Politics

‘Sh*t Show’: Ocasio-Cortez Blames Part Of Rising Crime On End Of Child Tax Credit

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed congressional inaction on the Build Back Better social spending package and the end of the expanded child tax credit for contributing to an increase in crime that predated the legislation.

“We don’t want to say some of the things that are obvious, like, ‘Gee, the child tax credit just ran out, on Dec. 31, and now people are stealing baby formula.’ We don’t want to have that discussion,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New Yorker in an interview published Monday, while blasting Congress as a “scandalizing” “shit show.” The socialist also blamed Democratic Party leadership for not fully embracing the “defund the police” movement, even as some of her colleagues have said that the slogan costs the party elections. (RELATED: ‘Defund The Police’ Is Not The Problem: Cori Bush Refuses To Ditch Unpopular Slogan As Election Season Heats Up)

The expanded child tax credit, included in the American Rescue Plan (ARP), expired at the end of December 2021 after Congress did not pass Biden’s Build Back Better package or a standalone credit. The ARP included a $3,600 a year credit per child for parents of children under the age of six, and a $3,000 a year credit per child between the ages of six and 18. Without the expansion, the benefit reverts to the $2,000 per child credit included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Some economists blamed the expanded credit for Americans’ slow return to the workforce as COVID-19 cases receded.

According to Ocasio-Cortez, however, a lack of government services, such as the child tax credit, is fueling an increase in crime, despite the fact that violent crimes like murders began increasing even as the federal government offered generous benefits to encourage Americans to stay home at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The surge in violence is being driven by young people, particularly young men. And we allow the discourse to make it sound as though it’s, like, these shady figures in the bush, jumping out from a corner. These are young men. These are boys,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We want to say these people are criminals or we want to talk about ‘people who are violent,’ instead of ‘environments of violence,’ and what we’re doing to either contribute to that or dismantle that.”

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: Protesters paint a mural that says ‘defund the police’ during a Strike For Black Lives demonstration outside of San Francisco City Hall on July 20, 2020 in San Francisco, California. The demonstration was part of the nationwide Strike for Black Lives effort which is calling for higher wages, better jobs, and Unions to help workers build economic power. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ocasio-Cortez also blamed Democratic Party leadership for avoiding the “Defund the Police” movement, even as many left-wing members of Congress marched in support.

“Just because there was this large conversation about ‘defund the police’ coming from the streets, the response was to immediately respond to it with fear, with pooh-poohing, with ‘this isn’t us,’ with arm’s distance,” she said, claiming that the election of New York City Mayor Eric Adams was not proof that voters support public safety measures.

“What the public wants is a strong sense of direction. I don’t think that in electing Mayor Adams everyone in the city supports bringing back torture to Rikers Island in the form of solitary confinement,” Ocasio-Cortez added.