Author: Redactor

Categories
Accountability insider corruption

Corrupt Cooking

Can you be kicked out of the government for serving sautéed shad roe?

Prime Minister Samak Sundarave of Thailand has just been ousted by a Thai court for violating the constitution. His crime? Hosting TV cooking shows while in office.

Samak was the host of “Tasting, Grumbling,” and “Touring at 6 a.m.” After becoming premier, he kept doing them for weeks, until finally quitting the shows in response to political outcry.

Samak probably violated Thai law. But I can’t say I’m appalled by the spectacle of someone in the government also holding a legitimate private-​sector job. And I don’t think the concept of “appearance of corruption” should be so elastic that it distracts us from recognizing and combating real corruption.

In the U.S., Senator Tom Coburn has been battling the loose and even corrupt spending habits of senatorial colleagues. He has also, as senator, continued working as a doctor delivering babies. Coburn has agreed to collect no pay for his work, but the Senate’s so-​called ethics committee wants him to stop. Ridiculous.

I’m no expert on politics in Thailand. Perhaps Samak is verifiably corrupt — for reasons having nothing to do with mixing sauces on television. Opponents have also been gunning for Samak’s cabinet. Perhaps the complaint about his cooking was just a handy way to get rid of him.

But in my book, that’s the wrong way to cook up a scandal.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
term limits

Reader’s Remorse

You know what buyer’s remorse is, right? The New York Times doesn’t.

When you purchase something and then realize it wasn’t worth what you paid, that’s buyer’s remorse. The Times stretched the concept to enacting a public policy and then realizing the policy isn’t working.

David Chen and Michael Barbaro’s recent article on term limits led off by informing us that “A decade after communities around the country adopted term limits, at least two dozen city governments are suffering from a case of buyer’s remorse.”

But hold on. City governments [read: city politicians] didn’t bring us term limits. It was the voters, using the initiative process. Because politicians never “bought” the idea, they can’t have buyer’s remorse.

Politicians do complain about term limits. For instance, Tacoma, Washington, Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg fears that if she has to give up her seat a $2 million pedestrian and bike trail she’s been pushing might not be completed.

In Rowlett, Texas, a Dallas suburb, the mayor decries that term limits make it harder to land positions on national organizations like the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

New Yorkers have twice voted for term limits. Still no voter’s remorse. That’s why Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council are scheming to repeal the limits, without a vote of the people.

Many have talked about Bloomberg as a possible independent candidate for president. But it looks like he’ll go down as just another politician.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
free trade & free markets

When Do We Become Adults?

What is being an adult all about?

Doesn’t maturity have to do with taking responsibility for your life, for your decisions?

Of course, it is often appropriate to ask for help, to underwrite dreams or salvage the shipwrecks of them when we screw up.

But even when seeking help, you do it like a grown-​up rather than, say, a whining child. You ask for the help. Politely. As opposed to assuming that other people just owe it to you, to heck with their own circumstances and priorities.

Yet government now subsidizes every big-​ticket project on our every wish list, hurling more money at us when we botch the job. It’s as if they’re paying us to be irresponsible.

No shock, then, when people do in fact act irresponsibly, buying homes or making loans they can’t really afford.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler — the Big Three of American automakers — now ask for a $50 billion low-​interest loan from the U.S. government. Why? So they can modernize their plants to make more efficient cars. What, just $50 billion?

What about me? I need to re-​shingle my roof.  Please, government, give me a million. Just take it from my neighbors, no problem.

You know, if Chrysler had been allowed to fail back in Iaccoca days, GM and Ford may have learned a lesson — grown up — and wouldn’t think to ask for handouts today. Or need to.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
national politics & policies

Must It Be Racism?

One of the two major-​party candidates for president is black, the other white.

Obviously, there is much more to say about them. We can talk about their ideas, character, experience, communication skills. Presumably, conscientious voters will choose the person they think can best do the job — regardless of race.

Not so, says Jacob Weisberg of Slate​.com. According to Weisberg, given the collapse of the Republicans and the weak economy, everything is stacked in favor of Barack Obama. Therefore, if Obama loses the election, only racism could explain it.

Weisberg offers no coherent argument. He simply asserts that Obama has vastly more advantages than liabilities, while with McCain it’s vice versa. So the right choice is transparently obvious.

And hey, even if you disagree with Obama’s policy prescriptions, at least they’re “serious attempts” to deal with big problems. It doesn’t seem to occur to Weisberg that the “seriousness” of a proposed policy is not what makes it right or wrong. Or that a voter might reasonably consider the actual content of a proposal.

Of course, some voters might reject Obama out of racism. But it’s not self-​evident that “racism is the only reason McCain might beat him.”

And would it not be racist, condescending, unjust, and downright stupid for us voters to treat a black man’s qualifications for the job of president as irrelevant, just to prove we’re not racist?

To his credit, Mr. Obama would expect more of us than that.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
initiative, referendum, and recall term limits

Fast-​Moving Planet

This presidential campaign is about change, but it’s outside of government that change comes fast and furious. Maybe it’s just my advancing age but the world seems to be speeding 90 miles an hour into the future.

Actually, we’re spinning at over 1,000 miles an hour and soaring around the Sun at 67 times that rate. Some days it feels like it.

Yes, there is going to be change. It ought to come from us, not the insiders — or the politicians running to purportedly change Washington, or to change your neck of the woods, often after decades in office.

Most of our changes won’t come through government policies. They’ll happen in the marketplace, or at church, through a non-​profit group, or in the neighborhood or family. But some changes do require politics.

Then, “We, the People” must be able to act. Which means citizens must be able to pass an initiative or call a referendum on a law passed by legislators.

Americans overwhelmingly agree, but some reformers don’t get it.

Once I argued with a major term limits supporter who suggested that term limits would improve legislatures enough to render the initiative process unnecessary.

Not long after, I debated an advocate of public financing for political campaigns. He said the initiative wouldn’t be needed once his reform was achieved.

There are many reforms. Because we live in an ever-​changing world, we need the ability to keep making reforms. That’s the voter initiative.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
local leaders

A Burr Under the Government Saddle

His name is not Dan Kramer Burr, it’s simply Dan Kramer. The “Burr” stands for what he is, metaphorically: “a burr under their saddle.”

The “their” stands for Delaware’s Sussex County Council.

I found out about Dan on SunshineReview​.org, which not long ago honored him as Sunshine Troublemaker of the Week. A local paper’s profile on the semi-​retired bean farmer filled in some fascinating details.

He sits near the back of the room, and, before meeting’s end, he stands up to introduce himself. “This is Dan Kramer,” he explains … but doesn’t really need to. In Sussex County he’s attended more meetings than even the elected officials.

The paper calls him an ombudsman … and that fits, for his telephone answering machine sports an interesting outgoing message: “Your problem is my problem,” it intones.

And, by going to every meeting, he can help. His voice carries weight.

He carries a copy of the Freedom of Information Act to every meeting. And he’s a stickler on a number of subjects. “People call me a watchdog,” he admits, but goes on to clarify: “I’m really a junkyard dog who will bite you in the gasket.”

My kind of troublemaker.

I hope you have someone like him in your area. If you don’t, the position is yours to take. According to Dan Kramer, the rewards are many.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.