'Outnumbered' on AOC blaming crime surge on expiring federal tax credits
The panel discussed New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's remarks after she blamed the spike in crime on child tax credits ending.
No argument – however insulting or illogical – deters some Democrats from promoting more welfare benefits.
Take Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a vocal promoter of defunding and even abolishing the police. Long dismissive of rising crime rates and the culpability of policies she supports, she finally admitted that crime is surging. But instead of acknowledging the real causes of the crime wave, she blamed a novel culprit: "the child-tax credit just ran out, on December 31st, and now people are stealing baby formula."
The increased child tax credit included in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan expanded the benefit to include over 30 million households. For the first time, the policy also paid benefits to nonworking adults. As a result, the IRS turned into America’s leading welfare-benefit provider and effectively revived unconditional monthly federal welfare payments for the first time in a generation.
BLM-DEFUND POLICE LEGACY IS MORE DEAD POLICE OFFICERS, SURGING CRIME
The Democrats’ trillion-dollar Build Back Better plan would have continued these monthly payments, despite public opposition to making them permanent. But the legislation collapsed, leaving AOC to argue that the expiration of these temporary welfare checks is the real driver behind rising crime in America.
Her claims are absurd, unsupported by facts, and insulting to parents.
Her argument suggests parents are behind rising crime rates, including low-income parents who were the biggest beneficiaries of the expired checks, with no evidence to support her claim. Being a parent, and especially one with low income, is hard enough without a politician unfairly blaming you for rising crime.
Moreover, she implies that crime only started rising in January after monthly checks "ran out," ignoring the historic increases in 2020 and 2021 caused by progressive policies. As The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley A. Strassel summarized last November, "Crime is soaring nationally, after progressives spent years pushing to water down bail rules, forgo prosecutions, release prisoners and even defund the police."
Does AOC expect crime to suddenly fall after parents receive those large payments?
AOC ignores the fact that only half of the benefit expansion was paid out in monthly installments. The rest is about to go out in a single payment often six times as large as those monthly installments. That payment will be made when Americans file their tax returns and claim the second half of the CTC.
Which begs the question: Does AOC expect crime to suddenly fall after parents receive those large payments?
AOC is really just attempting to explain away criminal behavior – implying soaring theft is caused solely by parents desperate to feed starving babies. Meanwhile, a 2020 survey found organized retail crime rose almost 60 percent in the past five years, and New York merchants attribute recent rises to soaring inflation along with "smash-and-grab" thieves encouraged by "light-touch policing."
But by AOC’s illogic, her city’s infamous "Hamburglar" stole armfuls of high-priced steaks simply to feed his family, driven to crime by the end of monthly federal benefit checks.
Finally, despite the end of temporary monthly checks, low-income parents continue to have access to other – and recently growing – taxpayer support to help cover their nutrition needs. The WIC program, expanded by $390 million last year, serves about half of all infants born in the US, including by providing formula to low-income parents. And food stamps, currently paid to over 41 million, were increased by 25 percent last fall.
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AOC's claims reflect both a desperate attempt to deflect blame for runaway crime and revive temporary federal benefits that even President Biden has abandoned. Her positions are unsupported and absurd, but not terribly surprising.
AOC has long advocated for trillions of dollars in new federal spending, including Green New Deal welfare checks for even those "unwilling to work." But what is surprising is her willingness to effectively blame surging crime rates on low-income parents. Even for a politician, that’s pathetic.
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