Published on Feb 8, 2019
AOC’s Green New Deal Proposal Is Way Too Modest. I’ve Got A Better Plan.
By Matt Walsh
Lawmaker and visionary Alexandria Ocasio Cortez unveiled her Green New Deal today. It aims to reshape the American economy and usher in an era of peace and prosperity. The goal is admirable. The plan to achieve it, sad to say, is far too modest. It seems that Cortez was so focused on practicality that she lost sight of the dream.
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Cortez demands, among other things, a railroad across the ocean, a living wage for all Americans (including those unwilling to work), paid vacation for everyone, healthcare for everyone, the replacement or upgrade of every building in the country, and the banishment of all flatulent cows. These are certainly worthwhile and eminently feasible ideas, but they don’t go far enough.
If I may, I would like to suggest a few additions. This is my New Green New Deal or Green New New Deal:
1. A free ice cream machine for every American (vegan ice cream, of course, because Cortez is killing all the milk cows).
2. Every sidewalk in America converted to a moving walkway.
3. Every staircase converted to an escalator.
4. Every escalator converted to an elevator.
5. A big bridge connecting North Carolina to Morocco, with, like, refreshment stands and stuff along the way. Also, like, there should be probably little cabins or something for people to sleep in.
6. A free blimp for every man, woman, and child.
7. A dog for every person.
8. A foot bath for every dog.
9. Essential oils for every foot bath.
10. No diseases (will cutdown on healthcare costs).
11. Universal joy.
12. A constantly refreshed selection of cereal in every pantry.
13. A lion that can tell me stories and grant wishes.
14. Immortality.
15. A computer type thing like from The Matrix where you plug in and learn how to do karate in five minutes.
16. Bananas that never rot.
17. No more loneliness.
18. Free consensual pony rides.
19. A kind of like robot thing that, like, lifts you out of the bed in the morning and puts on your pants for you and brushes your teeth.
20. All remaining student debt converted into tacos (one dollar of debt equals one taco).
According to my estimates, this plan is extremely affordable so long as we tax everyone at a moderate rate of 6,000 percent. We’d also need to consult with a team of highly-trained genies. I assume Cortez has already assembled that team if she’s planning to provide a livable income and paid vacations to every single person in the country.
And here’s the good news: most Americans will die anyway after Cortez tears down all of our homes and kills our livestock. This will thin the herd (pardon the pun) and make it much easier to provide for the small band of survivors who remain.
BANKRUPT CALIFORNIA UTILITY SHEDDING MORE THAN $40 BILLION WORTH OF GREEN ENERGY CONTRACTS
By Tim Pearce
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) may shed more than $40 billion worth of power purchase agreements after the California utility was driven into bankruptcy by liabilities for sparking deadly wildfires, The Wall Street Journal reports.
PG&E wants the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco to rule whether the company must honor $42 billion worth of contracts with about 350 different energy suppliers, mostly solar and wind plants.
The courtâs decision could have a major impact on Californiaâs renewable energy industry and power makeup. Many green energy suppliers only do business with PG&E, Californiaâs largest utility. Shedding those contracts would likely drive those companies under and cripple Californiaâs ability to meet energy goals set by the state government.
âA lot of companies are in that position, where PG&E is responsible for 100% of their revenues,â Credit Benchmark lead researcher David Carruthers told WSJ.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in September that mandated the state run on 100 percent green energy by 2045. It also bumped a previous target of 50 percent by 2030 to 60 percent. (RELATED: What Affect Will 100 Percent Green Energy Have On Californiaâs Neighbors?)
The goals set by government officials were optimistic before PG&E filed for bankruptcy Tuesday. Californiaâs grid operator has paid surrounding states on several occasions to take excess power off Californiaâs grid caused by overproducing solar and wind farms.
The companyâs plans to shed its losses to renewable energy suppliers may fail if the court rules that federal regulators, not the bankruptcy court, have the authority to deem whether such contracts still apply, according to WSJ.
PG&E filed bankruptcy as the âonly viable optionâ to escape potentially $30 billion worth of liabilities for sparking major wildfires in 2017 and 2018. State investigators found the utility sparked a dozen major fires in 2017 through poorly maintained powerlines and equipment.
Wildfires in 2018 are still under investigation, including the Camp Fire that killed 86 people and all but destroyed the town of Paradise. The fire is the deadliest in state history.
