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AOC Shreds Cuomo’s COVID-19 Response as ‘Preferential Treatment’ for Wealthy

You can never satisfy everyone, right?

While an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers approve of the way Governor Cuomo has led the state’s response to the coronavirus, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is sounding the alarm.

Preferential Treatment

AOC has been nothing but divisive during this entire pandemic.

If you saw her rant on the House floor during the debate over the stimulus/rescue package, you saw someone that looked more like a petulant child than an elected representative of the people.

Rather than look for ways to help, she has continuously looked for ways to nitpick throughout this crisis.

So, while more than 80 percent of New Yorkers approve of Cuomo’s response in the latest polls, AOC says he is giving preferential treatment to the rich.

At the heart of her complaint was the announcement several weeks ago of Cuomo ordering all mortgage companies to temporarily defer payments.

The payments are not being forgiven, but rather moved to the rear of the mortgage with no penalties and fees.

AOC says if you do this for homeowners you need to do it for renters too.

AOC stated, “If you called for a suspension or moratorium on mortgage payments, then we should also call for that same treatment on rent payments.

“We’re kind of creating a class and race issue.

“We’re essentially rewarding and offering preferential treatment to landowners and folks who are more wealthy, and we’re not offering that same kind of relief to renters.”

She is apparently assuming that all homeowners are rich and all renters are poor.

Cuomo Responds

Cuomo, and the federal government for that matter, have actually done what they can thus far for renters.

Currently, there is a mandate that no renters can be evicted for missing payments.

On this issue, Cuomo responded, “I think our policy answers it.

“You cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent. It’s not that you won’t owe rent at one time, right, because you signed a contract.

“Even the people to whom you pay the rent have to pay the rent, right, and they have expenses.

“So, no evictions for nonpayment of rent and then we’ll see where we are and we’ll see how long this goes on.”

The problem for renters is that you cannot backload a rental agreement and just outright miss payments, so this is probably about as good as it is going to get right now.

As a renter, I would love to get some options, such as extending the lease by three months and doubling payment or something along the lines of a two or three-month deferral where the skipped payments are then distributed among the remaining payments left on the lease.

However, I also realize the owners of the property need their income as well, so how far can the government really go here?

AOC is not offering solutions such as this, though, she is looking to grab some headlines and make this a racial and social inequality issue right now.

She would go on to say, “There’s absolutely … racial and class inequities baked into the crisis. If you are able to stay home. You are a privileged person in this moment.”

She then added, “People aren’t just dying of coronavirus. They’re dying of incompetence…And, so, this isn’t just a viral pandemic, it’s a pandemic of a lack of leadership.”

People that are out of work are now getting full unemployment benefits and an additional $600 per week from the federal government.

For most states, unemployment benefits are at least $400/week, so that would mean the average person is now getting a check for $25/hour, which is probably more than many of the people she claims to be sticking up for are making an hour at their regular jobs.

Perhaps rather than bitching and moaning about everything, AOC would better serve the people of New York by volunteering at My Pillow to help make masks or help out a local restaurant to help deliver meals.

She could even go volunteer at a local homeless shelter to ensure those individuals are being cared for properly… anything other than putting out a narrative that simply is not true at this point.

But, that seems to be the Democrat playbook these days, only they generally use it to attack Trump, not one of their own.

Source: Wall Street Journal & Fox News

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