OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS UPPER MIDDLE CLASS ‘DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE’ IN AMERICA

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grew up in rich/upper-middle class Westchester County (NY) and graduated 4th in her Boston University class with majors in Economics and International Relations.

graduated 4th in her Boston University class with majors in Economics and International Relations .

That "International Relations" thingy is a riot to see, based on what she actually says in "Real World" politics.

As If !!!!!!!!!!!!!

She can't even get "National Relations" correct.  

graduated 4th in her Boston University class with majors in Economics and International Relations.

How is that even possible?

She's an idiot.

Read, Recite, Regurgitate, the American College experience.

graduated 4th in her Boston University class with majors in Economics and International Relations.

How is that even possible? She's an idiot.

Pains me to say it but when was the last time you visited Berkeley or practically any other major university since they all started really pushing degrees in "liberal arts"?    I should say "modern liberal arts".

Every time this moron opens her mouth she inserts her foot.  I hope she keeps doing interviews.  Every time a little more of her batshit crazy ideologies and ignorance slip out.  The face of the new Democratic party.

The problem is, people are buying into her ideology. Some one has to pay for all this stuff. Community college is already "free", at least here in Ga.... You go online and fill out the fafsa. You get the grant that will take care of tuition and if you qualify, you get PELL, which takes care of everything else....It's not 100% because you might have school fees, but damn.... $150 in school fees sure in the hell beats paying $1600 for 2 classes. I have been at it for 8 years and I have had to fill out the fafsa form every 8 years! Go get your core classes done, get a good GPA and transfer.... It's not friggen hard, everyone thinks that Universities should be free. If you don't have the grades, you don't get in.... Sorry....

Yes some will always follow lunatics.  Look at how many times Maxine has been elected.  I still have faith that most are sensible enough to pay attention to history as far as Socialism is concerned and have the sense to know nothing is free.

EXAMPLE:  in the MI midterm primary BOTH socialist icons Bernie Sanders and Maria Cortez wholeheartedly endorsed El-Sayed a "democratic socialist" and Bernie even stumped for him.  He came in last place in a state that has voted democratic for the past 30 years or more (except in 2016 the state voted Trump)  I believe this progression of purple to red will continue as long as Democrats embrace socialism.

Don't buy into this Socialism, open boarders and abolish ICE lunacy.  Most don't agree with it, the Dems just haven't seemed to figure out it's killing them yet.  With the possible exception of Comey

foxnews

you have to qualify for those grants based on parents income if you are under 22yrs old, after 22 you are  a non traditional student and income is based off what you earn and not your parents, that's where all the good grant money is.   In your scenario, If you are 18-22 and your parents make more than like 50K a year you can get Loans through FAFSA but no grants.. BTW, PELL is a grant, your statement made it seem like it was a separate entity.

PELL is federal if I'm not mistaken.... in Ga we have the HOPE grant and scholarship. The grant is for community college, I believe and the scholarship is for students who make at least a 3.5 GPA. I'm banking on my oldest daughter to get the scholarship since she has a 3.8 GPA and can go to any public university in Ga. I went back to school 8 years ago and got the HOPE grant, and a couple times the PELL. We are not indigent, but I was able to get the HOPE all 8 years, at least up to 64 credit hours, and the PELL a few times. I stay home and hubs makes about $93K a year

I am also not 22 anymore LOL

I have one kid in college now and one who graduated in 2016.  I'm familiar with the finances.

you have to qualify for those grants based on parents income if you are under 22yrs old,

Actually not necessarily.  That's based on tax filing status and residency.

after 22 you are  a non traditional student and income is based off what you earn and not your parents, that's where all the good grant money is.  

If you are still a dependent on their tax return, yes.

In your scenario, If you are 18-22 and your parents make more than like 50K a year you can get Loans through FAFSA but no grants.. BTW, PELL is a grant, your statement made it seem like it was a separate entity.

Not all assistance comes in the form of grants.  I make a shitload more than $50k, and I got an AOTC (tax credit) for 2017.  The maximum credit would have covered the expenses at the local Dallas County Community College.  

So community college in the US is already free in almost every major city in America.  You just have to know how to file the paperwork.

Every time this moron opens her mouth she inserts her foot.  I hope she keeps doing interviews.  Every time a little more of her batshit crazy ideologies and ignorance slip out. 

She's 28-ish and from what I can tell, the only real job she's had was as a bartender. I don't count her time as Ted Kennedy's intern while in college (she's lucky he was an old man by then!!) or her community organizer time as real jobs.

I love this girl and want her to keep yapping. She's the shining star of the emerging radical, Socialist Dem Party and moderate Dems want her to shut up.

or her community organizer time as real jobs.

Hush yo'mouth......community organizer qualified the previous president for the office!  LOL.

Ya got me with that one!   

Hush yo'mouth......community organizer qualified the previous president for the office!  LOL.

