OPINION

Forget Taxing Them, AOC Is ‘the Rich’

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is very gross, both as a legislator and as a person. She’s also a raging hypocrite. Her publicity stunt of attending the Met Gala in 2021 was a little bit more than just an opportunity to walk around with a socialist message written across her bulbous ass, it was a chance to Hoover-up publicity while rubbing elbows with potential donors and live like a rich leftist. It was also against House ethics rules, not by accident but by design.

While she rails against “the rich,” AOC is rich. She makes $174,000 per year, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Members of the House make that salary while not having to pay for much of their daily expenses – they get reimbursed for every bit of travel they do, even if it’s only tangentially related to their jobs, for example. And there are always events to provide them with meals and loopholes you could drive a truck through to get all sorts of perks.

The “ethics” rules are only as effective as the Member is ethical. AOC is not ethical.

The House Ethics Committee found what we’ve suspected since the beginning: AOC is the corruption she rails against. She hasn’t been in Congress that long, yet she’s already managed to weasel her way into hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and publicity, the latter turned into a fundraising goldmine.

When the questions first arose about her attending the gala, who paid the costs associated with it and how it all came about, she claims to be ignorant of the potential violations. Now we know, thanks to the ethics investigation, that she and her staff were working like dogs behind the scenes not only to get the invitation, but to “work” the system in a way to hide it all from anyone interested in ethics rules.

Progressives, who are unbothered by 100,000,000 deaths at the hands of their policies in the last century, would never let things like rules or laws stand in the way of their objectives.

The New York Post reports, “AOC really wanted to attend the September 2021 Met ball – a charity event for its Costume Institute, yes, but also the world’s number-one social event for the rich, famous, and beautiful. But $35,000 tickets for two people (she wanted her boyfriend to go, too) would cost nearly six figures (if the exclusive ball even approves you). Members of Congress can attend non-profit events, but the Met normally doesn’t invite all of Congress, and this isn’t AOC’s district.”

That wasn’t about to stop her. The Post continued, “So AOC came by the biggest part of her Met Gala grift the old-fashioned way: trading off of the elected position with which Bronx and Queens voters entrusted her. AOC snagged two free tickets (after much prodding by her campaign staffer) by cozying up to Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who runs this show for the Met. AOC’s written invitation specifically informed her that she and her boyfriend were ‘guests of Vogue.’ Little problem: members of Congress can’t take near-seven-figure gifts from companies that employ lobbyists. Vogue is part of a sprawling media firm, including the firm that owns a big piece of Spectrum, our highly regulated internet provider.”

No matter how much weaseling staff is ordered to do, the truth is always just sitting there.

In addition to the massive price of the tickets being unethically “gifted” to AOC and her zeta-male boyfriend, the socialist Congresswoman stiffed everyone involved in getting her ready for the party. Thousands upon thousands of dollars in goods and services AOC availed herself and boyfriend of that were only paid for months or more than a year later, once it was clear the ethics probe would find them. 

To add insult to injury, AOC blamed her staff for the attempted thievery and had them bargain to get her deep discounts. “AOC got herself a haute couture dress – consultation, design, fittings, materials, and day-of styling, likely well above a ten-thousand-dollar value – from a Brooklyn designer for a billed cost of a $1,300 ‘rental.’ Good deal! But did she pay the $1,300? No. Her campaign staff called the designer to talk the price down to $300. That’s how much AOC values weeks worth of labor.” And don’t even ask about the “shoe rental.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is rich, in the top 10 percent in the country with her congressional salary, the very same people she had written across her rear end that she wanted to tax in the name of “social and economic justice.” The ultimate “social and economic justice” would be to just pay your bills to the very same people you claim to champion, not at a discounted “I’m not going to give you what you earned, but just enough to shut you up and get the Ethics Committee off my back” price. Then again, what would a socialist be without raging hypocrisy?

 

Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses, and host of the weekly “Week in F*cking Review” podcast where the news is spoken about the way it deserves to be. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.