Sen. Bernard Sanders teamed up with freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday to roll out a plan taking on “extortionists” on Wall Street, proposing mandatory caps on credit card interest rates.
The 77-year-old senator and the 29-year-old congresswoman announced the plan in a live video, saying they have written companion bills that would set a 15% cap and give states the power to go even lower.
They cast the bills as a way to combat banks they say have become “loan sharks,” using interest rates to trap some consumers in a spiral of debt.
“We are talking about economic brutality,” said Mr. Sanders, Vermont independent.
He tied himself to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez at a critical time. His 2020 presidential campaign has been flagging in the polls, losing ground to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
The interest-rate cap provides a strong contrast with Mr. Biden, who has been accused of being too cozy with credit card companies during his three-plus decades as a Delaware senator.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez suggested candidates who run on “bold, progressive” ideas such as the credit card legislation or Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s universal child care plan will have an edge over their rivals.
“These are the issues we should really be talking about and this is what the race should really be about,” she told The Washington Times.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez finds herself well-positioned to play the role of liberal kingmaker after blasting onto the scene last year with a stunning primary victory over Rep. Joseph Crowley, a 20-year member of Congress who had been seen as a possible future House speaker.
Since then, her star has continued to burn brightly in the eyes of activists, and she has become natural allies with Mr. Sanders and other liberal champions on Capitol Hill, where she has led the charge for proposals such as the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All.”
In the joint livestream Thursday, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she shares Mr. Sanders’ concerns that credit card companies and big banks have been given a blank check to charge poor people “extortion-level interest rates.”
“We should not be using people’s misfortune and using people’s income status as a basis for extortion and a basis for predatory lending,” she said.
Asked whether she plans to endorse in the 2020 race, she told The Times she is focused on her day job and she plans on waiting a “little bit longer.”
She has, however, signaled that she would prefer someone other than Mr. Biden, saying she understands the nostalgia for the Obama years, but that the former vice president doesn’t “animate me” for various reasons.
Mr. Biden, on the campaign trail, has stayed away from major policy pronouncements in his first weeks as a candidate. Instead, he has sounded a more general battle cry on the dignity of the presidency and Mr. Trump’s failings.
Polls suggest that message is hitting home.
Mr. Biden has jumped out to a healthy double-digit lead, siphoning support away from Mr. Sanders, according to pollsters.
Mr. Sanders trailed Mr. Biden by a 29% to 19% margin in late March and now trails him by a 38% to 11% margin in the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“It is not a dip or a drop in Sanders numbers compared to Biden’s, it is a flat-out free fall,” said Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac’s assistant director.
But the first votes won’t be cast in the Iowa caucuses for another eight months.
The Sanders camp is betting “Joementum” burns off.
Jim Zogby, a Sanders supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Biden is an “appealing candidate” but said he believes Mr. Sanders has a more sustainable message.
“Bernie is not the slap you on the back happy warrior, but his support base is firm because he is passionate, he has a sense of urgency and I think he speaks to the mood of that same constituency — the one that says we’ve been screwed, and government political leaders have not paid attention to us and our needs,” Mr. Zogby said.
⦁ Gabriella Munoz contributed to this report.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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