For years, former New York Rep. Joe Crowley was moving up the line to become Speaker of the House, but he should never have been allowed to climb the party hierarchy to begin with. He was everything the Democratic Party should have been fighting against: a corporate elitist who always talked out of both sides of his mouth. He was an establishment “centrist” in a deep-blue district, the kind of person more concerned with calls for civility than anger over Trump’s humanitarian atrocities. Crowley, who didn’t even live in the district he was serving, was also an arrogant bastard who sent a surrogate to debate his 2018 primary opponent, a young restaurant worker and longtime activist. Classless to the end, Crowley, who lost that primary, threw all kinds of childish tantrums, up to and including undermining a colleague who backed his 28-year-old opponent after she won her seat in November.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the passionate usurper who defeated Crowley, warned her constituents that he was beholden to special interest money. She repeatedly contrasted her small-donation funding with the private equity groups, corporate PACs, and pharmaceutical lobbyists who were responsible for almost the entirety of Crowley’s campaign portfolio. She warned everyone that Crowley wasn’t in Congress to serve their interests, but those of the rich and powerful who, incidentally, were also funding Donald Trump.
Once again, AOC has been proven right.
Barely two months out of office, Joe Crowley, the former ten-term U.S. congressman who suffered a stunning defeat to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th district last November, is now joining Squire Patton Boggs, one of the most powerful corporate lobbying firms the U.S.
Squire Patton Boggs is a large firm with many clients, including major corporate powerhouses from the defense, private prison, and fossil fuel industry, as well as ultra-conservative advocacy groups.
Crowley now works alongside former GOP leaders like Trent Lott and John Boehner to lobby on behalf of groups that include the Koch-funded Policy and Taxation Group, the Gulf Energy Alliance, and Advanced Emissions Solutions (AES). Trent Lott praised him during the announcement of his hire, saying he will be an “asset for clients.”
Two of Crowley’s top aides have also landed jobs on K Street, known as the center of the lobbying industry.
Even worse, Crowley is now lobbying for Donald Trump’s NAFTA replacement, called USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). In fact, he was named ”honorary co-chairman” of something called the “Pass USMCA Coalition,” which was launched by Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, Rick Dearborn.
Right now, there is a massive, coordinated effort with GOP strategists to conduct a ”multi-million dollar marketing blitz” to push through this “new NAFTA,” which Trump is trying to get passed before the August recess. In a press release, Crowley played the lapdog by saying he was “excited” to join the effort, stating that “my former colleagues should take action to ratify the agreement quickly.”
The biggest proponent of Trump’s new deal used to be one of Crowley’s biggest backers as well: Big Pharma. The industry’s involvement shouldn’t surprise anyone: The USMCA would give pharmaceutical companies a whopping ten years of protection from cheaper competitors in an expensive drug category.
“By including 10 years in a treaty, we are locking ourselves in to a higher level of monopoly protection for drugs that are already taking in billions of dollars a year.”
Jeffrey Francer, general counsel for the Association for Accessible Medicine
Without competition, this deal allows drug companies to charge pretty much whatever they want for life-saving drugs. When Crowley was asked if he could guarantee his former Congressional colleagues that this deal wouldn’t result in large price increases, he dodged the question by saying “I think that it’s for them to make their own decision on how they’re going to vote on this particular issue.”
For the ten terms Crowley was in office, Fox News and other rightwing outlets never said a word about New York's District 14 representative. That changed once he was replaced with a smart, progressive millennial not beholden to special interests. AOC is now the politician most feared by the right ... and the establishment left, actually … and I love her for that. I don’t know what the future holds for her, but no matter how high her star rises, I know that she can always be counted on to fight for her ideals and her people.
She will sure as hell will never be referred to as an “asset” for Trump’s people.