those levels are far more predictive of income equality than any level of socialist redistribution.
The Scandinavian dream, as David Harsanyi writes, is actually the American dream. That’s because between 1820 and 1920, more than a quarter of Norway’s entire population came to America. Their economic rise was far faster and greater than that of those who stayed in Norway. “Even among those Norwegian immigrants who ultimately returned to their native land,” Harsanyi points out, “the majority held higher-paid occupations relative to those who never left.” Swedish Americans earn more than Swedes. 
There is no future in Scandinavia. They’re not reproducing. They’re not producing new products. They’re not producing innovation. Scandinavia is not a socialist paradise because there is no such thing as a socialist paradise. 
This piece is adapted from an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/scandinavia-is-a-socialist-paradise">episode</a> of Ben’s series, Debunked, available exclusively to Daily Wire Members.

Scandinavia

SHAPIRO: Debunking The Myth Of A Scandinavian Socialist Paradise

Debunked

Readers Pass

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) confirmed on Thursday that she is engaged to longtime partner Riley Roberts.
“It’s true!” the progressive lawmaker said on Twitter. “Thank you all for the well wishes.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s true! Thank you all for the well wishes ☺️ <a href="https://t.co/i5cm9awN3S">https://t.co/i5cm9awN3S</a>
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1527360876503699469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
&#8220;We got engaged last month in my family&#8217;s hometown in Puerto Rico,&#8221; she told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-engagement-confirmed-boyfriend-name-riley-roberts-2022-5">Business Insider</a>. &#8220;No future details yet, we&#8217;re taking some space to savor this time before diving into planning.&#8221;
A photographer from <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/3494592-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-engaged-to-longtime-boyfriend-riley-roberts/">The Hill</a> snapped a picture earlier on Thursday of Ocasio-Cortez sporting an engagement ring. “While Ocasio-Cortez maintains a famously heavy social media presence — with more than 8 million Instagram followers and nearly 13 million on Twitter — she’s typically kept details of her romantic life under wraps,” the outlet explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Earlier today <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehill</a>&#8216;s photog Greg Nash captured <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> sporting some bling on her ring finger. <a href="https://t.co/qmaGIKvXK7">pic.twitter.com/qmaGIKvXK7</a>
— Judy Kurtz (@JudyKurtz) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudyKurtz/status/1527356932096688128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
The ring, according to Ocasio-Cortez, is “zero emission and recycled gold.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Close! It’s zero emission and recycled gold 😂
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1527391727589400579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
Ocasio-Cortez began dating Roberts, a marketing professional, during their time as undergraduates.
“Roberts and Ocasio-Cortez met at Boston University&#8217;s Coffee and Conversation in 2011 — a Friday-afternoon student town hall where Ocasio-Cortez often drove discussions — but friends of the couple didn&#8217;t know they had been dating until years after they all graduated,” <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-engagement-confirmed-boyfriend-name-riley-roberts-2022-5">Insider</a> reported. “After they were both done with school, the couple broke up, and Roberts eventually moved back to Arizona. They later rekindled the relationship in New York.”
Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts “came from different corners of the country,” according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/aoc-engaged-to-longtime-boyfriend-riley-roberts/">New York Post</a>. “Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx and moved at a young age with her parents to Yorktown in suburban Westchester County where she attended public schools until she graduated high school in 2007… Roberts grew up in a wealthy area of Paradise Valley, Ariz., the son of a real-estate agent.”
Roberts helped Ocasio-Cortez in her 2018 upset victory over longtime Democratic lawmaker Joe Crowley by collecting signatures to put his girlfriend on the ballot.
According to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-engaged-riley-roberts-1355917/">Rolling Stone</a>, Roberts rarely steps into the limelight, but appeared in the 2019 documentary “Knock Down the House,” which details the rise of several progressive lawmakers. In a biography about Ocasio-Cortez, author Josh Gondleman wrote that Roberts “doesn’t fit the stereotype of a politician’s partner.”
“He doesn’t seem focus-grouped or media-trained for state dinners and press conferences. We know he’s supportive and encouraging in private,” Gondelman explained. “And his expertise, as far as his public image goes, is his elusiveness and restraint.”
Ocasio-Cortez is most famous for her “Green New Deal,” which seeks to fight the &#8220;intertwined economic, social, racial and climate crises crippling the country,” according to her office.
&#8220;The Green New Deal has three core components: jobs, justice and climate,&#8221; said Ocasio-Cortez in a <a href="https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ocasio-cortez-markey-reintroduce-green-new-deal-resolution-0">statement</a>. &#8220;The dozens of bills that have sprung from this resolution since we introduced it two years ago all contain 1) a commitment to creating good-paying union jobs; 2) prioritizing frontline and vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by climate change &#8211; including communities of color, indigenous land, deindustrialized communities and fossil fuel hubs; and 3) reducing greenhouse gas emissions from human sources by 40 to 60% within 10 years and net-zero global emissions by 2050, in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change&#8217;s finding that global temperatures must not increase more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialized levels in order to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.&#8221;

