Letter: Emmons is wrong for PA-6

To The Editor,

This Election Day, voters in Chester and Berks counties selecting their representative in Congress will have to choose between a military veteran with a solid record of public service, and a virtually unknown man whose only apparent accolade has been his record of success in business. That, in short, is the choice for voters in Pennsylvania’s 6th district.

John Emmons has never served a day in public office. He has never put on a uniform to defend American freedom. He is attempting to go from zero to Congressman on the sole argument of his victories in a capitalist enterprise. That will take you far in America for sure, but he has to convince the people he’s asking to represent that he can do a better job at crafting public policy which will affect the lives of not just Pennsylvanians, but everyone across the country.

What is it about being a businessman that makes one qualified for public office? The argument seems to always be that a businessman knows how to create jobs. But anyone who has ever had a job knows that employees are too often viewed simply as company resources by their management. That stands in clear contrast to the job of a public servant, which requires the ability to truly see the humanity of all the people whom you represent.

Businessmen don’t create jobs out of a sense of charity for the prospective workers. They create jobs to enrich their company and themselves. Further, and more important, is that the goal of business is never to create the most jobs possible with good pay and quality of life; the goal is to maximize productivity with as few people as are necessary, because the real goal is to create profit – for the businessman. This kind of mentality is not one which nurtures the common interest of the public, and a lifetime of this behavior does nothing to prepare one for the responsibilities of holding a government office.

Chrissy Houlahan has honorably served the American people for decades. I ask voters in Pennsylvania’s 6th district to let her actions speak louder than Emmons’ words. We’ve seen the results of trusting someone who boasts about their business acumen as a reason why they deserve power. The problem is that you can never be sure what he’ll do with it.

Thomas McCarthy,

Valley