Democratic Fresh Face Strikes Boldly

Posted on March 01, 2019

AP Photo/Kevin Hagen

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC, has had a tremendous effect on American politics since her election in midterm elections in 2018. The self-identified Democratic-Socialist has been very adamant about putting in progressive legislation. One of the newest bills that she proposed is the highly controversial Green New Deal , with many provisions ranging from climate change to free college.

The bill is separated into four pillars: Economic Bills Of Rights, A Green Transition, Real Financial Reform, A Functioning Democracy.

A hefty goal of the bill is to stop using fossil fuels completely in 10 years. This kind of goal is not only unrealistic but could have drastic consequences. Right now, 81% of our energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels. The idea that we could do away with fossil fuels completely in 10 years is highly unrealistic. Also, fossil fuels are a big part of the food production industry and this could highly affect food production. Perhaps a more realistic goal was to go fossil fuel free in about 30-40 years.

While the main provision of the deal was to try and go green, there were a lot of elements stuffed up in the bill that were about a bunch of issues that we are looking to address. It called for mass nationalization of the financial sector, including debt forgiveness for homeowners and students. Free education from preschool to college was also part of the provision, a hearty but yet again, unrealistic goal for America at this moment in time.

One of the most radical provisions of the deal was the proposal to cut military spending by 50% and close all U.S. military bases around the world.

Some well-needed policies regarding Voter Rights and campaigning laws were proposed in the bill. Democrats are seeking big changes to campaigning laws and making the funding for campaigns more transparent to the public. Also working to prohibit the FBI from working with local police to suppress any opposition groups. And a very much needed end to the war on immigrants.

While the deal has some good parts in it that could have been negotiated even with a polarized Congress, it was stuffed with other extreme provisions that could potentially squander the proposal of a more moderate bill. The bill has come under scrutiny by both Democrats and Republicans and is very unlikely to ever become law.

Let’s see what else the new face of the Democratic Party comes up with.