Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s economics degree is worthless. She’s shown time and again that she has ZERO understanding of basic economics, markets, and how to run a business. It’s also very evident that she understands nothing of banking practices. In the span of just a few minutes, she stepped on multiple rakes during her grilling of Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan.
“Wells Fargo came under blistering congressional scrutiny Tuesday in the wake of a series of consumer-related scandals.
The bank engaged in an “egregious pattern of consumer abuses,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters said at the outset of a roughly four-hour hearing she chaired regarding the fourth-largest U.S. bank.
Tim Sloan’s appearance before the House Committee on Financial Services marked the second time he has testified on Capitol Hill over problems at the bank following revelations in 2016 that bankers opened as many as 3.5 million unauthorized accounts to meet high-pressure sales goals. Since then, Wells Fargo has struggled to fix its image as it’s disclosed harming customers in other areas of the company.”
Wells Fargo has indeed had some serious problems over the last few years. Too many people to count have been harmed by Wells’ banking practices. They should be held accountable, although having Maxine Waters be the one calling them to account is laughable for so many $$$ reasons, but I digress.
Sloan has only been in place as CEO for about two years. It’s not easy turning a very big ship around, but it seems he’s at least trying when it comes to offering jobs to people, putting together better loans for low-income housing, and more. That doesn’t mean that a magic wand has been waved and everything will suddenly be peachy keen. It’s not, and Wells Fargo has a long ways to go.
Which led to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just had to demonstrate her “brilliance” when it came time for her round of questions.
Ocasio-Cortez used her time during the hearing to push her political agenda against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and against the fossil fuel industry.
“”Why was the bank involved in the caging of children and financing the caging of children to begin with?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.”
Wait Wut?? According to AOC in all her brilliance, because Wells Fargo provided financing for some company that had a contract with ICE, it’s Wells Fargo’s fault they were caged??!! Yes, I know, they weren’t, but facts don’t matter to AOC.
“”I don’t know how to answer that question because we weren’t,” Sloan responded.”
Ouch.
She then pivoted to climate change because GREEN NEW DEAL! And her time at Standing Rock! Hence her line of questioning…I think.
Rake #2:
“AOC then pointed to a spill involving the Keystone XL pipeline and asked why Wells Fargo shouldn’t be required to clean it up.
“We were not involved in the financing of the Keystone XL pipeline,” CEO Timothy Sloan replied.”
Rake #3: Wells Fargo must pay for damages incurred by climate change because the bank DARED to finance oil companies or something. Sloan asks how to calculate that and OWWW.
Rake #4:
Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asks Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan: "Hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access pipeline, why shouldn't Wells Fargo pay for the clean up of it?"
Sloan: "Because we don't operate the pipeline, we provide financing" pic.twitter.com/c6cShbStuk
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 12, 2019
Oh good grief. Seriously??!
I’d watch the entire segment if I were you. AOC stepped on multiple rakes in just five minutes demonstrating how little she understands of banking practices.
Oh, but she didn’t stop there. Instead, she sent out a variety of tweets ‘clarifying’ her position and questions.
Rake #5:
This, right here, is a problem.
Institutions can engage in unlimited financing of fossil fuels, building unstable pipelines + reaping profits, but when the bill comes to clean up oil spills & fix damages – they can conveniently kick the can.
So, who will pay for climate change? https://t.co/TlfmJKVwjb
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2019
I can just see it now.
Scenario One:
A hail storm (darn that climate weather stuff!) destroys my roof. Forget calling insurance company, let’s just make my bank pay for it!
Scenario Two:
Lightening (there goes that pesky climate weather thing again) hits trees and starts a forest fire. My property is scorched. Let’s make the bank pay! WOOHOOO!
Scenario Three:
"Mr. Bank CEO, why was your bank involved in robbing banks?"
"Wait, what? Our bank was robbed."
"AHA! So you admit your bank was involved in robbing banks!"
— RBe (@RBPundit) March 12, 2019
Scenario Four:
Get fired from your job? Forget going after former employer. Make the bank pay! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Or, there’s this option.
Socialism isn’t responsible for socialism’s failures, but a bank is responsible for the operational failures of a pipeline run by someone else https://t.co/3HkFqs7zAZ
— Orange Muppet Energy (@sunnyright) March 12, 2019
That folks, is the “logic” on display today by financial expert Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The rakes, they were aplenty at today’s hearing thanks to AOC. Perhaps it’s time to buy stock in rakes?
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Feature Photo Credit: Pixabay, cropped and modified
GWB says: how little she understands of banking practices
Too bad she didn’t take at least one college course in economics, or something.
So, who will pay for climate change?
I want YOU to pay for it, hun. And in advance – after all, you won’t have any children to tax.
