Conservatives are Memeing Ocasio Cortez Into The Presidency
Conservatives are Memeing Ocasio-Cortez Into The Presidency. It's not intentional but the Ocasio Cortez critical mass is upon us.They call her "cortex" they mock her gaffes. But this is all reminiscent of the mocking of Trump.They said Trump could never win, they called mocked him with silly names too. Yet for all the whining and laughing Trump won the Republican Primary and then the Presidency.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing a similar trajectory. While she still can't be president for another 6 years it is possible that with her rising fame, massive following, and the media's obsession with writing about her she will have tremendous support for her policies and for her future political campaignsShe really is a left wing version of Trump.
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Recently, in an interview with 60 Minutes, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floated the idea of a 70% top income rate on people who make more than $10 million per year.
And immediately, the political debate erupted.
People on the right said, that tax rate is way too high, and you're going to encourage the wealthy to go invest in other countries.
The left said, it's only for people who make more than $10 million.
It's tiny.
This is absurd.
And there is some nuance to this debate.
I don't think Cortez was actually saying this is what she wants.
She floated the idea.
So it should be debated.
But there's something bigger at play here.
It seems like for some reason, Ocasio-Cortez is the poster child for the Democrats.
She is the most important Democrat.
She has more followers than Nancy Pelosi does and her career just started.
I have to wonder why people take what she says so seriously when she's just a congresswoman who just started her career.
In my opinion, she is the most important Democrat, with many people on both the left and the right saying she represents the future of the Democrats.
I believe there is a good possibility she is on a path towards the presidency, but hear me out.
Based on the press, and I don't want to say obsession, but the constant conversation about her, all it's doing is making her more and more famous.
So today, let's take a look at what's going on with this tax rate idea that people are debating, and I want to talk about how the press is impacting her career and how it's going to benefit her in the long run.
But before we get started, please head over to TimCast.com forward slash donate if you'd like to support my work.
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A couple days ago, we saw this story from Hot Air.
AOC, how about a tax rate of 70% to fund my Green New Deal?
Ocasio-Cortez said in the interview, you know, 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 0 to 75,000, maybe 10% or 15%, etc.
But once you get to, like, the tippy tops on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent.
That doesn't mean all 10 million dollars are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more.
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.
When asked if she considers herself to be a radical, Cortez says, you know, if that's what radical means, call me a radical.
Immediately, we see defense from the left that her idea actually makes sense.
New York Mag said Ocasio-Cortez's 70% top tax rate is a moderate, evidence-based policy.
They start by saying, when Ronald Reagan took office, affluent Americans paid a 70% tax rate on income above $216,000.
In the decades since, our country's highest earners have seen their annual pay skyrocket, while the median household has barely budged.
As a result, America's 160,000 richest families now lay claim to 90% of its wealth.
Studies suggest that this kind of inequality erodes social trust, abets plutocracy, and depresses economic growth.
Politicians from both major parties routinely suggest that they see inequality as a major problem.
Now, I find the whole tax debate interesting, and where I stand, typically center-left, I'm not entirely opposed to very high tax rates on very high income, and I think the conversation is actually nuanced.
I believe it is a fair statement to say that many wealthy will not invest in the U.S.
because when they realize that income above $10 million is taxed to an extreme degree, They're going to look elsewhere for a base of operations.
They're not going to want to earn money here because it will negatively impact them personally.
But it is tough.
There are genuinely few people who make that much money relative to the world.
So, Cortez's idea of taxing people that high doesn't necessarily mean she's going to actually generate income from these people.
In all likelihood, Cortez is wrong, and that high of a tax rate won't work for a few reasons.
First, as conservatives point out, people might just leave the country and invest elsewhere.
However, the other issue is that people just try to find ways to reduce their tax liability.
You'll see people making that much money reinvest in other programs, which in my opinion are a good thing.
They'll reinvest in the economy, which could lead to growth, and this is typically why I'm kind of in favor of the tax, not necessarily because you'll actually generate revenue from it, but it encourages people to put back into the economy.