ILHAN OMAR CALLS FOR TAX ON THE WEALTHY OF âUP TO 90 PER CENTâ
Omar said taxes had been as high as 90 per cent before and could be once more
By George Martin
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Omar said taxes had been as high as 90 per cent before and could be once moreÂ
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It comes after freshman congresswoman Cortez called for a 70 per cent taxÂ
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The tax reforms being proposed will fund several radical new policy initiativesÂ
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has called for an income tax of up to 90 per cent on America’s multimillionaires.
Speaking to ’60 Minutes’, Omar argued that tax rates of previous years had risen to the 90 per cent mark for top earners as she doubled down on fellow freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s calls for a 70 per cent rate.
‘There are a few things that we can do,’ Rep. Omar said.
‘One of them, is that we can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities. So, 70 percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent. So, that’s a place we can start.’Â
The one percent must pay their fair share,’ she continued.
Omar claimed her radical tax plan would act as a catalyst for programs like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal being proposed by Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez called for zero carbon emissions within 12 years, in an interview with ’60 Minutes’ on her first day as a member of Congress.
Omar also said she wants to slash the national defense budget in order to pay for the sweeping policy changes.
‘I’m also one that really looks at the defense budget that we have, Rep. Omar said.
‘That has increased nearly 50% since 9/11. And so, most of the money that we have in there is much more than with we spend on education, on healthcare.’Â
Omar proposed the radical tax reforms as a way of funding other policy initiatives such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal
In 1960, before the Kennedy tax cuts, the top rate was 91 per cent for those earning more than $200,000. According to the Tax Policy Center, the top 1 per cent earned 9 per cent of all income at that time, compared to 20 per cent in 2008.
‘You look at our tax rates back in the ’60s and when you have a progressive tax rate system your tax rate, you know, let’s say, from zero to $75,000 may be ten percent or 15 per cent,’ she said, in a clip that aired on CBS ‘This Morning.’Â
‘But once you get to, like, the tippy tops â on your 10 millionth dollar â sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent,’ she said.
‘That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder you should be contributing more.’Â
I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country. Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.
‘Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like Social Security. That is radical,’ she said.
President Trump took a swipe at Cortez immediately after she proposed the tax hike, saying a 70 per cent rate would bring the turmoil of Venezuela to the US.
“Weâre looking at Venezuela, itâs a very sad situation,” Trump told reporters.
“That was the richest state in all of that area, that’s a big beautiful area, and by far the richest – and now it’s one of the poorest places in the world. That’s what socialism gets you, when they want to raise your taxes to 70 percent.”Â
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Proposes 70% Taxation to Pay for âGreen New Dealâ
By Joel B. Pollak
Newly-installed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is calling for 70% taxation on the wealthy as a way to pay for her âGreen New Deal,â which proposes to use government to create new jobs by investing in renewable energy.
In an interview set to air Sunday on CBS Newsâ 60 Minutes, Ocasio-Cortez â who has begun referring to herself by the nickname, âAOCâ â told Anderson Cooper that the âGreen New Dealâ would ârequire a lot of rapid change that we donât even conceive as possible right now,â including raising taxes to a marginal rate of 70%, as in the 1960s.
AOC referred to the 70% rate on people at the âtippy-topsâ as the rich merely paying their âfair shareâ of the tax burden.
She compared the âGreen New Dealâ to other âradicalâ policies like President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launching Social Security in the New Deal.
As Breitbart News has noted, the âGreen New Dealâ is in fact an old idea, first championed by President Barack Obamaâs âgreen jobsâ czar, Van Jones. It seeks to implement classic socialist policies of state-run enterprises, using the pretext of an environmental crisis.
To that end, proponents often exaggerate the threat of climate change and other environmental challenges. AOC herself has warned of âcataclysmic climate disasterâ unless the United States moves to 100% renewable energy sources in the next ten years.
In comparison, California â the most ambitious state in âgreenâ energy policy â has merely set itself a goal of 100% renewables by 2045, more than 25 years away.
Obamaâs âgreen jobsâ program was a notable failure, with many investments failing to pay off â most notoriously the solar panel company Solyndra, which failed after Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and others held it up as a model.