And, what qualifies the current POTUS for the job? Failed businessman, grifter, reality TV star, which one of these is THE qualification?

I made a mistake and flagged your comment "Off-Topic". Please appeal it so it can be restored. I'm truly sorry. 

Oops, I'm sure the mod will see your comment and, take it into account, if they don't, I'll appeal, thanks for the heads up.

We're talking about Community Organizers and Ms. Ocasio-whatever.  Do try to keep up.

We're talking about Community Organizers and Ms. Ocasio-whatever.  Do try to keep up.

Then why did you mention Obama? He was more than a community organizer.

Law career
Community organizer and Harvard Law School
Two years after graduating from Columbia, Obama was back in Chicago when he was hired as director of the Developing Communities Project, a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.[45][92] He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[93] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[94] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.[95][96]

Obama entered Harvard Law School in the fall of 1988, living in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts.[98] He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[99] president of the journal in his second year,[93][100] and research assistant to the constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe while at Harvard for two years.[101] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[102] After graduating with a JD degree magna cum laude[103] from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.[99] Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention[93][100] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations,[104] which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.[104]
Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney
In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book.[104][105] He then taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, first as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004.[106]
From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.[107]
He joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. In 1994, he was listed as one of the lawyers in Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank, 94 C 4094 (N.D. Ill.).[108] This class action lawsuit was filed in 1994 with Selma Buycks-Roberson as lead plaintiff and alleged that Citibank Federal Savings Bank had engaged in practices forbidden under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act.[109] The case was settled out of court.[110] Final Judgment was issued on May 13, 1998, with Citibank Federal Savings Bank agreeing to pay attorney fees.[111] His law license became inactive in 2007.[112][113]
From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago—which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project—and of the Joyce Foundation.[45] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.[45]
Legislative career

Illinois State Senator (1997–2004)
Main article: Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama

State Senator Obama and others celebrate the naming of a street in Chicago after ShoreBank co-founder Milton Davis in 1998
Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding Democratic State Senator Alice Palmer from Illinois's 13th District, which, at that time, spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park–Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.[114] Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and health care laws.[115] He sponsored a law that increased tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.[116] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.[117]
He was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was re-elected again in 2002.[118] In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary race for Illinois's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.[119]
In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority.[120] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.[116][121] During his 2004 general election campaign for the U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.[122] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.[123]
2004 U.S. Senate campaign
Main article: United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004

County results of the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Obama won the counties in blue.
In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race. He created a campaign committee, began raising funds, and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002. Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.[124]
Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq.[125] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[126] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[127] and spoke out against the war.[128] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.[129]
Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates.[130] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.[131] In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention,[132] seen by 9.1 million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.[133]
Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004.[134] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan.[135] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70% of the vote.[136]

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005,[137] becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.[138] CQ Weekly characterized him as a "loyal Democrat" based on analysis of all Senate votes from 2005 to 2007. Obama announced on November 13, 2008, that he would resign his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.[139]
Legislation
See also: List of bills sponsored by Barack Obama in the United States Senate
Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.[140] He introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction concept to conventional weapons;[141] and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending.[142] On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.[143]
Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee.[144] Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations.[145]

In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[147] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.[148] Obama also introduced two unsuccessful bills: the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections,[149] and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007.[150]
Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.[151] This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.[152] He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.[153] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.[154]
Committees

Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006.[155] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[156] He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs.[157] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government.[158]

en.wikipedia

Seems to me that he was way more qualified to be president than Trump will ever be even after Trump leaves office.

part Every time this moron opens her mouth she inserts her foot.  I hope she keeps doing interviews.  Every time a little more of her batshit crazy ideologies and ignorance slip out.

A friend of mine,  a lifelong conservative Republican, said he is considering contributing money to her campaign-- he hopes she wins. (He feels that her rising to prominence in the Democratic Party is one of best thing that's happened for Republicans in years...)

"UPPER MIDDLE CLASS ‘DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE’ "

Then WTF am I ? 

Exactly what is "upper middle class"? I stay at home with my girls and just graduated college. My hubs has been making on average 93k-100k a year for the last 8 years, are we low income now?

Exactly what is "upper middle class"?

It actually depends on geographic location, and that's another thing Alexandria didn't learn in her economics classes.

time

My hubs has been making on average 93k-100k a year for the last 8 years, are we low income now?

I guess. 

I mean we make around that.  I wouldn't consider ourselves upper middle class.  I think upper middle class would be like 250k a year.  Lower middle class we still have to budget a bit lol.  Not backing. Her up on this.  Just the way I always saw it

Yes and a thousand dollars is crumbs ....

Depends on where you live.   100k in a rural area goes a hell of a lot further than in a big city like New York or San Fran.

I think as US averages go upper middle class is probably closer to 100K than 200K.

That's very true.  100k where i live is very different than 100k in San Fran.  That's why I criticize friends who say they can't afford housing where they live .   If they are willing to move 100k yearly can go a long way /. Mostbsaybtheybarenr willing to move and would rather bitch

I'd love an extra grand!