AOC Gets Engaged To Longtime Boyfriend

Ocasio-Cortez Engaged To Longtime Partner

Democratic Party

Leftism

A Democratic congressional candidate in Washington State is arguing for a $30 per hour minimum wage, claiming that the $15 minimum wage movement is an outdated number.
Rebecca Parson, a candidate for Washington&#8217;s 6th District that includes Tacoma, shared the comment recently in a post on Twitter.
&#8220;$15 minimum wage is an antiquated demand. It should be $30 per hour,&#8221; she tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
$15 minimum wage is an antiquated demand. It should be $30 per hour.
&mdash; Rebecca Parson for Congress, WA-06 (@RebeccaforWA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaforWA/status/1517244166425563136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;1 adult supporting 1 kid needs $30 an hour across the country. Rural, urban, suburban: $30 is the floor. As you say your nightly prayers to Saint Elon while you fall asleep tonight, reflect on why you punch down on poor people instead of up at your heavenly billionaire,&#8221; she added in another post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Nobody should be poor in the richest country on Earth. 
 <a href="https://t.co/yrt97TJsuP">pic.twitter.com/yrt97TJsuP</a>
&mdash; Rebecca Parson for Congress, WA-06 (@RebeccaforWA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaforWA/status/1517543124012134401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In her campaign video, Parson said, &#8220;I and other organizers have occupied empty buildings, demanding housing for our homeless neighbors. I risked arrest because we can&#8217;t just wait for the corporate establishment to help.&#8221;
Parson also claimed in her video that she will emulate “Congresswoman Cori Bush,&#8221; a &#8220;Squad&#8221; member and progressive Democrat who slept outside in Washington, D.C., to advocate for housing. Parson claims she can identify with the need, as she’s “been homeless, too,&#8221; despite holding a master&#8217;s degree from Johns Hopkins.
The Washington socialist Democrat also ran for the House in 2020, receiving approximately 35,000 votes, according to her video. She claims she is the &#8220;first woman and first gay person&#8221; to run for her seat.
Among the issues she addresses in her video are &#8220;housing for all, Medicare for all, food for all, and no more poverty.&#8221;
In 2020, a past Twitter post also noted that Parson joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) won her congressional district in New York. The DSA also endorsed Parson&#8217;s 2020 bid.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I joined DSA after <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a>&#39;s win, and now to be endorsed by DSA&#8230;I couldn&#39;t be more honored 🌹 Thank you! <a href="https://t.co/90EpGBETSK">https://t.co/90EpGBETSK</a>
&mdash; Rebecca Parson for Congress, WA-06 (@RebeccaforWA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaforWA/status/1240078927613181952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/washington-state-democratic-socialist-candidate-30-minimum-wage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Parson received just 13.5% of the vote in 2020, a total of 35,631 votes.
Democratic Rep. Derek Klimer won the primary election with 47.3%, a total of 125,019 votes, and won the general election. He serves as Parson&#8217;s top opponent in the 2022 election as he is running for reelection.
In a statement, she told the outlet, &#8220;I&#8217;m calling for a federal minimum wage of $30, because that&#8217;s the floor across the country for one working adult to be able to support one child. From rural to urban to suburban areas in the Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest, West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii, the federal minimum wage isn&#8217;t enough to support a family, and neither is $15 an hour. The Fight for $15 campaign started 10 years ago and the demand is no longer commensurate with real-world conditions.&#8221;
Parson is not the first leftist to argue for a massive jump in the nation&#8217;s minimum wage. In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-progressives-say-15-minimum-wage-is-too-low-call-for-26-minimum-wage-instead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September</a>, Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labor under the Clinton administration, tweeted, “Today seems like a good time to remind you that if wages had kept pace with productivity gains over the last 50 years, the minimum wage would be $24 an hour.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today seems like a good time to remind you that if wages had kept pace with productivity gains over the last 50 years, the minimum wage would be $24 an hour.
$15 is the floor, not the ceiling, of what working people deserve.
&mdash; Robert Reich (@RBReich) <a href="https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1434934923610116096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tacoma

