This article was first published at American Thinker.
Since her arrival on the political scene almost a decade ago, democratic socialist firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not suffered from a lack of ambition.
In her first political campaign, she challenged Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), a powerful, 10-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 Democratic primary election for New York’s 14th Congressional District. To the surprise of many, AOC pulled off a monumental upset.
Shortly after her stunning primary victory, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced perhaps the most ambitious, albeit absurd, bill in congressional history: The Green New Deal.
Although the Green New Deal has generally been stymied in Congress, AOC’s ambitions have not been deterred.
“My ambition is to change this country,” articulated AOC at a recent appearance at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
“They assume that my ambition is positional,” AOC said, without defining exactly who “they” refers to. “They assume that my ambition is a title or seat.” “My ambition is way bigger than that.”
AOC’s ambition is to fully deliver President Barack Obama’s promise back in 2008 to “fundamentally transform” America.
“Presidents come and go,” AOC emphasized. “But single-payer health care is forever,” she exclaimed.
Make no mistake, single-payer health care is just the appetizer of AOC’s ambitious agenda.
As detailed in the Green New Deal, which she reintroduced before Congress in 2023, AOC demands the full elimination of fossil fuels; a forced and rapid transition to so-called green energy; a universal basic income, even for those unwilling to work; free college; universal child care; a federal job guarantee; and a massive expansion of existing social welfare programs.
In early 2019, when climate alarmism was at its apex, AOC warned that if we don’t pass the Green New Deal, “the world will end in 12 years.”
Meanwhile, that same year, AOC’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, told reporters, “The interesting thing about the Green New Deal, is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all.”
“Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing,” Chakrabarti admitted.
Fortunately, the Green New Deal’s most expensive and tyrannical provisions have not been codified into federal law. At least not yet.
However, one would be sorely mistaken to believe that the Green New Deal does not remain AOC’s legislative North Star.
Over the past few years, AOC has spent less time advocating for the Green New Deal because she has been so busy blasting and berating billionaires.
Following in the footsteps of her mentor, anti-American, socialist stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), AOC is preying upon peoples’ worst impulses by instigating and perpetuating class warfare.
AOC needs hardworking Americans to believe that billionaires, multi-millionaires, millionaires, and even those with a six-figure salary in some cases, are ruthless robber barons.
Moreover, she needs everyday Americans to believe that businesses and entrepreneurs don’t improve society by offering goods and services in a competitive market that relies upon consumer demand for said goods and services.
According to AOC, “You can’t earn a billion dollars… you have to create a myth of earning it.”
Sadly, AOC’s socialist sentiments are resonating with a large portion of Americans, especially young Americans who have been woefully miseducated in government-run schools.
AOC’s democratic socialist agenda is very popular with young Americans, even self-identified Republicans. Her anti-freedom, pro-collectivist rhetoric is also very popular among most Democrats.
Although many may scoff at the idea of a democratic socialist irrevocably changing the United States from the land of opportunity to the land of “free stuff,” it would be wise not to underestimate AOC or her political ambitions.
Chris Talgo (CTalgo@heartland.org) is the editorial director and a research fellow at The Heartland Institute, as well as a researcher and contributing editor at StoppingSocialism.com.