When you know you're going to reach a certain bracket, you're better off spending that money or investing it in something than just paying the tax on it, in some instances.
So, I think it may be too high.
I'm more of a centrist than someone far left to agree with her, but I do think the conversation is nuanced.
In fact, an interesting point on the tax issue from last year was that Steve Bannon actually advocated for increasing the tax rate This story last year from Vox.
Steve Bannon is right.
Donald Trump should raise taxes on the rich.
They say White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has a big idea that, according to Axios, he's been pushing aggressively within the Trump administration, raising the top income tax rate.
He's reportedly telling his colleagues that the top bracket should have a four in front of it.
Now, ultimately, Steve Bannon is no longer working in the White House, and a 40% top income tax rate is much less than 70%.
But it's not unheard of that even people associated with the right are willing to consider increasing the top marginal tax rate on people who make over a certain amount of money.
That's how the progressive tax system works.
A lot of conservatives disagree.
But beyond the tax argument, there's something else that I think is much more important.
The fact that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez matters this much.
I mean, why are we even talking about her idea for a tax rate?
She's just one congresswoman of hundreds.
Why is it that when she steps forward and says something, everybody wants to talk about it?
Now, obviously, when it comes to her gaps, this is low-hanging fruit for Republicans.
They can point out how crazy young, new progressive Democrats are when even PolitiFact has given Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez numerous pants on fire and mostly false ratings.
When the Washington Post has fact-checked her and given her multiple Pinocchios.
It's fodder for Republicans to say, the Democrats, if this is the future, you're in trouble.
Now, many people on the right have said she is the future.
They say it negatively.
People on the left say it positively.
It's a good thing.
She's progressive.
She's a minority woman.
This is what the Democrats are going to be in the future.
And I gotta admit, I think that Ocasio-Cortez does actually have a path to the presidency.
I really do.
But hear me out.
She just started her career, and she already has more followers than almost all of the other Democrats, many of them combined.
She has more followers than Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and she's rivaling Elizabeth Warren, who's literally running for the president.
Cortez says things, often they're wrong, but it doesn't matter.
The left is willing to forgive her shortcomings because they like that she's on their side.
She represents what they like.
Many people on the right are willing to forgive Donald Trump's shortcomings because he represents their side.
He opposes political correctness.
He's a tough guy.
He wants border security.
They like that, so if Trump says something wrong, they'll say, hey, but, you know, forgiveness.
The left does the same thing for Cortez.
When Cortez says something and everybody wants it to be the story, it just seems like she's on a path for mass celebrity.
And one thing we heard in 2008 was that Barack Obama was a celebrity president, that the reason he was able to win was because he was just famous and he had better brand power than everyone else.
I could say the same thing for Trump.
Many people mocked, they ridiculed Trump, they said he would never win.
But they couldn't stop talking about him.
Every time Trump did something controversial, boom, front and center on TV.
Cortez is on the exact same path.
And now we can see the other day when Ocasio-Cortez was dancing.
Now the New York Times claims that it was meant as a smear, and yes, technically that's true, but it was just one person.
In fact, the reason this story went viral, in my opinion, is because conservatives were talking about it too.
No one really criticized her for dancing.
But many people on the right, the center, and the left appropriately said, this is ridiculous, why are you making fun of a young college student for having fun with her friends?
It's not a story.
But that made it a story.
Everyone was talking about it.
So in response, the New York Times and many other news outlets want to write about what happened.
And they framed it in such a way that it seems like the right was actually criticizing her.
They weren't.
It was one person on Twitter that had barely any followers who called her a nitwit.
Why is that news?
It's actually not news.
But you know what happens?
When every high-profile person comments on it, now it is news.
The story isn't that this one person criticized her.
The story is that everyone criticized the one person.
All that really matters.
is once again, Cortez is front and center in the spotlight.
That video got somewhere between 10 and 20 million views, and that is pure brand power. But things like this keep
happening.
The way I see it, it's a snowball rolling downhill that can't be stopped.
