David Weprin, the Democrat running to fill Anthony Weiner’s old Congressional seat in Brooklyn and Queens, scored the coveted endorsement from The New York Times this morning.
The endorsement knocks the fiscal policies of Weprin’s Republican opponent, Bob Turner, who has called for slashing taxes and government spending while not reducing benefits for Social Security or Medicare.
“That would take a magician, not a businessman,” the editors write.
And the piece also takes aim at former mayor Ed Koch for trying to make the race about Israel.
“The least helpful contribution to this race comes from former Mayor Ed Koch,” the editors write.
Full endorsement below:
When Representative Anthony Weiner resigned in disgrace in June, he left his diverse district without a voice in the House of Representatives. On Sept. 13, voters in that Queens and Brooklyn district can choose his replacement.
Their options — chosen, unfortunately, by the parties’ leaders instead of in open primaries — are Assemblyman David Weprin, a Democrat, and Bob Turner, a Republican and former communications executive. The choice is clear: Mr. Weprin would represent the district with far more expertise, sensitivity and fiscal rationality.
As a City Council member and state legislator, Mr. Weprin has promoted education and civil rights and fought to protect senior citizens. In Washington, he promises to work to protect Social Security and Medicare. He says he would push for higher taxes for the wealthy rather than cut programs that serve the working and middle classes.
Mr. Turner argues that the federal budget needs to be cut by as much as a third. He also wants to lower taxes, especially on capital gains. He insists that that would not mean reducing benefits for those on Medicare and Social Security. That would take a magician, not a businessman.
If Mr. Turner gets his way, it would be impossible to spare anybody who relies on the government for benefits or to keep the air clean or their food safe.
The least helpful contribution to this race comes from former Mayor Ed Koch, who has endorsed Mr. Turner, he says, as a way to protest President Obama’s statement that Israel’s pre-1967 borders should be the basis for negotiating a peace agreement — with mutually agreed land swaps. The idea has been the basis of all negotiations for more than a decade. But Mr. Weprin and Mr. Turner have been equally critical of Mr. Obama’s words. Mr. Weprin has a proven public record in support of Israel.
We endorse David Weprin.
