On a tip from Ed Kilbane
Ryan Saavedra February 20, 2019
Job Creators Network, a nonpartisan organization founded by entrepreneurs like Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, purchased a billboard in New York City slamming socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for killing tens of thousands of jobs for New Yorkers that would have generated billions of dollars in economic activity.
"It comes after Ocasio-Cortez vigorously defended her role in sinking Amazon’s move to New York City on Tuesday in the face of bipartisan criticism," Fox News reported. "The freshman Democratic New York congresswoman has faced days of criticism from normally friendly media voices and fellow Democrats over her role in Amazon's decision to pull back from building a $2.5 billion campus in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens."
The billboard, located on 42nd street near 8th Avenue, reads:
25,000 Lost NYC Jobs
$4 Billion in Lost Wages
$12 Billion in Lost Economic Activity for NY
Thanks For Nothing, AOC!
Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted out a photo of the billboard:
In NY and seemingly unfazed by the billboard AOC decided on some Chinese food.
Her fortune cookie.
After enduring days of criticisms, including from local Democrats like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Ocasio-Cortez exploded in a Twitter rant. The Daily Wire reported:
On Tuesday evening, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a series of tweets defending her role in ultimately killing the Amazon HQ2 deal — which would have brought 25,000 jobs to her district and nearly $30 billion in tax revenues to the state — and emphatically asserting that she does "understand" how tax incentives work.
The defensive thread was prompted by criticism from Crain's New York Business editor Erik Engquist, who said that while he usually defends the democratic socialist congresswoman as intelligent, her troubling comments about the state "invest[ing] those $3 billion" instead of supposedly giving it to Amazon have left him speechless.
"I’ve been telling @AOC critics that she is smart, but what do I say when she says nonsense like 'we could invest those $3 billion in [@amazon tax breaks] in our district. We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways, we can put a lot of people to work for that money,'" Engquist tweeted.
"Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going," AOC responded. "$500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.* $2.5 billion in tax breaks. It’s fair to ask why we don’t invest the capital for public use, + why we don’t give working people a tax break."
"Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I 'don’t understand' how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing," AOC continued. "No, it’s not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal."
Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo took aim at Ocasio-Cortez and other far-left New York Democrats in a statement for killing the Amazon deal:
Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.
However, a small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community — which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City — the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.
The fundamentals of New York's business climate and community that attracted Amazon to be here - our talent pool, world-class education system, commitment to diversity and progressivism - remain and we won't be deterred as we continue to attract world class business to communities across New York State.
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