"I never want to hear the
term 'free stuff' ever again."
Monday, November 25, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
won applause and cheers from her constituents on Sunday at a town hall in the
Bronx where she expressed deep frustration with the routine dismissal of
investment in public goods as "free stuff."
"I never want to hear the
term 'free stuff' ever again," Ocasio-Cortez told the audience.
The progressive first-term
Democrat explained her vision for newly proposed legislation—the Green
New Deal for Public Housing—for a $180 billion investment in upgraded
public housing that would prioritize communities on the frontlines of the
climate crisis, retrofit units with energy-efficient insulation and appliances,
and create 250,000 jobs. The bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Sens.
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Like public roads, schools,
and libraries, Ocasio-Cortez said, public housing should be recognized as a
public good funded by taxpayers, particularly the wealthiest people and
corporations.
"It is possible and it's
not that we deserve it because it's a handout," the congresswoman said.
"People like to say, 'Oh, this is about free stuff.' This is not about
free stuff... These are public goods."
Ocasio-Cortez won applause
from members of the audience for her plan, including one who shouted of
housing, "It is a human right!"
Watch:
On social media Monday
Ocasio-Cortez said public services for the use of all people "are worth
investing in, protecting, and advancing for all society and future
generations."
At Sunday's town hall,
Ocasio-Cortez denounced the term "free stuff" to dismiss progressive
proposals for benefits already available to people in many developed countries
as a "neoliberal" talking point.
"I'm already hearing some
of these neoliberal folks who are trying to flip the script on us and
say...'Oh, I don't want to pay for a millionaire's kids to go to
college,'" she said.
The argument makes no more
sense, Ocasio-Cortez suggested, than saying publicly-funded infrastructure
unfairly benefits the rich.
"I believe all people
should be able to go to a public library," she said. "Everyone can
drive on our roads, everybody should be able to send our kids to public school,
and every person who needs it should have access to public housing that looks
like this."
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