Date: 2024-05-26 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00017033
US Politics
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did the unthinkable last winter — she made a video of a Congressional hearing go viral.
Peter Burgess
Team Demand Progress
11:11 AM (29 minutes ago) to me
Dear Peter,
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did the unthinkable last winter — she made a video of a Congressional hearing go viral.
The video of Ocasio-Cortez schooling Congress on dark money in politics has been viewed nearly 40 million times.1 She made headlines again this month when she questioned a Facebook executive about Libra, the corporation's dangerous new currency.2
How does AOC manage to ask expert questions of corporate shills time and time again? She's not just brilliant — she has a top-notch staff that provides the research she needs to call out corporate power. And Demand Progress is working to provide the same high-quality assistance to all of the progressives in Congress.
Will you donate to help the Progressive Talent Pipeline recruit and train the rock star staff to help AOC and other elected progressives to stand up to corporate power in D.C.?
AOC isn't the only member of Congress with viral videos of corporate executive takedowns. Rep. Katie Porter challenged the billionaire CEO of JPMorgan Chase to pay a living wage for bank employees by working out the math on paper right in front of him.3 Elizabeth Warren went viral when she told the CEO of Wells Fargo he should resign after the bank was found to have defrauded millions of customers.4
These progressive leaders know their stuff. But they can't do it alone. Progressive staffing is critical.
AOC has an excellent staff to help her prepare testimony questions, read and write legislation, research policies, and do all the other work that is essential to being an effective member of Congress.
Because of how staffing Congress has worked in the past, legislative assistants have disproportionately come from conservative think tanks funded by the Koch brothers and unpaid internships out of private universities. The Progressive Talent Pipeline was founded to change that system.
The Pipeline was created to help provide progressive members of Congress with the help they need to succeed. We winnowed more than one thousand applicants down to 150 standouts, and then we trained them in how to navigate Congress and fight for progressive policies. Our recruits are successful organizers and experts in their fields who have proven progressive credentials.
We've already placed dozens of staffers in positions on Capitol Hill to help research and write legislation, meet with constituents, and plan media strategies. Now we need to ramp up the program to train even more people to pitch in.
Will you donate to help fight back against corporate power and fund the Progressive Talent Pipeline?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank, Demand Progress
DONATE Sources:
1. The Guardian, 'Why Ocasio-Cortez’s lesson in dark money is the most-watched political video,' February 14, 2019
2. Business Insider, 'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's exchange with Facebook's crypto boss exposed a big problem about who actually controls the Libra currency,' July 17, 2019
3. NowThis News, 'Lawmaker Challenges Big Bank CEO by Showing Him Math,' April 16, 2019
4. NPR, ''You Should Resign': Watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren Grill Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf,' September 20, 2016
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