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Hypocrisy much? AOC once advocated for business tax breaks — when she stood to benefit
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Hypocrisy much? AOC once advocated for business tax breaks — when she stood to benefit

What about the rest of America?

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has been a member of Congress for just three months, yet she has already made a name for herself as being one of the most progressive, anti-business, "democratic socialist" lawmakers in the nation.

She has even made political enemies in New York after Amazon announced it would not build a second headquarters in New York City, which would have brought at least 25,000 jobs and billions of dollars in revenue to the city,. After the decision, Ocasio-Cortez's announced that she was glad Amazon was leaving because she didn't approve of the tax breaks that were offered to the tech giant.

But Ocasio-Cortez hasn't always been so anti-business. In fact, just seven year ago Ocasio-Cortez advocated for tax breaks when they would have benefited her.

What are the details?

Ocasio-Cortez, who is a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that openly advocates for the abolishment of capitalism, sought tax breaks in 2012 for her start-up publishing house, Brook Avenue Press.

Newly resurfaced comments highlighted by the Washington Examiner show that Ocasio-Cortez endorsed the Small Business Start-Up Support Art in 2012, a bill co-sponsored by then-Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y).

The bill sought to ease the tax burden on new businesses by doubling the start-up cost tax deduction from $5,000 to $10,000.

What did Ocasio-Cortez say?

In a press release from Gillibrand's office, Ocasio-Cortez voiced support for the tax breaks claiming they would fuel business growth.

"Plenty of entrepreneurs have started their businesses on a shoestring and any break they receive means more flexibility for further growth," she said. "A tax break could mean part-time work for someone else or keeping a business' doors open long enough to turn a profit."

"Young entrepreneurs are playing a special role in developing promising, creative enterprises for our future and a small break can open up their resources for hiring, creating a new product, or reinvesting in the local economy," Ocasio-Cortez went on to say.

Similarly, while speaking with DNA Info in 2012, Ocasio-Cortez denounced first-year taxes on start-up businesses.

"You don't really make a profit in your first year," she said. "To get taxed on top of that is a real whammy."

The comments are an extreme departure from what she said last year when Amazon announced NYC as the location for its second headquarters.

Ocasio-Cortez has similarly denounced all tax cuts since rising to political prominence. In fact, she even advocates for the wealthiest Americans, those who make more than $10 million per year, to pay up to 70 percent in taxes.

Ironically, Ocasio-Cortez owed unpaid taxes on her business as of this year, according to the New York Post.

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Chris Enloe

Chris Enloe

Staff Writer

Chris Enloe is a staff writer for Blaze News
@chrisenloe →