{"id":20420,"date":"2025-11-25T04:03:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/america-first-poll-here\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T04:03:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:03:39","slug":"america-first-poll-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/?p=20420","title":{"rendered":"AMERICA FIRST! POLL HERE"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C. \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0A highly anticipated House hearing intended to hold major bank executives accountable for their management of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) devolved into a visible political failure, with Congresswoman\u00a0<\/p>\n

What should have been a clear tactical opportunity for the progressive star\u2014armed with damning media reports alleging bank misconduct\u2014turned into a comprehensive self-inflicted wound. Ocasio-Cortez was visibly thrown off script, eventually stalling entirely and admitting, \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m just uh having a tough time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exchange demonstrated a critical gap between Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s powerful rhetoric and the technical mastery required to challenge a veteran executive who, as one observer noted, \u201cleaps on that skill more than once.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hearing focused on the PPP, the emergency federal loan initiative designed during the pandemic to help small businesses retain employees. If the funds were used for specific payroll and operating costs, the loans would be forgiven by the government.<\/p>\n

The financial stakes for the issuing institutions were enormous.\u00a0Banks were estimated to have made a staggering\u00a0<\/span>$18 billion<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0in processing fees alone.<\/span>\u00a0However, the program quickly became mired in controversy. The Associated Press reported lawsuits accusing firms like JP Morgan Chase of providing preferential access to major clients, while subsequent reports highlighted issues during the crucial\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez, a graduate of Boston University with degrees in economics and international relations, arrived with what observers termed \u201cthe perfect setup.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0She was paraphrasing reports from outlets like The Intercept detailing how Bank of America allegedly misled small business owners and refused to forgive loans in full, even when documentation was provided. One instance cited a Washington business whose $33,000 loan was allegedly reduced by the bank to just $1,200 for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

The task was simple: use the facts to corner the CEO. But Moynihan, a seasoned executive since 2010, was ready.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s first line of questioning centered on the percentage of loans that had been forgiven in full, seeking confirmation or denial of reports suggesting widespread partial forgiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many of those loans in terms of the percentage have those loans been forgiven in full as opposed to in part?\u201d Ocasio-Cortez pressed.<\/p>\n

Moynihan immediately deployed a strategy of deflection and stalling, refusing to provide specific data while overwhelming the Congresswoman with irrelevant, high-level figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ones are forgiven are mostly vast vast majority be forgiven in full,\u201d Moynihan replied, offering the vague assurance, followed by a promise of data that never materialized in the moment.<\/p>\n

When Ocasio-Cortez pressed for clarification on whether the cited\u00a095%<\/strong> success rate represented \u201cpartial loan forgiveness or a full loan forgiveness rate,\u201d Moynihan pivoted entirely, shifting the blame and the focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re getting what the borrowers are applying for the forgiveness entitled in the program\u2026 The government designed the program, and we implement the program very short notice,\u201d Moynihan stated, before dismissing the Congresswoman\u2019s documented sources entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what you\u2019re reading, frankly, is not the facts because it\u2019s old. It doesn\u2019t understand how the how the math works. And so just give us some time. We\u2019ll give you the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the observer noted, Moynihan was effectively telling the Congresswoman that she lacked the necessary comprehension to engage in the debate. He successfully dodged the core allegations regarding the bank\u2019s internal forgiveness portal and the refusal of appeals\u2014the very issue Ocasio-Cortez had a \u201csharp question\u201d prepared for.<\/p>\n

She had the necessary facts, but failed to pin the CEO down on the specifics, allowing him to use \u201ccarefully worded nonsense\u201d to stall the clock.<\/p>\n

With the clock running down and her first line of attack completely neutralized by Moynihan\u2019s evasion, Ocasio-Cortez attempted to change course, asking why Bank of America chose to opt out of the SBA (Small Business Administration) portal for loan processing\u2014a move that further complicated the appeals process for small businesses.<\/p>\n

The transition, however, was catastrophic. Ocasio-Cortez struggled immediately after Moynihan\u2019s first non-committal answer (\u201cI have no idea of of whether I told you before I\u2019m not sure we did or didn\u2019t and I have no idea why they would made the decision\u201d).<\/p>\n

Visibly flustered, the Congresswoman lost her train of thought, leading to an awkward, prolonged silence that underscored her lack of preparation on the secondary topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. And um\u2026 I\u2019m I\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m just uh having a a tough time,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez admitted, leaving her sentence hanging.<\/p>\n

She attempted to regain control by citing the total loan amounts\u2014\u201dthis is about $25.2 billion in loan amounts in your bank, correct?\u201d\u2014but this only prompted Moynihan to correct her figures, further eroding her control of the narrative.<\/p>\n

Moynihan continued to stick to vague reassurances, leveraging Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s breakdown to consolidate his defense. \u201cIt\u2019s all paid back. It\u2019s all through. The team did a great job and we\u2019re happy to supply the information to you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The analysis surrounding the event was brutal: For someone who built her brand on confronting power, Ocasio-Cortez \u201ccompletely dropped the ball\u201d when faced with a top banker. Her inability to recognize and counter Moynihan\u2019s deliberate stalling tactics suggested a fundamental weakness in her grasp of the complex financial subject matter.<\/p>\n

The hearing served as a dramatic example of the political pitfalls facing progressives: while powerful in conveying \u201cslogans and big promises,\u201d the effectiveness often evaporates \u201conce you get past the surface,\u201d failing to demonstrate the \u201creal grasp of how the systems work\u201d necessary to challenge the powerful institutions they seek to regulate. The CEO walked away unscathed, leaving the Congresswoman to grapple with the political consequences of a public malfunction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C. \u2014\u00a0A highly anticipated House hearing intended to hold major bank executives accountable for their management of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) devolved into a visible political failure, with Congresswoman\u00a0 What…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}