Allyson Schwartz

AS A REGISTERED nurse and president of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, I can assure the people of the 13th Congressional District that they have a clear choice for Congress in Tuesday's Democratic primary: four-term state Sen. Allyson Schwartz. For 14 years, Allyson Schwartz has been a leader in making government work on behalf of regular everyday people. She has achieved landmark improvements in health-care access and affordability, worked tirelessly to create local jobs and stimulate economic development, tenaciously protected the interests of older Pennsylvanians and provided innovative leadership as an advocate for public schools.

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz, a leader of the party's House campaign committee, called Wednesday for Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign after he admitted he sent lewd photos to women and talked dirty with them via Twitter and Facebook. Weiner's behavior was so offensive he has lost the ability to command respect from his constituents and brought dishonor to the House, Schwartz said. "As Americans we have the right to expect better behavior from members of Congresss, leaders of our country," Schwartz said in an interview.

RUNNING against State Sen. Allyson Schwartz for Congress, Melissa Brown carries an official-looking "United States Congress" notebook, which she admits she bought in the federal gift shop. We find this 10% endearing and 90% disturbing. It's the mark of a rookie, and underscores our strong endorsement of the more experienced Allyson Schwartz for the 13th district Congressional seat. Schwartz wants to expand children's health insurance, is fiscally responsible, and has a clear plan for economic growth.

On Aug. 25, a male staffer in U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz's Frankford office answered a call from a man identifying himself as Jesse Keel. Keel said that he needed help and that he always voted for Schwartz but that she had never done anything for him. Then he said he wasn't far away, was an ex-Marine and could jump on a bus with a rifle, stand across the street from Schwartz's office and shoot everyone in the office, according to court papers....

U.S. REP. Allyson Schwartz is a pearl-necklace-wearing policy wonk who prides herself on picking her battles and choosing her words carefully. But sometimes she just has to speak her mind. Even if it means telling one of her colleagues that he's being, well, a wiener. Schwartz, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, was the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call on U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign last week in the wake of revelations that he'd sent explicit photos of himself to women he'd met on Twitter.

IHOPE Rep. Allyson Schwartz, so "proud" in her op-ed, doesn't break an arm patting herself on the back for helping pass so-called "health-care reform. " Polling reflects well over half the voters think the law is a bad one. The "law" does many negative things. It provides the government with more control over an individual's health care. To pay for all these new "goodies," it will require even more taxes from the 50 percent of us who still pay income tax. It requires a big increase in the number of government employees to manage these new "benefits.

Three minutes to shine. That was the challenge as two Philadelphia-area congressional candidates addressed the Democratic convention yesterday afternoon. Lois Murphy of Phoenixville and State Sen. Allyson Schwartz of Jenkintown used their time on the podium to link themselves with presidential candidate John Kerry and echo the convention's themes. "I support John Kerry's plan to cut the deficit, because it's the right priority for Pennsylvania families," said Murphy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach in the Sixth District.

By 4:30 in the afternoon, Allyson Schwartz has worn out her first shift of campaign workers. Even her vocal chords are having trouble keeping up with the pace she sets. More than eight months and eight hours into her race for a Senate seat in the Pennsylvania legislature, the energetic 42-year-old Democrat is looking for votes and volunteers at a meeting of law students. Smiling and rasping, she frames the question of her campaign with a neat soap-opera cutline: "Can a pro-choice woman new to politics defeat an anti-choice incumbent?"

The two Democratic candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel are scheduled to engage in a radio debate this morning, their first broadcast debate. State Sen. Allyson Schwartz and Joe Torsella, who are running in the 13th Congressional District, will be on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, on WHYY-FM (90.9), from 10 to 11 a.m.. The 13th District is one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the nation. Three Republicans are also seeking to replace Hoeffel, a Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate.

