Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had not even been sworn into Congress by Thursday, but she had already unveiled a proposed set of rule changes for the House of Representatives that includes building towards her plan of a “Green New Deal.”

While Ocasio-Cortez’s lofty goals are unlikely to get much attention from Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Establishment, it is only a matter of time before the young socialist’s online popularity gains her enough power to start making significant moves on Capitol Hill. And even if Pelosi freezes AOC herself out of committee leadership spots, you can be sure that elements of her Green New Deal will start popping up in the messaging of candidates seeking the White House in 2020.

And boy, about those elements…

The Green New Deal is positioned as a climate change-focused plan, and it is that. But it is also a broad swath of proposed goals that will – in the words of Ocasio-Cortez and her allies – ensure the spread of “social, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice.”

Furthermore, Ocasio-Cortez is determined to make sure there are no longer any poor people in the United States!

“The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation,” reads the text from her office.

As for the environment, Ocasio-Cortez is aiming to move the U.S. electrical grid to 100% renewable energy. To wit, the plan calls for the following goals to be met:

  •     The installation of a “national, energy-efficient, “smart grid.”
  •     “Upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety”
  •     “Eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries” as well as from America’s transportation and infrastructure network
  •     Funding “massive investment” in reducing existing greenhouse gasses

Oh, and lest we forget, the plan calls for “strong enforcement of labor, workplace safety, and wage standards that recognize the rights of workers to organize and unionize free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment, and creation of meaningful, quality, career employment.”

In other words, when it’s all said and done, the federal government will be in control of every aspect of the private sector. Which, to put it another way, means we will no longer HAVE a private sector.

It’s easy to wave all of this away as the nonsense flowing from a former bartender who got lucky in an election, but that would be a mistake. The Democrats are at a crossroads right now, and they aren’t blind to the publicity and popularity AOC is getting from the youth. Don’t be surprised to see some of this crap show up on some campaign platforms for 2020. And don’t be surprised, if one of them wins, to see it actually go into effect.

We could be in deeper trouble than we think.