Schwartz for Congress

The race for the 13th Congressional District seat is not much of a race.
The Republican candidate is a guy named Raj Bhakta, whose main claim to fame is that he was fired by Donald Trump on the TV show The Apprentice 2 a few years ago.
Both Mr. Bhakta and his Democratic opponent, freshman Allyson Schwartz, had agreed to meet with the Northeast Times editorial board last week, but Mr. Bhakta didn’t bother to show up.
We had hoped to ask Mr. Bhakta to amplify his views on a host of pressing issues: The war in Iraq; the war on terrorism; Social Security; health care premiums; gasoline prices, taxes, immigration, border security, what it’s like to be a Republican on a ticket in a climate that appears to be rather treacherous for Republicans.
We had hoped to see Mr. Bhakta and Mrs. Schwartz interact with each other in a real live, give-and-take debate in our office. We had hoped to ask Mr. Bhakta about the two arrests for driving under the influence (are there more, Raj?) that he has under his belt. By the way, that kind of behavior should be punished; it should be neither forgiven nor forgotten by voters. Remember that, voters — Raj Bhakta got behind the wheel of a car when he was drunk on at least two occasions. America needs to get rid of the sleaze in Washington, D.C., not bring more in.
Mr. Bhakta’s past transgressions aside, he is a showman. But voters in the 13th Congressional District are not electing a showman. They are selecting somebody to call the shots for them in Washington. Mr. Bhakta is not ready for prime time of political theater.
If Raj Bhakta is the best that the Republican Party in Philadelphia and Montgomery County could come up with to try to unseat a first-term member of Congress in a district where Republicans make up about half of all registered voters, that’s not saying much for the Republican Party.
Come Election Day, we enthusiastically urge voters to select Rep. Schwartz.
Aside from declining to debate Mr. Bhakta in a community meeting — we trust that if she runs for re-election two years from now and the Northeast Times wants to sponsor a debate, Mrs. Schwartz won’t pull that stunt again — and her continuing opposition to the planned Woodhaven Road extension project, Mrs. Schwartz, with a firm grasp of the issues, has been an excellent representative of the people. Imagine how much more she can get done if she wins a second term and the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives. She has done quite well for her constituents despite her status as a freshman member of a party that has largely been on the sidelines of power.
Since the country is stuck with George W. Bush for another two years, a Democratic Congress that includes the very knowledgeable Mrs. Schwartz would go a long way toward restoring the checks and balances that America’s founding fathers envisioned.
Mrs. Schwartz is pragmatic enough to refrain from pushing for impeachment of Bush if he is found to have lied to the American people to start the war in Iraq, and she is not calling for an immediate pullout of the troops.
She has brought the bacon home to the district: $16 million for development along the Delaware River front, $3.5 million to study safety improvements on Roosevelt Boulevard. She’s hosted workshops to address identity theft and the spiraling cost of prescription drugs; she’s been at the forefront of bipartisan bills that beef up port security and protect the Delaware River — just four days after she was sworn into office, she conducted a hearing addressing an oil spill. And as a member of the House Budget Committee, she is ready to tackle the nation’s debt.
There’s so much more to do — expand her signature legislation as a state senator, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to the federal level; work to give America energy independence and a balanced budget amendment; obtain more federal funds to help SEPTA avoid a financial collapse; and repeal Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. And in January, she hopes to be the prime sponsor of legislation that would require schools to add Internet safety to their curriculum.
"I take this job seriously," says Mrs. Schwartz.
So too should voters as they pick their next U.S. representative.
Allyson Schwartz is the right woman for the job. ••