$30 An Hour Minimum Wage? This Democratic Candidate Says Yes

Cori Bush

Washington

Only in America.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a former bartender who now makes $174,000 as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, says capitalism is &#8220;not a redeemable system.&#8221;
&#8220;I believe that in a broad sense because when we toss out these big words, capitalism, socialism, they get sensationalized,&#8221; AOC said during an interview with <a class="class" href="https://news.yahoo.com/aoc-capitalism-not-redeemable-system-110000599.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Yahoo Finance&#8217;s</a> Andy Serwer.
&#8220;And people translate them into meaning things that perhaps they don&#8217;t mean. So to me, capitalism at its core, what we&#8217;re talking about when we talk about that, is the absolute pursuit of profit at all human, environmental, and social cost. That is what we&#8217;re really discussing.&#8221;
&#8220;And what we&#8217;re also discussing is the ability for a very small group of actual capitalists — and that is people who have so much money that their money makes money, and they don&#8217;t have to work. And they can control industry. They can control our energy sources. They can control our labor. They can control massive markets that they dictate and can capture governments. And they can essentially have power over the many. And to me that is not a redeemable system for us to be able to participate in for the prosperity and peace for the vast majority of people,&#8221; she said.
Serwer broke and said, &#8220;So people talk about stakeholder capitalism like Larry Fink at BlackRock where the weighting for different constituents besides shareholders is more equal. Is that something you&#8217;d be amenable to?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I think at the end of the day, it is about who has control over the very core assets of production and society. If it ultimately comes down to a billionaire or the Koch brothers or the Koch family having control over the vast majority or large plurality of our oil assets in the United States, if it&#8217;s a handful of very wealthy families having control over&#8211; you know, private families having control over means of production, that is essentially the capitalist system that we live in. It is a small group that is of privatized control over what we eat and how we fuel our society,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez said.
&#8220;Now, where we can transition to and there are certain ideas where we&#8217;re talking about — for example, [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren [D-MA] has discussed workers being elected to the governing boards of companies. And also, we&#8217;re here in the Bronx. I represent a community that has the largest concentration of worker cooperatives in &#8212; you know, one of the largest concentrations in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;Now, these are alternative ways of doing business. Free markets are not the same thing as capitalism. And you can have markets where businesses and ways of producing, trading, selling goods are really controlled and not just controlled but giving more power to workers. People get a fair shake. Union jobs, unionized workplaces, all of these are different steps and levels that we&#8217;re talking about in a more just economy,&#8221; she said.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent, and ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2015. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com.

Bernie Sanders Campaigns in Iowa Ahead of Caucus

AOC: Capitalism ‘Not A Redeemable System’

The Democratic Socialists of America’s national organization thanked Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) for her role in extending the federal government’s eviction moratorium.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-reinstates-ban-on-evicting-renters-threatens-landlords-with-jail-time-up-to-250k-fines">The Daily Wire</a> reported on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order barring landlords from evicting their tenants — a policy originally passed by the Trump administration under the guise of stopping the spread of COVID-19. According to the agency, a person violating the order “may be subject to a fine of no more than $100,000 or one year in jail, or both, if the violation does not result in a death, or a fine of no more than $250,000 or one year in jail, or both if the violation results in a death.”
Leadership in the Democratic Socialists of America — which <a href="https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/">seeks</a> to build “progressive movements for social change while establishing an openly democratic socialist presence in American communities and politics” — lauded Bush for the victory. 
The group’s <a href="https://www.dsausa.org/statements/no-time-for-games/">statement</a> reads:
<blockquote>The National Political Committee of DSA would like to congratulate Congresswoman Cori Bush on the pivotal role she played in ensuring that millions of people, covering 90% of those renting, can continue living in their homes. This expansion of the eviction moratorium, specifically targeting counties with higher COVID infection rates, is a necessary step for keeping our communities safe. We cannot effectively end the pandemic without ensuring that everyone has safe and stable housing. Despite her own traumatic experiences with being unhoused, Congresswoman Cori Bush slept outside on the steps of the Capitol building, using her position to move the Biden administration to do what they previously said they could not, all while $1 million in real estate money was funneled into the House Dems super PAC and Republicans continued their inaction.
There is no time for games: people’s lives are at stake. As an organization that believes housing is a human right, we remain committed to our demands to cancel rent and will continue working to build out tenant unions and other local organizing. We are proud to call the Congresswoman a comrade and fellow DSA member and applaud her leadership.</blockquote>
As some — including Campus Reform reporter and commentator Addison Smith — have <a href="https://twitter.com/_addisonsmith1/status/1423287597825073164">noticed</a>, the Democratic Socialists of America were incorrect in asserting that tenants own their landlords’ property. 
Nevertheless, Bush has also applied the phrase “their homes” to tenants rather than landlords. She <a href="https://bush.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-cori-bushs-statement-eviction-emergency">argued</a> in a Tuesday statement that “each day that passes without a federal moratorium is another day of evictions, uncertainty, and instability for millions of people who are at risk of being removed from their homes.”

