AOC asks if it’s ‘too socialist’ to want more stimulus relief for Americans

The New York congresswoman called for stimulus checks, mortgage relief, rent forgiveness and small business support among other items

As the country struggles with a second coronavirus wave, families are grappling with the likelihood that restrictions on public life and business closures will go into effect.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington remain at a standstill on additional stimulus spending to prop up workers and the economy, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of New York isn’t happy about it.

The Democratic representative took to Twitter to plead that Americans are in need of another stimulus check, rent forgiveness and mortgage relief, among other requests, to address the ongoing health crisis and offset an unstable economic environment.

AOC
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends the 2019 Athena Film Festival (Photo by Lars Niki/Getty Images for The Athena Film Festival)

“Can we please get people stimulus checks and mortgage relief and rent forgiveness and small business support and free testing and hazard pay and healthcare for the uninsured (& underinsured) in the middle of a pandemic or is that too socialist too?” AOC wrote.

Republicans, and some Democrats, have slammed members of the left-wing of the Democratic Party for promoting ideas they say are cloaked in socialism. “Medicare for All,” a universal health care proposal championed by Bernie Sanders, the independent senator of Vermont who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the last two election cycles, has been criticized for its potential to eliminate the private care industry.

READ MORE: McConnell: New virus relief bill will now be top priority

President Donald Trump on the campaign trail accused now President-elect Joe Biden of allowing party members to incorporate socialism into policy during an October rally in Iowa.

“Biden has made a corrupt bargain in exchange for his party’s nomination,” Trump said. “He has handed control to the socialists and Marxists and left-wing extremists like his vice-presidential candidate.”

On Saturday, Trump called for Congress to put together a coronavirus relief bill saying in a tweet that it “Needs Democrats support. Make it big and focused.”

Many citizens received coronavirus relief checks of up to $1,200 earlier this year after Trump signed the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion emergency spending package intended to blunt the economic downturn spurred by stay-at-home and lockdown orders at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The stimulus measure included aid for non-essential businesses that were ordered to temporarily limit or shut down operations. This threw the country into a recession and the unemployment rate from record low levels into the double digits after tens of millions of workers were laid off.

READ MORE: 709,000 seek US jobless aid as pandemic escalates

Lawmakers have spent months negotiating another stimulus bill, though negotiators were not able to overcome disagreements before the November election. Both sides remain at a deadlock on what to include in another spending package as coronavirus case counts climb to record levels.

In addition, theGrio reported in April that 95% of Black business owners were denied aid for small businesses.

According to Newsweek, Congress has until Dec. 11 to approve a spending bill for the next federal budget, otherwise their will be another government shutdown.

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