Ocasio Cortez Uber
UPDATE 2:55 P.M.: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's campaign office, not congressional office, has spent nearly $500 on Uber rides in the first quarter of 2019. This story has been corrected.
The campaign had 505 Uber expenses alone. In all, Ocasio-Cortez spent $29,365.70 on those emissions-spewing vehicles, along with car and van rentals — even though her Queens HQ was a one-minute. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2018. To try and reinforce her point, her campaign has cut SOME spending on Uber. But according to Federal Election Commission records, she shifted those funds to Lyft and Juno. The Uber boycott is actually the second time Cortez is making headlines this week for the absurdity. O n Wednesday, it was reported that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign had spent $4,000 on Uber rides — despite the fact that the self-described Democratic socialist herself had previously. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) came out in support of striking Uber and Lyft drivers on Wednesday and asked her followers to boycott the rideshare companies, but campaign finance records show her team spent nearly $2,000 on rides through them in just three months. The boycott call from the New York socialist comes as. United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has warned about the influence big technology companies may have on President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration, after Uber, Lyft.
Freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has repeatedly castigated ride-sharing giant Uber and blamed its 'unregulated expansion' after a yellow cab driver committed suicide last year, but her campaign office has taken nearly $500 worth of Uber rides during the first quarter of 2019.
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Ocasio-Cortez, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, criticized Uber several times on Twitter last year and blamed them for causing 'financial ruin' to yellow cab drivers.
'NYC's fourth driver suicide. Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber. What was a living wage job now pays under minimum,' she tweeted.
NYC's fourth driver suicide. Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber. What was a living wage job now pays under minimum.
We need:
– to call Uber drivers what they are: EMPLOYEES, not contractors
– Fed jobs guarantee
– Prep for automation https://t.co/FjfapJV2ni
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2018
Ocasio Cortez Uber
The yellow cab driver, Doug Schifter, killed himself with a shotgun amid financial difficulties in response to multiple cheaper alternatives to the yellow taxi, as addressed in his Facebook status.
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign office recorded spending nearly $500 on 50 Uber rides between January and late March, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. The Uber payments ranged from just $2.05 to $51.69 and were filed under 'car service.'
Her office recorded spending $1,344 on 49 Lyft rides between January and late March, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. The Lyft payments ranged from $3.00 to $70.00 and were filed under 'car service.'
Lyft, which is one of Uber's ride-sharing competitors, saw its revenue soar to $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017. Micreported last year that Uber and Lyft have both driven New York City cab drivers to depression and debt due to increased competition.
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign staff recorded spending nearly $4,000 on 160 Uber rides between April and late June 2018, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. The Uber payments ranged from just 59 cents to $82.26 and were filed under 'car service,' according to Fox News.
In her home state of New York, Ocasio-Cortez's campaign doesn't use the traditional yellow cabs for getting around either.
The FEC records show that the campaign spent nearly $2,500 for more than 90 rides with the so-called ride-sharing startup company Juno that pitched itself as an alternative to Uber for drivers as it offered slightly better pay and an option to accumulate the company's stock. There's no data yet for any rides taken by the Ocasio-Cortez campaign in July and August.
But the 'driver-friendly' startup is barely any better for drivers than other ride-sharing companies. It was sold in April to Israel-based Gett for $200 million and immediately came under fire for scrapping the stock unit program for its drivers.
This prompted a class action by Juno drivers. 'Plaintiffs were victims of the classic ‘bait and switch' scheme – promised equity and then paid off at pennies on the dollar when all other shareholders/investors made out handsomely,' the suit reads.
Forget the limousine liberal.
As the new model of disconnect between rhetoric and reality, but still maintaining an automotive theme, meet the Uber-denouncing politician whose campaign depends heavily on . . . Uber.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn't mince words when it comes to Uber, which she claims has even caused cab drivers to commit suicide:
New York Socialist Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez once blamed ride-sharing giant Uber for leading a yellow cab driver to suicide. Her campaign then took $4,000 worth of Uber rides.
But Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to prominence after defeating top Democrat Joe Crowley in the party’s U.S. House primary in June, is no fan of Uber, if you read her statements on social media.
She frequently criticized the ride-hailing company for what she sees as underpaying its drivers, decrying their pay as “exploitation” if they don’t get at least $15 an hour, the so-called living wage.
She directly blamed the company for the suicide death of Doug Schifter, a driver in his 60s, who killed himself with a shotgun amid financial difficulties caused by flooding the streets of New York with alternative and cheaper options of taxis, as detailed in a lengthy Facebook post.
“NYC's fourth driver suicide. Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber. What was a living wage job now pays under minimum,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
So of course, Ms. Ocasion-Cortez would rather walk miles than take Uber.
Well, no:
But between April and late June, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign recorded spending nearly $4,000 on Uber for what appears to be 160 rides by its staff, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reveal.
The payments to Uber ranged from just 59 cents to $82.26 and were filed under “car service.” All the rides were taken in California. There’s no data yet for the months of July and August.
In her home state of New York, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign doesn’t use the traditional yellow cabs for getting around either.
The FEC records show that the campaign spent nearly $2,500 for more than 90 rides with the so-called ride-sharing startup company Juno that pitched itself as an alternative to Uber for drivers as it offered slightly better pay and an option to accumulate the company’s stock. There’s no data yet for any rides taken by the Ocasio-Cortez campaign between in July and August.
Ocasio Cortez Uber News
But the “driver-friendly” startup is barely any better for drivers than other ride-sharing companies. It was sold in April to Israel-based Gett for $200 million and immediately came under fire for scrapping the stock unit program for its drivers.
Ocasio Cortez Uber
This prompted a class action by Juno drivers. “Plaintiffs were victims of the classic ‘bait and switch’ scheme – promised equity and then paid off at pennies on the dollar when all other shareholders/investors made out handsomely,” the suit reads.
I'm still trying to figure out what the fifty-nine cent ride was.