Former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke said Tuesday that “living close to work shouldn’t be a luxury for the rich. It’s a right for everyone.”
Apparently not aware that many wealthy people also live far from their work, the Democratic presidential nomination contender suggested it was “lower income people” who had long commute times and he said people with higher incomes have “to be forced to allow lower-income people to live near them.” (RELATED: Beto O’Rourke Compares Climate Crusaders To ‘Those Who Were On The Beaches Of Normandy’)
Living close to work shouldn’t be a luxury for the rich. It’s a right for everyone. pic.twitter.com/lohRdoFGrH
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 10, 2019
“Rich people are gonna have to allow or be forced to allow lower-income people to live near them, which is what we fail to do in this country right now. We force lower-income working Americans to drive one, two, three hours in either direction to get to their jobs, very often minimum wage jobs so they’re working two or three of them right now.”
O’Rourke suggested his program of low-income housing was the answer to this apparent problem.
“What if, as we propose to do, we invested in housing that was closer to where you work, very often mixed income housing, meaning the very wealthiest are living next to those who are not the very wealthiest in this country … “ (RELATED: Beto Says Trump ‘Responsible’ For Deaths Of Migrant Father And Daughter)
O’Rourke claimed that having poor people live close to their work would also have an astounding effect on equality in America “that we really have that as a place where in this divided country right now you can come together without regard to your income or your race or your ethnicity or any other difference that should not matter right now.”
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
O’Rourke also suggested building “high-speed rail” in every American city to ensure that “if you do not have a car or do want to use a car” you can still find urban mobility. He proposed that this would create cities “that are smarter, that are denser” and would not only lower greenhouse gas emissions but would also improve the quality of life for all. O’Rourke has suggested the world only has 10 years remaining in which to win the war against climate change.
Despite tremendous media hype when O’Rourke announced his candidacy, the former congressman was forced to reboot his campaign after a couple of months. He remains well behind front runner former Vice President Joe Biden as well as Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.