Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - Why am I considered extreme?

 

Here’s a question I get a lot: “Why are you considered to be extreme?”

I am considered “extreme” because:

– I believe in Medicare for All, aka guaranteed healthcare in the United States.

– I authored the Green New Deal, and believe tackling the climate crisis will take a much more massive and serious mobilization than what we’re doing now.

– Although I am a Democrat, I operate independently from either party’s establishment. So I am willing to challenge my own party’s leadership and, when necessary, break from the party line.

– I do not believe in late stage capitalism or that prioritizing the extreme pursuit of profit at any and all human/environmental costs will save us. I believe in cooperative economics and cooperative democracy, aka democratic socialism.

– My campaign is funded by grassroots, small-dollar donations and I accept $0 in corporate money (the average donation to keep me in office is around $16).

– I believe that ICE, an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist.

– I am the youngest woman in U.S. history to be elected to Congress. I was a waitress. I am Latina. I come from a low income background and am one of just a few working class people who got elected to Congress. That makes a lot of classist, ageist, misogynist, and racist people mad.

People like to lie about and caricature me a lot, which makes folks believe all sorts of things that aren’t true!

But together, we’ve built a movement fighting for each and every one of these issues — from Medicare for All to democratizing fundraising power in politics.

In solidarity,

Alexandria

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli - State Can Improve Efforts to Investigate Child Fatalities

New York State’s Office of Children and Family Services, which oversees the locally administered child welfare system that investigates reports of alleged child abuse or child fatalities, can take additional steps to protect children from harm.

According to State Comptroller DiNapoli, “The findings in this audit should be a sobering call to action to ensure New York’s vulnerable children are protected. The Office of Children and Family Services consistently finds flaws in child abuse investigations that preceded a child’s death. It can do more to ensure that local social service providers throughout New York improve operations so they can better respond to abuse complaints and save children’s lives.”  Read more

14 School Districts Designated in Fiscal Stress

State Comptroller DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) provides an early warning to local communities experiencing some fiscal challenges. The alert allows officials to be more proactive in addressing problems before more drastic measures are needed. It also shows policymakers and the public statewide trends over time.

Fourteen school districts statewide were designated in some level of fiscal stress for the school year ending on June 30, 2022, down from 23 districts in fiscal stress the prior year. This is the lowest incidence of fiscal stress recorded for schools since the system’s inception (2012-13 school year). School districts are given a fiscal stress score based on several factors: year-end fund balance, operating deficits and surpluses, cash position, and reliance on short-term debt for cash-flow.

According to State Comptroller DiNapoli, “The number of districts designated in a fiscal stress category has fallen considerably over the past three years. This year there was a particularly steep drop because of significant increases in both federal and State aid. However, the federal aid is temporary so school district officials may face difficult operational and staffing decisions in determining how to best provide services to their students in the future.” Read the report.

The Comptroller’s open data initiative gives the public access to millions of State and local government financial records, as well as State contracts and commonly requested data. Visit Open Book New York to learn more.