Now, there is an actual element of liability for a bank financing something it actually knows is a fraud, or is illegal, or has known deleterious outcomes. But RISK =/= known deleterious outcome. There is a RISK a pipeline will leak – a high likelihood one, but (if built properly) a low impact. Even a realized risk (that is, something that might have happened did happen) is NOT a “known deleterious outcome”, it’s now an event to be dealt with.
Until AOC can explicate those differences to me, she needs to shut her yap about “liability”.
Also, Twitchy had more than one thread on this today. Ben Shapiro had an excellent “logical conclusion”:
An electronics company manufactured the microphone into which AOC is speaking. Why shouldn’t they be held responsible for the stupid crap she says into the microphone?
(Oh, and I wonder if she would hold Clinton responsible for the housing bubble and its subsequent burst in the 00s? Since he pushed the whole lend-to-people-that-banks-consider-too-high-risk thing. Also, will she hold Marx responsible for the millions of deaths in Europe from the 30s through the 60s?)
GWB says: Until AOC can explicate those differences to me, she needs to shut her yap about “liability”.
Oh, and that’s not “man-splaining”. That’s smart-enough-to-actually-learn-useful-things-splaining.
SDN says: Nina, this is exactly the kind of twisted logic the gun controllers want to use to make law abiding gun makers and owners “responsible” for the actions of criminals.
Mark Gist says: So if I run into someone with my car, the bank is responsible because they financed an unsafe vehicle? Good! I’m dropping my liability insurance tomorrow.
Occasional-Cortex campaign staff used Uber and taxis to get around NYC, instead of the government run transportation.
There have been several cases where the drivers of those vehicles have robbed, raped, or robbed and then raped their passengers.
Therefore, her campaign staff should all be locked up as robbers and/or rapists.
The logic of the Left.
Charles N. Steele says: One thing IPCC’s recent climate report (SR15) proposes is that governments must take over allocation of finance because market allocation by private firms finances the “wrong” things. Ocasio Cortez’ “Green New Deal” includes this. Her stupid questions are right in line with latest UN “thinking.” She was remarkably incompetent at the hearing, but the climate socialists are dead serious about this stuff. Democrats are entirely in on this and must never get power.
GWB says: the “wrong” things
“You’re not smart enough to choose” coupled with “Socialism will work because humans are angels”. *smdh* Progs really don’t get human nature – in either direction.
His_Highness says: The sad thing is that there are millions who think like AOC does. Millions do not understand the difference between a bank financing something and someone else operating it. They would go so far as to say, “If the bank makes a loan to Ruger, and a Ruger firearm is used to harm someone, then the bank is responsible.”
Oh, wait, in effect they’re already almost doing that. They’ve put a lot of pressure on credit card companies to not process legal transactions relating to the purchase of firearms and ammunition.
SFC D says: I wonder who her mom paid to take her SAT for her. I’m waiting to see her implicated in “Operation Varsity Blues”. It’s the only way she could’ve gotten into college and obtained a degree.
A. C. says: This is the same chain of logic for prohibiting banks from giving accounts to licensed gun dealers, and to suing gun and ammunition manufacturers. The Obama administration was pressuring banks into shutting down gun dealers’ accounts. She’s just picking up where Obama left off.
Pragmatic says: The purpose of this questioning was to establish with the banking institutions that they need to fear government pressure if they continue to finance projects that Democrats don’t like. She made her point brilliantly. The authors on this blog are women, so I think they miss the effectiveness of AOC. I get it, I’m a woman, too. But I also seem to be better at analyzing what the left is doing than most pundits I read on the right. And in this case – you are missing the purpose of AOC. That she’s misinformed doesn’t matter. It never has with the left. She’s a vessel and she’s stunningly effective. You need to stop dismissing her as stupid.
Dr. Art says: Rep. Maxine Waters has an awesome day yesterday. For the first time, in a long time, she wasn’t the stupidest person in the room – by a long-shot.
[…] not stupid. Well, she totally is. I didn’t say that no one is stupid enough to like her–some people liked Carrot Top, […]
njc says: She’s not ignorant of economics alone. She’s ignorant of cause and effect, of causal and moral responsibility, and of the importance of linking words and meanings to project truth as it exists, rather than her illogical, agenda-driven, biased and bigoted dogma-dementia.
And I can defend every claim in that sentence on the basis of Oclussional’s questions.
GWB says: Her manager had this to say in tweets defending her smarts:
But @AOC’s knowledge of issues is so deep that she does the communicating/framing herself.
She can talk in depth on policy issues for hours (unlike most politicians) because she REALLY knows what she’s talking about.
[She] is one of the smartest & hardest working people I’ve ever known. Right wingers not comprehending this is peak racism/sexism — and also fear.
(h/t Twitchy)
So, her manager is actually moving the rakes around in front of her so she can step on them all over again.
Wow.
Richie Hartel says: Just more progressive liberal lunacy!!!
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