Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is known for her fiery invectives against the billionaire class. But it turns out that ‘AOC’ isn’t above a little capitalism of her own, selling ‘Tax The Rich’ sweatshirts online for a princely sum.
New York’s Ocasio-Cortez is a self-described “democratic socialist,” and probably the best known face of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. She’s proposed hitting the wealthiest Americans with a whopping 70 percent income tax to fund massive environmental and social spending, and led a campaign to drive Amazon from taking advantage of generous tax breaks to set up its second headquarters in the Big Apple.
As of late, however, she’s been engaging in a little capitalism of her own, selling tshirts, sweatshirts, and all manner of merchandise on her official web store. The latest additions to her line, on Twitter by Ocasio-Cortez, include clothes promoting the ‘Green New Deal’ and the cancellation of student debt, as well as sweatshirts reading ‘Drink Water and Don't be Racist’ and ‘Tax The Rich.’
Though Ocasio-Cortez boasted on Wednesday that her apparel is “made in the US with dignified, union jobs paying living wages,” the price tag will likely turn off all but the most comfortable champagne socialists and limousine liberals. A ‘Tax The Rich’ shirt will set the customer back $58, plus more than $5 in sales taxes if ordered from AOC's home state of New York.
Conservative pundits and commentators took turns ripping on AOC’s apparent conversion to the capitalist cause. “At $58.00 for a sweatshirt, you're not taxing the rich, you're overcharging the stupid,” one Twitter user wrote.
Moreover, conservative pundit Jeryl Bier discovered that anyone wanting to wear the same slogan for less can pop over to Amazon and find ‘Tax The Rich’ sweatshirts for almost half price, with free shipping. One can of course assume that, unlike AOC’s offerings, the garments for sale on Amazon aren’t guaranteed made in the USA, and are packed by warehouse workers who are reportedly treated like “animals."
The irony, however, doesn’t stop there. AOC’s ‘Green New Deal’ clothing line is made using polyester, a non-renewable petroleum-based fibre. At least if AOC gets her way and the ‘Green New Deal’ eliminates fossil fuels by 2030, shirts bought now will outlast the hemp and flaxen apparel that will surely replace them.
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