The property tax bills on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Bronx condo weren't going to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They were going to her mother — who had already fled New York for a modest house in Eustis, Florida, to escape the very tax burden her daughter keeps voting to increase.
AOC was close to thirty years old during her 2018 congressional campaign. A grown woman, running for federal office, collecting a salary from campaign donors. And Mom was still covering the condo taxes.
The reporting comes from Caleb Howe at the Crimson Hub, and the details are worse than the headline. Not only were the property taxes billed to AOC's mother throughout her campaign, but a tax lien was applied to the condo for non-payment before her congressional run even started. Then a second lien hit in 2019 — after she'd already been sworn into Congress — this time for unpaid condo fees.
So the woman who wants the federal government to manage the nation's finances couldn't manage a condo payment book.
AOC has since moved on to a swanky apartment with her boyfriend. The Bronx condo now belongs to her brother, Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez, who is in his early thirties. The tax bills? Still going to Mom in Florida. Gabriel, for his part, was earning $4,597 per month as a housing specialist at Samaritan Daytop Village in Briarwood, New York, as of 2022. He has also declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Gabriel founded an arts organization supporting the deaf queer community. He has not, apparently, founded an organization that pays property taxes.
As Louder With Crowder's Brodigan noted, this is the same congresswoman who lectures the rest of us about economic fairness, wealth redistribution, and why billionaires are the root of all evil. The congresswoman who wants to raise your taxes. The congresswoman who co-sponsored the Green New Deal — estimated cost somewhere north of $93 trillion — but needed Mommy to handle a municipal tax bill in the Bronx.
And AOC isn't even the only one. As HotAir's Ed Morrissey pointed out, this fits a pattern among progressive politicians who campaign against capitalism while being personally subsidized by their families. Graham Platner received $200,000 from his father for a house purchase. Texas state Rep. James Talarico, age 37, still shares a checking account with his mother.
Scratch a socialist, find a trust fund. Or at least a parent who handles the bills.
The "democratic socialist" wing of the Democratic Party has spent the last eight years telling working Americans they aren't paying enough in taxes. That the system is rigged against ordinary people. That government needs more of your money to fix the problems government created.
Meanwhile, the most famous democratic socialist in Congress had two liens on a condo she wasn't even paying for. Her brother declared bankruptcy. And her mother — the one actually writing the checks — did what millions of New Yorkers have done: moved to Florida, where the taxes are lower and the politicians don't pretend that's a moral failing.
Democratic socialism, it turns out, works great. As long as your mom's got it covered.
