Year: 2008

Shouldn’t the law apply to everyone equally?

We can argue about what the law should be, or at what rate to tax, or whether a certain regulation is needed. But once public policy is made, it ought to apply to me if it applies to thee. And vice versa.

No special deals for the “politically well-connected.”

Unfortunately, this very American notion of fair play gets tossed in the trash can with alarming frequency.

It just happened recently in High Point, North Carolina. Two big companies, TransTech Pharma and PharmaCore, are staying in High Point and expanding from 125 employees to 330.

First, congratulations. That means more money in the local economy and more tax dollars. Sort of.

I say “sort of” because city government gave over $3 million dollars in so-called incentives to the companies. The state of North Carolina wrote the companies a grant check for $6.5 million  more.

In other words: special deals for the big wheels. At the expense of every other business. Every family.

Councilman Mike Pugh voted no to the incentives. “I know it’s vital to get new industries started and to have them in your city,” he told reporters, “but I don’t believe in extortion. When multimillion dollar companies come to us while small businesses are suffering and say, ‘Give us money or we’ll leave or we won’t come at all,’ well, I think sometimes you just have to call their bluff.”

My goodness, Mike, that’s good old-fashioned American common sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

After reading a New York Times article, I’ll stay off South Africa’s roads. Bizarrely tough driving exams are only one reason.

Test-takers give demerits for not looking in rear mirrors every seven seconds, or for coasting back one inch when stopped at a stop sign. And the drivers’ licensing bureau is so complicated that the words “Byzantine” and “Kafka” come to mind . . . to the horror of Byzantium and Franz.

In a follow-up piece, Ryan Hagen expands upon the lesson: “So South Africa must have the safest roads in the world, right? Well, no. The fatality rate per mile is five times higher than that of the United States, and rising fast.”

Why? Lots of people don’t bother getting a license at all. And the requirements, being about as undemocratic and illiberal as one could fear to find this side of totalitarianism, goad the people into near-open revolt; disrespect for the law being generally increased by its nonsensical rigor.

Lots of government programs similarly over-reach. If you demand too much of people, they will come to expect less of themselves. They’ll simply ignore the rules. Ignore the advice. Go outlaw.

The lesson applies to much of what government does, almost everything. We need minimal reasonable requirements in society, yes: Do no murder; don’t steal. Good ideas. Good rules.

But nitpick on every little element of imagined perfection?

Doomed to fail.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Happy New Year! As we begin this campaign year of 2008, the Federal Election Commission lacks a quorum. It can’t make decisions regarding violations of federal campaign laws. The FEC will also lack the ability to send out matching fund checks to those presidential candidates who still play the matching funds game.

That’s actually good, since most federal campaign laws are blatant abridgments of our freedom of speech in the first place.Also good may be the mess itself. It’s a sign of the bankruptcy of the whole system of federal regulation of politics.

How big is the mess? As big as the parties can make it. Democrats won’t confirm the latest Republican nominee for the FEC . . . and Republicans follow suit, refusing to confirm the Democrats’ nominees. Stalemate.

The underlying problem is the unduly partisan nature of the FEC. The commissioners are appointed by their party affiliation. This means an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, who can essentially block enforcement against their party.

But if you aren’t a Republican or a Democrat, say you’re an independent or a Libertarian or a Green, then the FEC certainly isn’t set up to equally protect your political rights. Its very make-up violates the 14th Amendment’s requirement of equal protection under the law.

Partisan politics ought not shut down the FEC. Our Constitution should.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It was the battle of 2006 and could be the battle of 2008.

In this corner, Senator Tom Coburn, inveterate foe of porkbarrel spending and other rampant congressional abuses. In the other, shameless porkbarreller par excellence Senator Ted Stevens.

In the American Spectator, Stephen Moore reports on an altercation between the two Republicans. Happened right after the election. It seems Stevens slithered over to Coburn and whined, “Well, Tom, I hope you’re satisfied for helping us lose the election.” In reply Coburn pointedly pointed out the obvious: “No, Ted, you lost us the election.”

Stevens, so stuck inside Beltway corruption that he can’t see his own faults for what they are, takes no blame for the GOP’s ‘06 electoral debacle. Rather, he holds criticism of his kind of bad behavior, by those who witnessed it — including insiders like Tom Coburn — as the problem.

For Stevens, engaging in logrolling and runaway trough-sloppery are okay. But complaining about it . . . that’s unforgivable! Members of the political club just don’t do that to each other, dontcha know.

Well, Coburn doesn’t know. He probably figures that unless staying in power is considered an end in itself, you obviously have to address the very problems you’re seeking to correct.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It was the battle of 2006 and could be the battle of 2008.

In this corner, Senator Tom Coburn, inveterate foe of porkbarrel spending and other rampant congressional abuses. In the other, shameless porkbarreller par excellence Senator Ted Stevens.

In the American Spectator, Stephen Moore reports on an altercation between the two Republicans. Happened right after the election. It seems Stevens slithered over to Coburn and whined, “Well, Tom, I hope you’re satisfied for helping us lose the election.” In reply Coburn pointedly pointed out the obvious: “No, Ted, you lost us the election.”

Stevens, so stuck inside Beltway corruption that he can’t see his own faults for what they are, takes no blame for the GOP’s ‘06 electoral debacle. Rather, he holds criticism of his kind of bad behavior, by those who witnessed it — including insiders like Tom Coburn — as the problem.

For Stevens, engaging in logrolling and runaway trough-sloppery are okay. But complaining about it . . . that’s unforgivable! Members of the political club just don’t do that to each other, dontcha know.

Well, Coburn doesn’t know. He probably figures that unless staying in power is considered an end in itself, you obviously have to address the very problems you’re seeking to correct.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.