Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed frustration with Congressional Democrats after they pulled a bill to pay raises, calling the effort ‘superficial.’
“Yep. Voting against cost of living increases for members of Congress may sound nice, but doing so only increases pressure on them to keep dark money loopholes open. This makes campaign finance reform *harder.* ALL workers deserve cost of living increases, incl min wage workers,” the New York Democrat said in a tweet storm Tuesday in response to congressional Democrats tabling a pay raise for members.
Yep. Voting against cost of living increases for members of Congress may sound nice, but doing so only increases pressure on them to keep dark money loopholes open.
This makes campaign finance reform *harder.*
ALL workers deserve cost of living increases, incl min wage workers. https://t.co/fCdgHKx4G1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 11, 2019
It’s not a fun or politically popular position to take. But consistency is important.
ALL workers should get cost of living increases. That’s why minimum wage should be pegged to inflation, too.
Voting against cost of living increases is 1 reason why dark $ loopholes stay open.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 11, 2019
The freshman congresswoman defended the pay raise to reporters Monday saying that the pay increase was not really a pay raise.
“Members of Congress, retail workers, everybody should get a cost of living increases to accommodate for the changes in our economy,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
When asked if the reason members of Congress vote against the raise was “optics,” she responded, “Right, and that’s my issue is that it’s superficial. You know, you can vote against pay increases all you want. In my opinion voting against a pay … it’s not even like a raise, it’s a cost of living adjustment.”
Congressional Democratic leadership canceled a vote on pay increases after backlash from both Republicans and Democrats. Lawmakers have not given themselves a raise to their $174,000 annual salary since 2009.
Ocasio-Cortez has come under scrutiny for her decision to live in a luxury apartment in D.C. after criticizing luxury apartment developers.
She responded in June saying that luxury living should be “basic rights” for everyone.
