AOC says Americans' right to a home trumps workers' 'privilege' to earn profit
New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thinks having a home should be a human right.
During a recent town hall in the Bronx, New York, the freshman lawmaker suggested the right to own a home should take precedence over someone’s ability to make a profit.
“What are we doing to make sure housing is being legislated as a human right?” Ocasio-Cortez asked during a town hall in the Bronx, New York. “It means our access and our ability and our guarantee to having a home comes before someone else’s privilege to earn a profit.”
She went on to say that all Americans have a right to “dignified housing,” which includes things like good heat, clean air and low noise – offered at an affordable price.
Progressive Democrats have advocated for a number of policies to provide services they believe should be guaranteed to all Americans. Those include things like health care, as many members of the party – including a number who are running for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020 – have called for universal health care via Medicare-for-all.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal to “cancel” student debt for about 42 million Americans. She is also one of many who think people should be given access to a free college education.
Many of these proposals, however, are met with criticism as to how they would be paid for. Warren has proposed paying for her student debt cancellation proposal via her “ultra-millionaire tax,” which would be equal to 2 percent for those with more than $50 million in assets, but would rise to 3 percent for those who have assets valued at more than $1 billion.
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Ocasio-Cortez’s comments come as California is grappling with a surging homelessness problem.
The number of homeless people in San Francisco has increased 17 percent since 2017, according to the San Francisco Chronicle – which also noted that the city spends more than $300 million each year to combat the problem. The homeless population in Los Angeles County increased 12 percent over the past year.