Today I learned something that surprised me, not because of the event itself but because so few people have talked about it. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is known for being a leader of the socialist movement in Washington DC after rising from the humble status of bartender to the Congresswoman of the 14th district in New York. Her policies include a push for a “living wage” of $15 per hour. I’ve always thought the wording was odd considering Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and others have been calling for a rise in “minimum wage.” Today, I found out why she’s shying away from that phrase.

When New York City raised their minimum wage $15, many businesses were hit hard, especially in the hospitality industry. Restaurants and bars started cutting hours and often even closing their doors over the increase. One of those hit hard by the massive bump was The Coffee Shop. Owner Charles Milite blamed the closure on high costs, with the rise in minimum wage as the last straw.

“The rents are very high and now the minimum wage is going up and we have a huge number of employees,” he said.

The Coffee Shop is the bar where AOC once worked.

The restaurant I used to work at is closing its doors.

I swung by today to say hi one last time, and kid around with friends like old times.

I’m a normal, working person who chose to run for office, because I believe we can have a better future.

You can do it too. We all can. pic.twitter.com/WeNsFm4eTt

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 20, 2018

Keep in mind, this wasn’t some random bar. The Coffee Shop in Union Square was considered a high-end establishment, buzzing all the time with “A-list” patrons. It was featured many times in the HBO show Sex and the City and had built a reputation as an “it” spot for Manhattan residents and tourists alike. In other words, this wasn’t a hole in the wall hanging on by a string. It was a vibrant, successful business for almost three decades before New York City’s untenable leftist policies, including a $15 minimum wage, became more than the bar could bear.

On the surface, many voters may see the very basic math of “oh, Democrats want to pay me more” and assume there’s no repercussions for such actions. This is why Democrats prey on those people who currently make lower wages. They feel if they can promise them something that sounds good even if they know with 100% certainty based on empirical evidence that it will actually hurt them, these new socialists are willing to make that trade. They figure they can blame the conservatives later for why the place they were working at before cut their hours, removed their jobs, or shut down because of raising the minimum wage.

As usual, socialists rely on ignorance and emotion as the driving forces behind their plans. They’re not stupid. They know their ideas won’t work. But they’re willing to push them on people anyway in hopes that ignorance will keep them in power.

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

How was the left able to take heat away from their Medicare-for-All proposal, and more specifically the estimated $32 trillion price tag over a decade? They tripled down with the Green New Deal, which some estimate would cost upwards near $100 trillion.

So, the price tag of the Democrats’ desired replacement for utterly failing Obamacare is to take current government control over healthcare and put it on a regiment of steroids and methamphetamine. When you’re going through Hell, keep going, I suppose.

But all of this could be alleviated if voters and politicians took a moment to think about the prospects of Medicare-for-All logically. Let’s erase, for a moment, the Utopian notion that taxing rich people extreme amounts will give us enough money to make healthcare free for everyone while also improving the quality. That’s the goal, right? Cheaper, better healthcare is what most people want. Conservatives believe it’s best to pull government administration out of the equation and put it all on a competitive capitalist model that has worked for nearly every other industry for over a century. Hyper-leftists want to add more government control.

Conservative commentator Thomas Sowell has some thoughts on the matter. One in particular can be wrapped up into an eloquent quote that should be ideological checkmate allowing us to win the healthcare debate.

“It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.”

Of course, our version of checkmate requires common sense, logic, and basic math skills. These attributes aren’t as readily present on the left, therefore they might hear this logic and still think single-payer makes sense.

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

When one Democratic candidate goes to the left, the other candidates lurch to match. We’ve seen it in support for the Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All, and super-high tax rates for the rich. We’re about to see it in regards to organized labor as Bernie Sanders’s campaign has become the first group in presidential campaign history to form a union.

one of the few accurate reports. Recognizing a union that has demonstrated majority support is not some act of charity or social conscience. It's the law. https://t.co/Mz4o0eoLpU

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) March 16, 2019

My Take

Whether this was a decision by campaign leadership to demonstrate their boss’s leftist credibility or of they’re simply being the leftists that they are, we can’t be sure. In fact, we’ll almost certainly never know. Either way, it’s done and now all of the other leftist campaigns have to respond.

Expect every major campaign team to unionize soon. It’s not because it will make them more effective. It won’t help them get better benefits or retain their jobs for longer term since the organization will fundamentally change following the election. All it will do is allow them to make the claim they’re so pro-union, they’re willing to accept the lost productivity associated with organized labor.

This is quickly becoming the most symbol-driven primary election season we’ve seen in decades, perhaps ever. It would all be very entertaining if it weren’t so dangerous to the American psyche.