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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Just Expertly Trolled the Religious Right With Her New Bill to Reform Payday Lending Laws
Troll level: Master
Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently rolled out a plan with 2020 presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) to cap credit card interest rates at 15% and put an end to federal predatory payday lending practices.
Despite the bill having large Republican support, it's unlikely that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will allow the bill to proceed to the floor.
Now, Ocasio-Cortez is calling out the hypocrisy of religious right-wingers like McConnell by citing the bible.
Usury - aka high interest - happens to be explicitly denounced in the Bible (& in many other religions). Looking f… https://t.co/r1Aj9gCKF0— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1558060373.0
Ocasio-Cortez is right. Interest is mentioned in Exodus 22:25:
"If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest."
And again in Leviticus—a book also containing a famous verse used by the religious right to demonize queer people:
"Take thou no interest of him or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee."
With that, Ocasio-Cortez called on McConnell to "use his religious principles for good."
@adrielhampton Yep! I’m just carrying it in the House and whipping votes there 😉 but if Mitch McConnell wants to ac… https://t.co/ZMpsn9c0Bv— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1558061034.0
People cheered the Congresswoman's approach.
@AOC High time we started calling out the religious hypocrites. Religion has been used to advance supremacist goal… https://t.co/Hlr3Hn3qX1— Reader Adrift (@Reader Adrift) 1558071918.0
@AOC Yes usury!! But wait til the religious zealots see this. It ain’t bad if it benefits them.— KEE (@KEE) 1558070848.0
@AOC Internet search on "bible verses usury" yielded "100 verses." No, the bible does not like interest, or abusive… https://t.co/M5VcaJBnxW— Steve Groven (@Steve Groven) 1558093644.0
Ocasio-Cortez's fight is generating lots of interest—hopefully credit card companies won't be permitted to do the same.