On Tuesday, a day after having to publicly shame conservative—and not-so-liberal—lawmakers who enjoy cheap labor in the form of unpaid internships, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made sure that everyone knew she was going to walk the walk.
This comes on the heels of Ocasio-Cortez using her very public position to shine a light on the economically exclusionary practice of unpaid internships in Washington, D.C.’s political arena. And considering how much money members of the Republican-led Senate can now spend on themselves, it’s criminal for any senator to choose not to try and attract bright, young, diverse talent.
The budget for “Senate operations,” the pocket of money members use for staffing, grew from roughly $871 million last year to $920 million for 2018 — a bigger raise (6 percent) than from 2014 to 2017 (1.4 percent).
Do the right thing, Congress: Follow Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s examples. The only meaningful future we face must include a less-desperate division between the haves and the have-nots.