Failures of 28 years
Rep. Eshoo only has 4 trivial bills in 28 years ?
I did not believe it when it was brought to my attention. I called a Washington Congressional Representative. This is what I was told, “No way Rep. Eshoo has 49 Bills. Clear standard in Congress is bills in your name. Cosponsorship does not matter.” Congress.gov is the single source of truth. Do not trust anything else. Click on the link above — see for yourself.
But let us talk about my track record: Why did someone like me win with the most votes in Saratoga’s election history — beating the Mayor quite easily on Election night 2018. Let me say this, I barely scraped through with 71 votes in 2014 during my first run to the Saratoga City Council. For the re-election, I was endorsed by hundreds including congressional representatives, senators, assembly members, county supervisors, mayors, vice mayors, councilmembers and hundreds of neighborhood leaders. But the establishment of Saratoga always felt undermined and chose not to endorse my run. I am grassroots-driven and people-powered — the reason we won: I took on the toughest challenges that no one on my city council wanted to. That is what activists do. The 2018 win was historical! It told me clearly that if you do the right thing for the people, you won’t need to worry about the kitchen sink thrown at you. I challenged the system and some of my city council colleagues were not happy. Just read the Mountain Winery project from earlier this year.
As a Silicon Valley elected leader, with my tech roots defining my “getting things done” approach, I have aspired to operate at a high level of excellence as an elected leader. I treated my elected leadership role very seriously. Thousands of people had trusted me with their vote, and I couldn’t let them down. Silicon Valley has never been about activity for the sake of activity, but about results — in every domain. That is my DNA.
Why am I in politics? To solve problems! I will always fight on behalf of the people and seek to establish trust directly with the people.
But politicians today are gaming the system — sometimes for 28 years.
Three parts to this 28-yearlong saga:
Part 1: Asleep on the Wheel
28 years and 4 pieces of legislation that became law: a colossal failure. Two of Rep. Eshoo’s bills renamed a post office and federal building. Another designated a month as National Scleroderma Awareness Month. The fourth modified provisions to determine payments at children’s hospitals.
Well, you need a majority to pass a law: There were at least two occasions where the Democrats had a majority in the House and Senate with a sitting Democratic President. Rep. Eshoo could have passed any law she wanted. Simply put, Rep. Eshoo could have done a lot more. She made 100 attempts at legislations in her first 27 years (without the threat of a competitive run). Whereas Rep. Ro Khanna has already made 50 attempts at legislations in his first 4 years. No matter how you look at it, Rep. Eshoo is a failure. Rep. Eshoo is being deceptive when she claims 49 bills with no hyperlinks to back that claim. Remember, links have to go to congress.gov.
Cosponsorship of bills should have some value: Rep. Eshoo’s record is mediocre no matter how you slice and dice it. Rishi called it out: most of Rep. Eshoo’s work is a “tag along” and co-sponsorship. No, she has not exactly been the chief innovator by introducing bills that passed and became law. For example — Rep. Eshoo claimed cosponsorship of the Green New Deal at the debate. Senator Markey is the original sponsor and gets the majority of the credit. I pointed out that there were 101 cosponsors of the Green New Deal. Notably, Senator Markey has introduced game changing legislations — since his days in the House.
But this is exactly what Silicon Valley residents have been talking about — lack of accomplishments. Her weekly updates or candidate statements have been about, “I voted for this, I sent this letter, I plan to do this” but the accomplishments and results have been missing for 28 years.
Failures galore: Failure with the Pandemic, with California Fires, with Traffic, with Housing, with Homelessness, with Big Tech. For example, under Rep. Eshoo’s watch, Facebook — located in our congressional district — was investigated for misusing user data. Later at the congressional hearing, you can watch Rep. Eshoo proudly ask the questions reading from sheets of paper written by an aide. But it was her failure to legislate that led to this. Blindsided for sure. Out of touch?
