WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced the results of its online poll for the 2019 Porker of the Year. There were six worthy candidates who were guilty of plugging pricey policies, promoting earmarks and wasteful practices, and pushing a big-spending agenda.
After the votes were tallied, the dishonor went to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who was named CAGW’s March Porker of the Month for introducing the egregiously expensive “Green New Deal.” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez received 54 percent of the vote, more than twice as much as the 25 percent for runner-up Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Senator Warren was named CAGW’s 2019 May Porker of the Month for proposing “free” college and a taxpayer-funded bailout of all student loan debt.
In February, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez introduced H. Res. 109, to recognize “the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal,” through a “10-year national mobilization effort” to drastically remake the U.S. economy. Her bill would be a disaster for American taxpayers for a litany of reasons that are difficult to count. The American Action Forum estimated that the total cost of the proposal would be $93 trillion. To put that figure in perspective, it would more than quadruple the current national debt of $22 trillion that the United States has accumulated in the last 240 years. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and her allies have yet to submit a plan that comes even remotely close to paying for this tsunami of new spending.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s own office admitted, in a document they later had to disavow, that some of their goals were to, “replace every combustion-engine vehicle” and create rail systems so that “air travel stops becoming necessary,” and to provide, “economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work.” To be fair, they had to grudgingly admit that, “we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.” Yes, farting cows are apparently a huge concern to the American people.
CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “We would like to thank the taxpayers who voted for all of the ‘worthy’ candidates. The results are not surprising, as Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s $93 trillion proposal exemplifies the Congress’s failure to protect the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. For pushing a radical plan that would destroy the American economy, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez deserves the distinction of 2019 Porker of the Year.”
CAGW is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Year is a dubious honor given to a lawmaker, government official, or political candidate who has shown the most blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers throughout the year.