Bid To Stop Evictions Crumbles In Setback For Biden Administration

Democratic Socialists Of America Thank ‘Comrade’ Cori Bush For Helping Renters Stay In ‘Their’ Homes

Socialists

The Democratic Socialists of America — of which Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) are members — expressed solidarity with the Cuban people against the American embargo.
“DSA stands with the Cuban people and their Revolution in this moment of unrest,” the organization tweeted. “End the blockade.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
DSA stands with the Cuban people and their Revolution in this moment of unrest. End the blockade. <a href="https://t.co/jzFVrthoMm">pic.twitter.com/jzFVrthoMm</a>
&mdash; DSA International Committee 🌹 (@DSA_Intl_Comm) <a href="https://twitter.com/DSA_Intl_Comm/status/1414400133614145540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Social media users immediately pointed out that Cubans are protesting against the island’s communist dictatorship — not the American embargo.
“Drop the Democratic and go with SA,” commented Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Drop the Democratic and go with SA.
&mdash; Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ibishblog/status/1414726564340719621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“End the Blockade? They aren’t protesting the blockade?” noted another user.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
End the Blockade? They aren’t protesting the blockade?
&mdash; Terry Watkins Jr. 💛💜⚖️ (@TerryWatkinsJr1) <a href="https://twitter.com/TerryWatkinsJr1/status/1414449371383582720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Some of the protestors are waving US flags,” said a third. “They aren’t protesting US sanctions. Cuba trades with other countries in LatAm and Europe. Why do they need to trade with the US? The US allows people to send stuff and money to Cuba. Many on the island survive off those remittances.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
lol some of the protestors are waving US flags. They aren’t protesting US sanctions. Cuba trades with other countries in LatAm and Europe. Why do they need to trade with the US? The US allows people to send stuff and money to Cuba. Many on the island survive off those remittances
&mdash; Oscar Americo Correia (@americo_oscar) <a href="https://twitter.com/americo_oscar/status/1414615688455630849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Four members of the United States House of Representatives — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) — are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. As of this article’s publication, none of the four lawmakers have addressed the Cuban uprisings on social media — although they have discussed topics as diverse as critical race theory, universal healthcare, climate change, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Other left-leaning politicians — including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-far-left-silent-as-cubans-cry-out-for-freedom-from-communist-dictatorship">refrained</a> from explicitly noting the role of socialism or communism in the protests.
On Monday night, Sanders also called for an end to the embargo: “All people have the right to protest and to live in a democratic society. I call on the Cuban government to respect opposition rights and refrain from violence. It’s also long past time to end the unilateral U.S. embargo on Cuba, which has only hurt, not helped, the Cuban people.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
All people have the right to protest and to live in a democratic society. I call on the Cuban government to respect opposition rights and refrain from violence. It’s also long past time to end the unilateral U.S. embargo on Cuba, which has only hurt, not helped, the Cuban people.
&mdash; Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1414785066455158786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Likewise, President Biden’s Monday <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/12/statement-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-on-protests-in-cuba/">statement</a> — which condemned “the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime” — did not plainly reference the government’s Marxist philosophy.

AOC and Tlaib

AOC-Aligned Democratic Socialists of America Blames Cuban Protests On American Embargo

Cuba

Menu