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In 1992, when Anna Eshoo ran for Congress, we famous that she “has labored diligently on well being care as a (San Mateo County) supervisor, and he or she is aware of her stuff.”
Thirty years later, as she runs within the Nov. 8 election for a fifteenth time period in Congress, that’s nonetheless true. Eshoo’s understanding of well being care, voting rights, biotechnology and girls’s points far surpasses that of her challenger, Saratoga Metropolis Councilman Rishi Kumar.
Sooner or later, Eshoo, who turns 80 on Jan. 3, will retire and provides method to a successor to hold on her work defending our democracy and advancing Silicon Valley’s wants. Kumar just isn’t up for the duty. He has had a tough time simply getting alongside along with his colleagues on the Saratoga Metropolis Council and can be ineffective in Washington.
No matter whether or not Democrats retain management of the Home and Senate following the midterms, the challenges dealing with Congress will likely be immense. The area wants good, revered and skilled leaders to set us on the appropriate course.
Voters within the sixteenth District ought to ship Eshoo again to Washington. The newly drawn district stretches from Pacifica on the north finish to Los Gatos on the south. It contains Campbell, Mountain View, Palo Alto and a slice of San Jose.
Eshoo is chair of the Home Subcommittee on Well being. Nevertheless it’s not the variety of payments she has handed that tells whether or not she is a profitable chief. It’s in what really will get handed and what will get rejected. She authored parts of the Inexpensive Care Act and the invoice that performed a serious position within the speedy improvement of vaccines to fight COVID-19.
If reelected, she would proceed advocating for common well being care and preventing for her invoice to create the Superior Analysis Tasks Company for Well being to foster biomedical innovation for preventing lethal ailments.
Kumar repeatedly claims that Eshoo is within the pocket of Large Pharma, which has given more cash to her than every other member of Congress. However Eshoo demonstrated her independence when she helped transfer laws permitting Medicare to barter for decrease prescription drug costs, which pharmaceutical corporations have fought for years. Biden signed that laws that was a part of the Inflation Discount Act.
Kumar, a mechanical engineer, is a progressive Democrat. He superior to the final election by garnering 16% of the vote, edging out Republican Peter Ohtaki, within the June main by which Eshoo obtained 48%.
When Kumar ran towards Eshoo in 2020, we stated it was questionable whether or not he deserves one other time period on the Saratoga Metropolis Council, a lot much less a seat in Congress. He has accomplished nothing since then to alter our minds. If Kumar has been unable to develop a working relationship along with his fellow council members in eight years of workplace, we don’t see how he can develop the mandatory assist to get any of his bold guarantees handed in Congress.
Kumar pledges to develop Medicare, rein in Pentagon spending and crush “huge cash in politics.” These are worthy targets. However Kumar additionally has a behavior of taking credit score for the work of others. For instance, he nonetheless maintains that he stopped eight completely different San Jose Water fee hikes. However it’s the California Public Utilities Fee that has the authority to just accept or reject fee hike requests — not a Saratoga metropolis councilman.
The sixteenth District wants a revered, skilled member of Congress for the duties at hand. That candidate is Anna Eshoo. Voters ought to reelect her.
