Author: Redactor

This is the tale of two congressmen.

One congressman became famous for speaking plainly. He pledged to abide by the people’s vote for term limits, serve three terms and then come back home. He said he would be a good listener. In an upset of David vs. Goliath proportions, he defeated the then-​Speaker of the House Tom Foley. He sent a message far and wide of trust in the people and hope that there were people in public life of honesty, character and integrity.

But there was another congressman. This congressman pledged to term limits and not to take more than a third of his funding from PACs-​in short, not to become just another Washington career politician. He carried with him the hopes and dreams of thousands of citizens for a government they could believe in, even be proud of.

But once in power, he changed. He voted three times to raise his own pay and pad his million-​dollar pension. He went on junkets paid for by special interests. He took over a million dollars in money from outside his state, and a much larger sum from PACs and special interests than he had promised.

When it came time for him to honor his pledge to step down, he refused to meet with citizen groups. At a press conference closed to the public closed to the people he supposedly serves he announced he would break his word. So who are these two congressmen, you ask?

George Nethercutt and George Nethercutt. Wow, power really does corrupt.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Last week President Clinton explained that he fought against his own impeachment to “save the Constitution.” It makes one wonder whether ole Bill even knows the difference between the Constitution and his own posterior because he was certainly trying to save one of those two things.

Of course, Clinton’s excuse-​making pales in comparison to the Justice Department’s snatching of Elian Gonzales. We’ve all seen the picture of a man shielding Elian while a soldier with a machine gun demands the young boy. The man in the photo is the fisherman who saved the boy’s life after Elian’s mother had drowned escaping Castro’s Cuba and trying to reach America.

Many Americans, whether they favor returning the boy to the father or keeping him with the Miami family, were deeply disturbed by the actions of the Justice Department. How could this happen in America? A court had just ruled that the boy had a right to seek asylum and attorneys close to the case claim negotiations over the disposition of the boy had not broken down at the time of the raid.

Now Janet Reno claims they were upholding “the rule of law.” She’s a lot like her boss, Mr. “I‑don’t-​know-​what-​the-​meaning-​of-​is-​is-​but-​I’m-​saving-​the-​Constitution” Clinton. I guess for this administration, “the rule of law” means government can exercise its power any way it wants if it can get away with it. And this administration sure does have a knack for getting away with it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Animal House” was a movie about the crazy antics of a college fraternity. But if you live in Massachusetts, you don’t have to buy a ticket to the movies, just stroll down to the state capitol and take a peek at your legislators.

Amidst the shouts of “Toga! Toga! Toga!” and drinking and partying, you’ll see an orgy of spending by entrenched politicians. Bay State lawmakers partied, drank and slept their way through a spending spree recently where they added nearly $200 million to state spending.

House Speaker Thomas Finneran admitted the session might be confused with a keg party. But another legislator defended himself, “I’m a responsible drinker,” he says. Perhaps he IS a more responsible when it comes to drinking than when spending the people’s tax dollars. Is this a legislature of rookies who just don’t know any better? Nope. These are elite professional politicians arguably doing what they do best partying and spending our tax money.

Sure, Massachusetts’s voters presented legislators with a petition for a constitutional amendment for term limits. The state constitution says the legislature must vote on it. But lawmakers ignored the constitution and refused to even hold a vote on the measure. No doubt they had a big night on the town planned and couldn’t be bothered by their constitutional duties. Career politicians are wilder than college students. And we need term limits in Massachusetts.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Okay, no big surprise that people don’t like paying taxes. But it may surprise you that the number one reason people hate paying their income taxes is that they believe the federal government will waste about half the money we fork over to them.

That’s right: according to an ABC News poll, on average, Americans believe 46 cents out of every tax dollar they pay is wasted by the Washington bureaucracy. But such waste isn’t simply bad management. The politicians will go to extraordinary lengths to have our tax money because it, after all, is the real source of their power. Once they’ve got it, of course, they’ll proceed to spend it to “help” people, of course.

President Clinton always wants to “help” people. Now he is giving 300,000 Native Americans heavily subsidized phone service. Mr. Clinton is giving it, but you are paying for it. The cost of your phone service is being raised by decree of the FCC. Is this what Indians want? If so, why don’t they spend their own money for phone service?

Keep in mind, this is the same Clinton administration that just last year was found in contempt of court for what a federal judge called “deception” and “abuse” in mishandling over $2.5 billion of Indian trust funds. Seems to me the federal government should stop swiping your money, the Indians’ money, and the money of the guy down the street. Heaven knows they’ll only waste it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.