THE ‘GREEN NEW DEAL’: A RADICAL MANDATE FOR GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF AMERICAN SOCIETY
By Tom Elliott
‘Ocasio-Cortez sees this plan is being a vehicle through which social equality might finally realized, as it will use reparations to right historical injustices’
Incoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brings with her a massive online following, influence she says sheâll deploy only in support of candidates and politicians who support her plan for a âGreen New Deal.â
âThe Green New Dealâ is something Ocasio-Cortez invokes frequently in media appearances and rallies.
So whatâs actually in it?
Her office recently released the text of a proposed House rules change outlining the plan.
The proposed rule change for the upcoming 116th Congress would require the creation of a âSelect Committee for a Green Dealâ that would be responsible for creating the plan by January 1, 2020, with corresponding draft legislation soon after. The text of the rule change lays out the committeeâs jurisdiction and required areas of action.
Its scope and mandate for legislative authority amounts to a radical grant of power to Washington over Americansâ lives, homes, businesses, travel, banking, and more.
Early on, under âJurisdiction,â the document makes clear its grandiose philosophical vision: âThe select committee shall have authority to develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan for the transition of the United States economy to become greenhouse gas emissions neutral and to significantly draw down greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans and to promote economic and environmental justice and equality.â
In addition to achieving its goal of âmeeting 100% of national power demand through renewable sources,â the document also repeatedly states the Green New Deal will advance non-environmental projects, such as, âsocial, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice.âÂ
Ocasio-Cortezâs plan further claims it will (virtually) eliminate poverty: âThe Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.â
More specifically, Ocasio-Cortezâs plan calls for, within 10 years, a series of lofty overhauls of American life [emphasis added]:
- The installation of a ânational, energy-efficient, âsmart grid.â
- âUpgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safetyâ
- âEliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industriesâ as well as from Americaâs transportation and infrastructure network
- Funding âmassive investmentâ in reducing existing greenhouse gasses
Between its calls for âupgradingâ homes and overhauling travel, public infrastructure, and even the way Americans consume electricity, the plan leaves virtually no facet of everyday life untouched. Think of how often you donât use electricity to imagine how much of your average day the plan wouldnât impact.
The proposed committee would also have seemingly total oversight of American industry, with a mandate for pushing union membership. Under âScope of the Plan,â a section on labor states the committeeâs final plan shall: âRequire strong enforcement of labor, workplace safety, and wage standards that recognize the rights of workers to organize and unionize free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment, and creation of meaningful, quality, career employment.â
Later in the document, Ocasio Cortezâs plan imagines creating a national jobs force to help people participate in this âtransition.â The Green New Deal, it says, shall âprovide all members of our society, across all regions and all communities, the opportunity, training and education to be a full and equal participant in the transition, including through a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one.â
The plan also imagines creating governmental support for âtransitioningâ minority communities. The deal shall: âensure a âjust transitionâ for all workers, low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution and other environmental harm including by ensuring that local implementation of the transition is led from the community level.â
More, Ocasio-Cortez sees this plan is being a vehicle through which social equality might finally realized through the use of reparations to right historical injustices. The final Green New Deal will âmitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth (including, without limitation, ensuring that federal and other investment will be equitably distributed to historically impoverished, low income, deindustrialized or other marginalized communities in such a way that builds wealth and ownership at the community level).â
And if that werenât enough to ensure that Democratic Socialism could be fully realized in America, the plan includes failsafe in the form of universal income and Medicare for All: The plan, it says, shall âinclude additional measures such as basic income programs, universal health care programs and any others as the select committee may deem appropriate to promote economic security, labor market flexibility and entrepreneurism.â
Ocasio-Cortez clarifies that this plan would not only need to be financed by taxpayers, but also the Federal Reserve and other institutions the government can create. The end of the document contains a Q&A, one of which deals with the planâs funding: âThe Federal Reserve can extend credit to power these projects and investments, new public banks can be created (as in WWII) to extend credit and a combination of various taxation tools (including taxes on carbon and other emissions and progressive wealth taxes) can be employed.â
Ocasio-Cortez may not be in Congress yet, but she already has a plan to remake the way Americans drive, commute, live, work, and even use the financial system. Let there be little doubt how she aspires to wield power in Washington.
Editorâs Note: This post has been updated with grammatical fixes.Â
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