Could Boss Norcross' Little Brother Wind Up As A One-Term Congressman?

Ready to fight-- I mean really fight? To fight the good fight against the oligarchs and predators? The fight to save American democracy? For real? Meet Alex Law, the progressive candidate running against the venal Norcross Machine in South Jersey (Camden, Cherry Hill, the Philly suburbs across the Delaware River, all the way down past Glassboro to Winslow Township on the Atlantic City Expressway). 

When Law announced he's taking on Donald Norcross, he pointed out: "In South Jersey, we are missing people in government that have a true passion for helping people. Fundamentally, that is what started my fire to run for office.  When I dug deeper and began to research more about the Norcross Machine, I realized how dire things really are around here and I knew I would do anything I could to help. This election is so important because defeating the Machine at the top of the ticket opens up opportunity to defeat it at the local level... I know I can provide much needed passion as well as a commitment to exceptional leadership  in our government."

New Jersey political boss George Norcross's little brother Donald has only been in Congress for 4 months but we've remarked that he's already been accruing a very anti-progressive voting record. Since first joining Congress last year-- there was a special election to fill the seat of corrupt Machine hack Rob Andrews-- Norcross has carved out a 66.67 "crucial vote" score at ProgressivePunch, the lowest of any New Jersey Democrat. That's especially awful when you consider that his seat is totally safe from GOP incursion. The PVI is D+13 and Obama won it against Romney 66-34%. But, in Law's words, "A morally bankrupt elite has taken control of our destiny and is working hard to ensure that money flows upstream to them rather than dispersed, through fair opportunities to work and compete, to the middle class. This frightening trend is a departure from what the American economy has traditionally provided. We as a country have forgotten that growth comes from the middle up and not the top down. Broadly shared prosperity is the true engine of stable economic growth."

Law's policy agenda is very progressive-- from marijuana legalization and LGBTQ equality to Net Neutrality, dealing with mental health and student loans. In fact, he sounds like Elizabeth Warren!

The fact that the system for student loans hasn’t been reformed is a testament to the power of the banking lobby. We are risking our future so that already profitable banks can make even more money. The system is rigged so that many students never escape debt, which prevents them from buying homes and spending money. The money they would have been spent to drive our economy from the middle instead flows to banks at the top. This is a huge part of our collective problem. The scale is staggering. Student loans are more than all credit card debt in our country and quickly catching up to mortgages. Unlike other forms of debt, there is no bankruptcy protection, which is outrageous. If banks and other financial institutions can use bankruptcy protection to shed some of their debt when it becomes too crushing, why can’t real people?

7 million Americans have already defaulted on their student loans. These Americans will have their personal credit plummet and be deemed unhireable by many employers as a result. Once a borrower has defaulted on a student loan, this results in automatically becoming ineligible for some government jobs. Their debt that was only obtained in order to get a good job can be the thing that prevents them from getting one.

It is only going to get worse. As the economy improves, the interest rates will rise over 7%. Meanwhile banks can borrow at .75%, nearly ten times less than what many students pay. Why are we subsidizing our banks but turning our future into profit centers?

Shockingly, it isn’t just banks profiting off student loans. If the Federal Government’s student loan branch were a private company, it would be the most profitable company in the world. The Congressional Budget Office reported that the Federal Government made about $50 billion on student loans in 2013. This is $5 billion more than ExxonMobile. Why on earth is the government making $50 billion dollars off of its citizens?

As the global economy continues to value knowledge more and more, we must make sure our youth can keep up. We should stand behind President Obama’s plan to make community college free for all students that show a commitment to learning. We lose when people that want to learn in order to become more productive members of society are priced out of bettering themselves. 

If you'd like to contribute to Law's campaign, you can do it here on the DownWithTyranny ActBlue page. He's our first candidate for 2016.