Here I am, making a video about how everyone keeps talking about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
and this is only going to give her more attention.
Now, there have been a lot of conservatives who have said, Tim, stop talking about her, you're giving her attention, and I don't care if she gets attention.
I'm not here to support or oppose anybody.
I'm just here to comment on what's going on.
So I'll say this to conservatives.
For one, if you think that this is bad for her, you're wrong.
Trump was ridiculed.
It was good for him.
He got free press.
They estimate $5 billion in free press because people loved the controversy.
And sure, it made the left kind of go nuts in terms of hating Donald Trump to a really ridiculous degree, in my opinion.
It still gave him the attention to make him a frontrunner.
No matter how many times Trump says something controversial or does something controversial, he comes out on top.
And you could argue the same thing for Cortez.
If you think her policies are crazy and she can't win because of that, I think you're wrong too.
It doesn't matter what her policies are.
It matters that she represents the tribe and it matters that she's famous.
If you're famous, you win.
And that's why so many celebrities are talking about running for president.
So look.
Do I really think she will be president?
I don't know, I think that's a pretty bold statement.
But I think she's certainly on track to be if she plays her cards right.
In the next ten or so years, she's going to gain a ton of experience, she's going to work in DC, and she's going to better understand the game.
It's possible she gets better at reducing the amount of gaffes, or she keeps making gaffes because it gets her attention.
You can argue all day and night that she's silly, that she's stupid, that she's lying, that she's wrong.
It doesn't matter.
When she says these things, it works in her favor.
The same is true for Donald Trump.
I've said this before.
I feel like she is the left's version of Donald Trump.
She is a populist candidate.
She has many controversial statements that have been mocked by the media.
And she won her district in spite of the polls.
She's on a similar trajectory.
When I talk to people about marketing, because I've used to work in non-profits, I say, the best product in the world will fail if no one knows about it.
And the worst product in the world will sell by the millions if everyone has heard of it.
If you don't have good marketing, you don't have anything.
Marketing comes first.
And that means regardless of what Cortez actually believes, we've got a tribalism problem.
The left will support her no matter what.
They will defend her to the teeth, and they will criticize me for calling out her gaffes, which rightly so should be done.
It doesn't matter though.
You criticize Cortez, you're the other, and they will defend her no matter what.
So the more brand power she develops, the better her chances of gaining significant power will be.
The way I see it, the right is going to meme her into the presidency and the left is along for the ride.
So you don't have to believe me.
You can argue with me all day and night.
Comment below.
But for me, as someone who's moderately, as a moderate sitting in the center, I look at what happened with Trump and I thought it was hilarious.
The left was so snooty and elitist about how they would never lose, about how Trump could never win.
And you have that famous clip where it was, I believe it was on Bill Maher.
They ask Ann Coulter, who has the best chance of winning?
She says, Donald Trump.
They all just burst out laughing.
Yep, you might think it's silly, but if you don't pay attention and you don't get your ducks in a row, you will end up with President Cortez in maybe 10 to 15 years.
Maybe not, though.
I think it's a pretty bold prediction to make.
I'm just saying, with everything that's going on, she's going to gain power.
Her policies will get passed because she has support from the Democrats, plain and simple.
So long as she's loud enough and people support her, she'll win.
But let me know what you think in the comments below.
We'll keep the conversation going.
We've got a couple different things to talk about.
Let me know what you think about the 70% tax rate because, look, I'm a centrist and I lean left, so I think there's a way to enact a higher tax rate.
70% might be a little ridiculous, but I think there's unintended consequences that aren't necessarily bad, like wealthy people being forced to reinvest in the economy and just general, like, I don't know.
I'm on the left.
I'm not too opposed to it.
But if you're conservative and you think it's too high and doesn't make sense for taxing the wealthy that much, then comment below.
We'll keep the conversation going.
And let me know what you think about her on her path to success.
How do you think the media is playing its role?
Do you think it's on purpose?
So again, we'll keep the conversation going.
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