Ocasio-Cortez on controlling COVID-19: ‘We need to pay people to stay home’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed congressional inaction on another coronavirus relief package, saying that “pay[ing] people to stay home” was vital to preventing the spread of the virus.

“To get the virus under control, we need to pay people to stay home,” the New York congresswoman tweeted Thursday.

“Republicans are mad at this when they literally just voted to do just this in March,” she added, referencing the single $1,200 stimulus payment to individuals that Congress authorized. “The reason they’re opposed to it now is because last time they got a Wall Street bailout and this time all that’s left is helping working people, the disabled, the poor, etc.”

Republicans are mad at this when they literally just voted to do just this in March.

The reason they’re opposed to it now is because last time they got a Wall Street bailout and this time all that’s left is helping working people, the disabled, the poor, etc.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 19, 2020

She linked to an earlier tweet of hers, reading “Funny how you didn’t hear Republicans complain about ‘spending other people’s money’ or ask ‘how are we going to pay for it?!’ when they insisted on creating a $4 trillion leveraged slush fund for their Wall Street buddies in March,” referencing the same earlier relief package.

⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/P6eC4yYLjU

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 19, 2020

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, which includes another $3 trillion in aid, and separately passed a leaner $2.2 trillion package in October. Both versions of the bill include another round of stimulus payments but the GOP-controlled Senate has refused to take it up, calling it too expensive.

President-elect Joe Biden has called a new aid package vital to the nation’s economic recovery, saying earlier this week “We’re going into a very dark winter. Things are going to get much tougher before they get easier.”