Part Deux: Harming the American people
But the story of her failures gets sordid. Not addressing the people challenges, but actually harming the people’s interests.
#1 Rep. Eshoo worked 15 years on a pandemic plan, but failed to codify it. As the chair of the House Health Subcommittee — the onus was upon her for sure. As the co-chair of the Biodefense Caucus, Rep. Eshoo did not hold a single meeting, even though putting a pandemic plan was part of the mission. I highly recommend you click on this link and read her endorsements — sitting upon a shaky foundation. Just a bad political nexus — why should failures be appreciated? You will find the Citizens United endorsement appalling.
#2 IN 2009, she introduced legislation that favors Pharma — as the chair of the House Health Subcommittee — did not favor people, giving pharmaceutical companies 12-year exclusivity periods for biologic drugs, beyond the length of their patents, to protect them from competition by the generic drug industry. For this, she received multiple awards from the industry. Don’t forget, she is the #1 recipient of Pharma money in the United States House of Representatives. After the Stanford Daily shared their concern for Rep. Eshoo’s ties to Big Pharma, Rep. Eshoo herself ADMITTED and justified it. We don’t buy the justification. Rep. Eshoo did nothing against Big Pharma greed; 700,000 opioid deaths over the last 20 years.
#3 California Fires: Watch the video of Rep. Eshoo at a CalFire hearing. She confessed that she had no idea California uses inmates for fire-fighting. Here are a few people quotes who were watching:
I was appalled at her “visit” during this terrible time. She offered nothing but a campaign speech.
- Robin Woodman
Ha! Pretty brilliant campaigning to pull this one out. I remember this press conference. We were wondering if our neighborhood was on fire yet and she didn’t really know what to say other than lots of self-referencing. I already put my ballot in and voted for you.
- Julie Kanagy
She is terrible. I’m surviving the CZU fire, and she’s just using as a tool.
- Liz Wolfe
This was super tone def. I remember being super pissed when she started speaking ’cause I just wanted to know if my home was going to survive
- Kirsten Tuck
It was obvious she has never been in this neck of her district and had no idea about the inmate fire fighters or any other information. She needed to be short and sweet and let the experts talk. Please be better than this Rishi… come hike in the redwoods and get to know those of us in the woods.
- Renee Waggener
I don’t even think she knows where she is…
- Nicolo Pastor
Anna Eshoo who. As you can tell She’s never cared or been a part of our community. She doesn’t have my vote. We need to clean house around here.
- Nick Thompson
Part 3: Viewpoints from the people: More here
“I was done with Eshoo when she joined with ultra right wing Joe Barton of TX to block the quicker path towards drugs becoming generic. When was that? About ten years ago. I’ll be glad to vote for Rishi Kumar”
- John Fox
I voted for you last week by absentee ballot, and my family the same. People aren’t stupid, they can be fooled some of the time, and
your time has come. Wishing you victory, as it will be a victory for the People in this district. We cannot tolerate incompetence and
corruption any more. Not at the district level, the State, or the Country. Americans are fed up with sick, corrupt, incompetent crime
family syndicates that are robbing our wealth and future. We nearing a major sea change by the ‘silent majority’. No one can stop us.
- Danny
I would be honored to have your vote
My run seeks to bring ethical integrity into politics by NEVER accepting PAC money or Special Interest Group money. I bring a result-driven outcome to challenge the Washington status quo and divisive partisan politics.
America is ready for a new leadership.
It is time for change. I will serve with integrity, honor and energy. And I will be there for every resident of our district. That is a promise.
Question to ponder: What is the outcome of mediocrity in Silicon Valley?
The choice is ours.
Rep. Eshoo has not been a strong enough voice, and is even out of touch, on the important issues of today, and it’s time for change.
I would be honored to have your vote.
In solidarity,
Rishi Kumar
Candidate for U.S. Congress, CA-18
Voting questions? Visit RishiKumar.com/vote