The election is still more than a year away, but candidates for the 13th Congressional District have already banked more than $1.5 million, campaign finance reports released yesterday show. State Sen. Allyson Schwartz (D., Phila.) jumped ahead of the field by raising $605,000. Joseph Torsella, the National Constitution Center president and a Democrat, followed, with $416,000 in contributions. Melissa Brown, a Flourtown doctor, claimed the most cash on hand among Republicans: $310,000.

Like most rank-and-file members of Congress, Allyson Schwartz spent her day Wednesday waiting for a call to action on the debt-ceiling crisis. The Philadelphia-area Democrat wasn't idle. She attended a caucus meeting. She held a session of her healthcare-innovation task force. She went to the House floor to vote on amendments to the Interior Department budget. But until leaders in both chambers get their acts together on compromise plans to lift the debt limit, there was nothing major to vote on - only a sense of waiting for a size-12EEE shoe to drop.

City School District and arithmetic Michael Masch, the CFO for the School District of Philadelphia, did a nice job of subterfuge in laying out the district's case for more funding ("Philly School District's spending under control," Tuesday). His analysis never even hints at one very glaring statistic: $2.7 billion. That's the budget for the district, down from $3.2 billion a few years ago. Deducting the funding for charter schools leaves $2.2 billion. With 25 percent of students now attending charters, that leaves approximately 120,000 other students left to educate.

U.S. REP. Allyson Schwartz is a pearl-necklace-wearing policy wonk who prides herself on picking her battles and choosing her words carefully. But sometimes she just has to speak her mind. Even if it means telling one of her colleagues that he's being, well, a wiener. Schwartz, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, was the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call on U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign last week in the wake of revelations that he'd sent explicit photos of himself to women he'd met on Twitter.

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz, a leader of the party's House campaign committee, called Wednesday for Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign after he admitted he sent lewd photos to women and talked dirty with them via Twitter and Facebook. Weiner's behavior was so offensive he has lost the ability to command respect from his constituents and brought dishonor to the House, Schwartz said. "As Americans we have the right to expect better behavior from members of Congresss, leaders of our country," Schwartz said in an interview.

On Aug. 25, a male staffer in U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz's Frankford office answered a call from a man identifying himself as Jesse Keel. Keel said that he needed help and that he always voted for Schwartz but that she had never done anything for him. Then he said he wasn't far away, was an ex-Marine and could jump on a bus with a rifle, stand across the street from Schwartz's office and shoot everyone in the office, according to court papers....

THE letter by Dee Adcock ( "Rep. Schwartz Misguided on Health Care" ) is full of contradictions. Candidate Adcock decries people being forced to buy insurance and then makes the dishonest argument that if insurance companies are forced to cover people with pre-existing conditions, "people can now wait until they get sick before they buy insurance. " This is not true in any way, and why there is an individual mandate so people can't wait until they get sick to buy insurance. The individual mandate was a Republican idea from the '90s.

RE THE Sept. 28 op-ed by my opponent, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, touting the benefits of the health-care bill she helped author: Everyone admits there are flaws in our health-care system that need to be fixed. Where Rep. Schwartz went wrong was that she set out to force health-care coverage on everyone at any cost, instead of seeking to lower costs so everyone could afford it. Instead of fixing the glaring problems, she turned our system on its head, which will affect everyone even if you were happy with your policy.

IHOPE Rep. Allyson Schwartz, so "proud" in her op-ed, doesn't break an arm patting herself on the back for helping pass so-called "health-care reform. " Polling reflects well over half the voters think the law is a bad one. The "law" does many negative things. It provides the government with more control over an individual's health care. To pay for all these new "goodies," it will require even more taxes from the 50 percent of us who still pay income tax. It requires a big increase in the number of government employees to manage these new "benefits.

ON SEPT. 23, families in Northeast Philadelphia and across the country began to see firsthand the benefits of the new health-care reform law. Together, we can celebrate these changes and know that, starting now, we will put an end to some of the most egregious insurance-company practices that have kept you and your family from being in control of your health care. Many of these important reforms are already under way. Pennsylvania now has a high-risk insurance option, called FairCare, which offers coverage for people who were previously denied it because of a pre-existing condition.