Socialist star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks the talk, but she definitely doesn’t walk the walk – or drive the drive, as it were. According to FEC records, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent thousands of dollars on Uber rides in California – after she publicly blamed the ride-sharing company for taxi driver suicides.
FEC filings indicate that Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent nearly $4,000 on 160 rides for staff in California between April and late June. The rides, which were filed under “car service,” ranged in cost from just 59 cents to $82.50.
However, in March, Ocasio-Cortez directly blamed Uber for the suicide death of Nicanor Ochisor, a yellow taxi medallion owner/driver in New York City. “NYC’s fourth driver suicide,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber.”
NYC's fourth driver suicide. Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber. What was a living wage job now pays under minimum.
We need:
– to call Uber drivers what they are: EMPLOYEES, not contractors
– Fed jobs guarantee
– Prep for automation https://t.co/FjfapJV2ni— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) March 21, 2018
Perhaps Ocasio-Cortez simply doesn’t care about California taxi drivers as much as she does the iconic NYC yellow cab drivers. After all, she’s so proud to be from the Bronx.
Actually, Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t really care about NYC taxi drivers, either – at least not enough to use their services. FEC filings also indicate that, in New York, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent nearly $2,500 on more than 90 rides with ride-sharing startup Juno, which billed itself as a superior alternative to Uber because it offered drivers equity. However, Juno is now the subject of a class action lawsuit:
But the “driver-friendly” startup is barely any better for drivers than other ride-sharing companies. It was sold in April to Israel-based Gett for $200 million and immediately came under fire for scrapping the stock unit program for its drivers.
This prompted a class action by Juno drivers. “Plaintiffs were victims of the classic ‘bait and switch’ scheme – promised equity and then paid off at pennies on the dollar when all other shareholders/investors made out handsomely,” the suit reads.
Will Ocasio-Cortez pull a similar bait-and-switch with her voters? Actually, probably not – but only because she doesn’t seem to understand how socialism (or anything) works in the first place.
