Anthony David Weiner (born September 4, 1964), is an American politician and former U.S. representative who served New York's 9th congressional district from January 1999 until June 2011. A member of the Democratic party, he won seven terms, never receiving less than 59% of the vote. Weiner resigned from Congress in June 2011, due to a sexting scandal. He was a member of the New York City Council from 1992 to 1998, and a congressional aide to then-U.S. Representative Chuck Schumer from 1985 to 1991. A New York City native, he attended public schools and graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of New York City in the 2005 election. In May 2013, Weiner announced via a YouTube video that he would run for mayor of New York City in 2013. Weiner ran for Congress in 1998 from New York's 9th congressional district, the seat held by his mentor, Chuck Schumer, who was running for the U.S. Senate. Weiner won the primary election, which at that time, was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district which included parts of southern Brooklyn and south and central Queens. He received a 100% rating from the NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2003 and a 0% rating from National Right to Life Committee 2006, indicating a strong pro-choice voting record. He was critical of the 2009 Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the health reform bill, calling it "unnecessary and divisive" and saying it would prevent health insurers from offering abortion coverage regardless of whether an individual uses federal funds to purchase an insurance plan. In April 2008, Weiner created the bi-partisan Congressional Middle Class Caucus. Weiner received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. In June 2008, Weiner sponsored a bill that would increase the number of O-visas available to foreign fashion models, arguing that it would help boost the fashion industry in New York City. Weiner has criticized UN diplomats for failing to pay parking tickets in New York City, claiming foreign nations owed $18,000,000 to the city. During the health care reform debates of 2009, Weiner advocated for a bill called the United States National Health Care Act, which would have expanded Medicare to all Americans, regardless of age.[20][21] He remarked that while 4% of Medicare funds go to overhead,[22] private insurers put 30% of their customer's money into profits and overhead instead of into health care.[23] In late July 2009, Weiner secured a full House floor vote for single payer health care in exchange for not amending America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (AAHCA) in Committee mark-up with a single-payer plan.[24] When a public health insurance option was being considered as part of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, he said it would help towards reducing costs, and set up a website to push for the option.[23] He attracted wide attention when described the Republican Party as "a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry, teaming up with a small group of Democrats to try to protect that industry",[25] and proclaimed in front of Congress in February 2010 that "every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry."[26] He was the chief sponsor of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT) of 2009,[27][28] which makes the selling of tobacco in violation of any state tax law a federal felony, and effectively ends Internet tobacco smuggling by stopping shipments of cigarettes through the United States Postal Service. Weiner said, "This new law will give states and localities a major revenue boost by cracking down on the illegal sale of tobacco", and added that "Every day we delay is another day that New York loses significant amounts of tax revenue and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the Internet."[28] On July 29, 2010, Weiner criticized Republicans for opposing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. This act would provide for funds for sick first responders to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, many of whom reside in Weiner's district. In a speech on the floor of the House, he accused Republicans of hiding behind procedural questions as an excuse to vote against the bill.[29] In October 2010, Weiner urged YouTube to take down Anwar al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror."[30] In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring al-Awlaki's calls to jihad.[31] Weiner voted against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. He said the Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_weiner

• published: 05 Aug 2013
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