Susan Sarandon Is Leading Protests Against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Susan Sarandon has a lot to say to AOC.
This article is more than 2 years old
Susan Sarandon, a renowned Hollywood actress with over 40 years of industry experience and a left-wing activist, is leading protests against New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and The Squad, reminding the progressive lawmaker that she made a “lot of promises” to the voters, but has failed to deliver.
According to an article published by Bounding Into Comics, Susan Sarandon expressed her disappointment in the Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on July 26, when she appeared in front of congresswoman’s Bronx office with a megaphone in hand. She called out AOC for not delivering on the various promises she and her group of six Democratic members of the US House of Representatives, colloquially named “The Squad,” have made to the American people. But is the Hollywood actress disheartened, and what promises did AOC fail to fulfill?
Well, according to the event’s official website, which advertised the event as Medicare For All, Susan Sarandon and other protesters were demanding that AOC and The Squad call on President Joe Biden to declare a pandemic public health emergency and expand Medicare to every American using Section 1881A of the Social Security Act. Additionally, the protesters criticized Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for what they perceived as a lack of commitment to her own Medicare for All campaign, stating that she should be held accountable for her failed promises.
Susan Sarandon, along with all protesters, demanded that Ocasio-Cortez (an avid gamer, by the way) use every legislative tool at her disposal to pass Medicare for All in Congress and use her massive social media following to organize direct actions for the healthcare campaign. For those in need of more context, AOC and The Squad campaigned on Medicare for All but didn’t demand a floor vote on it when it was in their power to leverage the Speaker vote. Likewise, they haven’t demanded that single-payer be included in the pandemic recovery bill when roughly 30 million Americans lack access to healthcare.
To remedy the situation, Susan Sarandon and other protesters organized petition signings demanding that President Biden declares a pandemic health emergency and expand Medicare to every American using Section 1881A of the Social Security Act – something he said he’d do during his presidential campaign. Then again, he also promised high-speed internet to every American, categorizing it as a utility similar to water and electricity. Good move.
The bill Susan Sarandon is discussing H.R.1384, also known as Medicare for All, introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, would’ve offered a single-payer health care system to all Americans, who would effectively be enrolled upon birth or residency, shifting the burden of responsibility on the government to cover all health expenses. The bill was co-sponsored by Ocasio-Cortez, but the measure failed to see a floor vote, preventing it from being passed. Adding to her speech in front of the Bronx office, Susan Sarandon stated that it’s disheartening to see the bill neglected by the very people who sponsored it, especially given that those people are having a hard time being elected – probably referring to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries.