I'm in metro Atlanta, so the burbs but I live in a little suburban city. We bought our house in 05 for 137K, It is now appraising for 183K, and we only have 100k left to pay on it even after refi a few years ago. I'd say we are doing ok, especially now

Nice!  

Thanks!

are we low income now?

No. 

Nor are you "upper" middle class. 

Rather, you are Middle middle class!

I like to think of us as "comfortable"...... We have savings, and we want for nothing. No, we don't have a huge house, but we are comfortable. I can pay for my daughters to do cheer and XC and swim and not worry how to pay for their extracurricular activities. I can pay for their braces without having to worry about buying groceries. I'm doing ok.

She is a passing fad.  I don't necessarily disagree with some of her policies, but she is the wrong messenger. 

Yet you love her Marxist message

I havent paid a lot of attention to her. She's too young and probably not equipped to be the face of a "movement".  Right wingers like to talk about her because they think she is "out there". 

I honestly think she's not going to catch on except as fringe. 

Yep,  Pay no attention to the lunatic behind the curtain...that's not REALLY the way the party is going./s

You said the same thing about Maxine if I remember correctly.  You also said you agree with some of Cortez's policies but ironically don't want to say which.

Yeah, and we all said that about Trump..... I'd rethink that

I don't necessarily disagree with some of her policies

That means you agree with some of her policies. Please elaborate with specifics. With which of Ocasio-Cortez's policies do you:

• agree?
• disagree?

Looking forward to your detailed reply!

Don't hold your breath. 

Don't hold your breath. 

At least you're honest about not being capable of supporting your claims with facts.  

Translation:  I have no ideas what her policy stances are, but I want to sound erudite.

 I don't necessarily disagree with some of her policies, but she is the wrong messenger. 

She is the perfect messenger.  She demonstrates quickly and efficiently how idiotic her ideas are.

You know that there are some older, old-school Democrats watching people like her become rock stars in today's Democratic Party and they are thinking, "WTF?????????"

I feel their pain.  

I think that about Trump.

I look around and think "what are we doing here?"  

WTF?????????"

She does have the Bat shit crazy proglib look down though.

If it weren't for her dangerous socialist agenda I'd consider her wide-eyed, bat shit crazy look simply "youthful enthusiasm".

Now she just needs to perfect the HoDe scream and she'll be good to go ........

She is a passing fad.

No she's not. She's no more of a passing fad in the Democratic Party than David Duke is in the Republican Party:

David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard, is unambiguous about what Saturday’s alt-right and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, means to him: It’s the fulfillment of President Donald Trump’s vision for America.

“We are determined to take our country back,” Duke said from the rally, calling it a “turning point.” “We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

There have always been some extremists in both parties. And there always will be.... (although many of the people on this site either aren't well informed enough, or intelligent enough,  to realize that

I don't necessarily disagree with some of her policies, but she is the wrong messenger. 

Maybe for your district but the voters of The Bronx feel differently. Do not underestimate Ocasio-Cortez...

Ocasio-Cortez got her message out to voters in her district. Olde Guard Crowley took voters for granted...

It isn't like The Bronx is gong to be represented in congress by a far right winger. So, to each their own.

The Bronx is only about seven miles from Manhattan but it might as well be a million in a social context...

Crowley might make a good rep for Yonkers or New Rochelle but he won't represent the Bronx, anymore. 

Maybe for your district but the voters of The Bronx feel differently. Do not underestimate Ocasio-Cortez... Ocasio-Cortez got her message out to voters in her district.

To a certain extent, she did get her message out. But, NY's 14th House District comprises parts of The Bronx and Queens and it had its typical puny voter turnout.

Though Ocasio-Cortez whipped up energy among voters in the Queens and Bronx district, and there is little to compare voter turnout to because Crowley had not been challenged since 2004, the primary election was decided, like most elections in New York, by a relatively small number of people. With 98 percent of precincts reporting as of Wednesday, the State Board of Elections shows 27,826 registered Democrats cast votes in Tuesday’s primary in New York’s 14th District. With 235,745 registered Democrats as of April, according to the BOE, this comes out to a turnout of around 11.8 percent .

gothamgazette

It is a smaller and smaller sliver, that is for sure. 

It is a smaller and smaller sliver, that is for sure. 

I'm not sure what "it" is, so I will assume that you are referring to the seeded topic  -- upper middle class. Nearly 30% of the country is not a small "sliver" of the population.

I cannot access the WaPo, so I've used the following source, because it provides a link to the WaPo's fact-checking.

However, the [Washington] Post noted that while the middle class has shrunk a little bit, the upper middle class has grown . In 1979, the upper middle class made up 12.9 percent of the population, but in 2014 it grew to 29.4 percent, according to a  2016 paper  published by the Urban Institute.

washingtonexaminer

DOn't worry, Trump is fixing that.