Congressional candidate, U. alum Fahad Akhtar discusses views on student loans, 2-party politics

Rutgers—New Brunswick alum Fahad Akhtar is running as a Common Sense Independent candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey's Sixth Congressional District.

He is challenging 31-year incumbent Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6), Republican candidate Scott Fegler, Green Party candidate Herb Tarbous and Libertarian candidate Matthew Amitrano. 

Akhtar said he is focused on issues that affect the quality of life of potential constituents, such as homelessness and student debt. But he does not want to be considered a "one-issue" candidate.

His policies include divestment from Israel, free health care, universal basic income, a stronger Second Amendment and the removal of federal funding from schools that teach gender dysphoria. He described many of his stances on his website as "common sense."

"Every single issue that I have a position on is an important issue to me," Akhtar said.

Instead of focusing on a specific policy issue, he believes politicians should have a wide range of knowledge on various policy areas. He also said that congresspeople who focus on a single issue are susceptible to lobbying influence.

Akhtar, a former intern of Pallone, said he is running to replace congresspeople like Pallone who he claimed are largely supported by corporate donations and lobbying firms.

"I support policies that are good for Americans and good for real people, whereas Mr. Pallone, he supports policies that are good for the corporations and the foreign governments that are helping keep him in Congress," Akhtar said.

Additionally, he believes the two-party system is ineffective and that third parties are the solution. Running as a Common Sense Independent, Akhtar explained the moniker is a slogan that accompanies his name on the ballot, not a party. He said that he is an Independent candidate, and "Common Sense" is an additional label that works to familiarize voters with the ideas behind his policies.

"We need the Democrats and the Republicans to start listening to real Americans and to stop listening to corporate lobbyists and to foreign lobbies," Akhtar added.

Regarding policies most directly affecting Rutgers students, Akhtar said he believes that all student debt should be canceled and that students relying on federal loans are comparable to "indentured servants to their government." He said that the inflation of higher education costs started when the government began providing uncapped student loans. 

"What happened was, these colleges and universities are smart. They (said,) 'Look, there's no limit to how much we can charge these kids. They're all going to pay whatever we ask, and the government's going to back it up,'" Akhtar said. "And so, they started charging exorbitant amounts."

Additionally, Akhtar said that when Americans are not saddled with as much student debt, they will be able to accrue wealth more easily, enabling them to buy a house or retire earlier.

Akhtar said the root of the country's homelessness problem is that builders are mostly constructing large, multi-million dollar housing units, instead of homes that fit the needs and financial capabilities of average homebuyers. He wants to reform mortgage policies to make home buying more affordable.

After studying economics at Rutgers, Akhtar began his career at the White House as a writer for former President Barack Obama. After some time working in finance, he started working in national security with the Department of Defense and became an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Akhtar decided to run for Congress because while working in counterintelligence at the FBI, he found that U.S. laws do not sufficiently address emerging national security threats.

"The best way to serve is to actually go into Congress, bring that expertise to bear and push back against some of these misguided policies that are really driven by corporate lobbyists," Akhtar said.