Andrew Jones Challenges ‘Squad’ Member Congresswoman Cori Bush – Opinion

St. Louis Republican & Business Executive Andrew JonesRecently, Jones declared his intent to challenge Cori Buss next year as U.S. representative. In a press release, Jones explained why he believed it was necessary to continue this endeavor.

It’s time for a change in the 1St District. Families are suffering under the pressure of rising inflation and uncontrollable prices. We have a rising number of criminals in our community, and our kids are being educated poorly. We don’t need a socialist ideologue that divides people based upon income, race and background. We need common-sense representation to put St. Louis County and its interests first. That is why I’m running for Congress.

Jones made his announcement at the construction site for the federal government’s new $1.7 billion National Geospatial Western Headquarters.  According to the website, the NGA “Provide[s] information that American soldiers, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen need to navigate to their missions around the world and return home safely.”

This Project militaryThe new Pruitt Igoe housing complex will be home to thousands of jobs that pay well in an area which has suffered from neglect for many decades. St. Louis’ NGA makes the area a key resource for NGA technology. St. Louis recently hosted, for the first time, the nation’s largest Geospatial conference.

St. Louis is also the home where Boeing’s F/A 18 and F-15 fighter jets are built, in addition to the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft system. Gateway City is home to the T-7A Red Hawk. This advanced training system allows pilots to fly in a safe and controlled manner.

Boeing and other defense contractors are vital to the regional economy. Any reduction in defense spending not only affects our national defense but it also impacts the economic health of the region due to the potential loss of employment.

“The Squad”Cori Bush (a former Ferguson activist), made it very clear that she wasn’t a supporter for the police and our military before she was elected.

If you’re having a bad day, just think of all the social services we’re going to fund after we defund the Pentagon.

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) October 20, 2020

Sixty-four percent of the federal budget is spent on militarization

Medicare & Health are 6%. Education is 5%. Social Security, Unemployment, and Labor all add up to 3%.

It is a mistake to think that these priorities will keep our family safe.

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) October 21, 2020

Bush recently made headlines when she announced that Unsubstantiated, outlandish claims She was attacked by white supremacists during the Ferguson demonstrations. As expected, the mainstream media’s “fact-checkers” You can find it here ignored Bush’s claims.

Glen Kessler, The Washington Post’s lead fact checker, and Daniel Dale, one of CNN’s leading political fact-checkers, have yet to touch the claim which the Ferguson Police Chief said he has no record of. Politifact.org, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories and USA Today have not covered the claim. They are charged with policing Facebook sites for falsehoods or needs to be contextualized. However, fact-checker Snopes did investigate Bush’s claim, eventually labeling it “unproven.”

The congresswoman’s claim was not fabricated out of thin air, but rather related to a specific alleged incident in January 2015. But, evidence has not been found to support her main claim. We are unable to prove that any white supremacists actually shot at protestors, as they were protesters. Snopes was also told by a major figure that she had not seen any of the shooting suspects (and could therefore not confirm that the claims that they were white supremacists) and that Bush did not remember seeing her at that time.

Cori Bush’s surprising victory was due mainly to the inattentiveness of a politician who felt he couldn’t be defeated because of his political pedigree. In no way do I believe the First Congressional District is as “progressive” as Cori Bush. The perfect storm in 2020 was what propelled Cori Bush to victory. A second perfect storm could be possible next year, which I think will bring about real leadership and change in the district. 

NOTE: As an advisor to Andrew Jones for Congress, I do not receive any compensation.