Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests eliminating Columbus Day

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dove straight into suggesting significant changes on Twitter last week before officially starting her new position which initiated a whole debate around voting and Columbus day.

In June Alexandria unseated the leading House Democrat, Joe Crowley after she won the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District.

Her suggestion to take Columbus Day off the federal holiday list and replace it with Election Day came in response to an earlier tweet she posted. In her previous tweet she asked :

How is Columbus Day a holiday but Election Day not?

It caught the attention of the Daily Mail editor David Martosko who accused her of “angling for more vacation days.”

Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.

In response to his quip, Alexandra suggested tweeted:

“While I would disagree with your complaint that Americans get too much vacation time (we work some of the longest hours of any dev country & have no Fed required paid leave), I am willing to compromise by eliminating Columbus Day to give Election Day off. See? I can be pliant.”

In a new American Barometer survey earlier this month, a majority of participants agreed that Election Day should be a federal holiday where everyone gets the day off work.

Not everyone agrees on this, as it's just not practical, and pointed out that many people working in retail stores, hotels and restaurants and various other service orientated companies would not be able to take the day off.

Early voting and mail-in ballots are alternatives offered by some states for those who need to work on Election Day. During an interview with Pollster, Mallory Newall said that Election Day would only become a federal holiday once voters agree on the need for increasing turnout from both parties and elaborated:

"You have a near-majority of Republicans saying that voter fraud is a bigger issue, so I think until it changes [to] where a majority of Americans across the party lines can get on board with wanting to increase turnout, and giving people more time to vote, I don't see it happening,"

As one looks back at her career, it's clear to see that her determination and go-getter attitude made for some significant changes. Her campaign had an ultra-liberal platform which she ran entirely on a grassroots level.

It included the end to private prisons, access to affordable housing, gun reform, universal Medicare, tuition-free college, a federal jobs guarantee and the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Having previously worked for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and a former organizer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, Alexandria was favored to beat Republican Anthony Pappas in her deep-blue district.

The predictions came true, and Alexandria became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. On Tuesday night during her victory speech she said:

"This is what is possible when everyday people come together in the collective realization that all our actions … are powerful, worthwhile and capable of lasting change."

Everyone does not agree with her methods and suggestions as a Daily Caller editor called her demands for a living wage for Americans ‘truly terrifying,” and thought her ideas to be populist.

The way she had been handling situations in the diverse districts of the Bronx and Queens have earned her the endorsement from former President Barack Obama.

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