Category: Accountability

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Accountability free trade & free markets national politics & policies too much government

McCain’s Admission

John McCain is a man on a mission. But it was his admission that Republicans in Washington have lost their way that jumped out at me as I listened to his speech accepting the Republican Party presidential nomination.

“I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party,” he told Republicans. “We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”

Everyone already knows this. We’ve watched power politics triumph over principle.

But it was still nice to hear McCain say it. The first step toward solving a problem is to recognize you have one.

McCain went on to admit, “We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.”

Oh, yeah, a whole lot bigger.

I began shouting about Republicans selling out principle early on, when, after Republicans took the House back in the 1990s, they quickly also took a dive on enacting term limits.

And the sell-​outs just kept coming. Republicans traded their rank and file supporters for a bevy of big special interests.

McCain says he wants to take the party “back to basics,” vowing “low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets.”

That’s the right message. And McCain’s opposition to earmarks is to his credit. But are voters ready to believe it?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Accountability Common Sense free trade & free markets insider corruption

A Real Reform for Obama

Barack Obama’s record as a maverick, either in the U.S. Senate or his years as an Illinois legislator, is slender at best. Behind the self-​avowed reformer’s rhetoric, his policies seem typical, demanding ever-​bigger government, ever-​more intrusive government.

But there’s at least one reform practiced by candidate Obama that could yield some very good changes indeed: His rejection of government funding of presidential campaigns.

Note I say “practiced by,” not “advocated by.” Obama has opted out of the system for tactical reasons only. In doing so he broke a promise earlier in the campaign that he would accept matching funds — along with the limits on his own general election spending that this would entail. But he had scooped up so much financial support so fast that he decided it would be shooting himself in the foot to accept spending restrictions.

Obama may be uncomfortable with his flip-​flop. I applaud it — no, not the hypocrisy of it, but the example it sets for policy.

We should never force taxpayers to fund campaigns they may not support. And while we’re at it, let’s cut away the tangle of campaign laws regulating how much money we can give a candidate, or what and when and where we can say things about candidates.

If Obama could sign on to that proposal, he could really punch away at McCain on the issue. Obama would then be advocating real reform. Real good reform.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Accountability Common Sense insider corruption porkbarrel politics too much government

Waterboarding Term Limits

Here’s a story about a government board whose members endlessly dish out taxpayer money. And want endless years in power to keep doing so.

Recently, members of the Santa Clara water board approved steep salary hikes for two of their staffers, making them the highest-​paid for their jobs in all of California. For example, the water district attorney will get an 8‑percent hike so that she now pulls down $221,720 a year. Well, not exactly. She also got a $12,000 bonus. Then there’s her monthly car allowance: $750.

Yikes. Guess I’m in the wrong line of work.

Interestingly, the board doled out these huge hikes right after refusing to consider a proposal to let voters consider term-​limiting board members. These antics are a strong argument for privatizing the water industry, frankly. Short of that, these guys definitely need to be term-limited.

It’s not exactly a secret in Santa Clara that the town’s water board is lavish with its budget. A spate of critical stories made the rounds of California papers after the board’s latest twirl of the financial spigot. As one reporter notes, the board has been “buffeted by charges of excessive spending.”

But you know, there’s buffeting and there’s buffeting. Trust me, any kind of buffeting that leaves incumbents in place to continue their exploitative fun and games is not enough buffeting.

Oh, forget “buffeting”! I’ll take term limits.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Accountability Common Sense general freedom government transparency insider corruption too much government

The Soprano State

Have you ever read the Asbury Park Press? I’s a New Jersey paper.

A recent Press editorial advocates statewide initiative and referendum, currently enjoyed by only 24 states … none of which is New Jersey. The editorial notes that I&R has been often introduced in the state legislature only to die on the vine.

The paper says citizen initiative would “give citizens disenfranchised by political bosses, gerrymandered voting districts, uncompetitive elections and unresponsive public officials a direct say in state policy.” And that voters must demand this right if they wish to escape politics-​as-​usual in New Jersey.

The Asbury Park Press recently also carried a review of a book called The Soprano State, by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure. The concluding chapter is entitled “The Soviet Socialist Republic of New Jersey.” Ouch!

According to the reviewer, the authors report in vivid and inescapably depressing detail how “œself-​serving pols and their greedy cronies raid state and local treasuries and gang-​rape the New Jersey taxpayer.” No, tell us what you really think!

They count 1,969 separate government entities in New Jersey with the power to levy taxes. Plenty of opportunity for overloaded payrolls, inflated contracts, no-​show jobs for cronies, spiraling debt, and on and on.

How to trim leviathan? Aggressively pursue initiative and referendum.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Accountability Common Sense insider corruption

Above the Law

It’s nice to have friends in high places. Or to sit on high yourself — way up above the law. Or so Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson must think, as he chirps from his high perch.

Last year, State Representative Mike Reynolds detailed publicly that Attorney General Edmondson had violated campaign finance laws. Numerous times.

Some of these Edmondson then sought to rectify, years after the fact. Some not.

But the Attorney General has not been prosecuted. Why, you ask? Well, it’s his job to prosecute such violations, and he has, not too surprisingly, not indicted himself.

Funny though, how Edmondson, a Democrat, has indicted Republicans Brent Rinehardt and Tim Pope for similar alleged violations.

Reynolds has now written to the governor, asking him to appoint an independent counsel. Reynolds argues that the Ethics Commission turns over matters for criminal or civil investigation to Edmondson, who “is hardly in a position to investigate his own campaign committee.”

But Edmondson told a newspaper, “It would be a waste of taxpayer money to pay another attorney to review what the Ethics Commission has already received.”

A spokesman for Governor Brad Henry, also a Democrat, says that the governor will not appoint an independent counsel.

Friends in high places … is for the birds.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Accountability Common Sense First Amendment rights initiative, referendum, and recall insider corruption

Constitutionally Unsuited for the Job

You can’t answer every random fallacy uttered by fierce foes of facts and logic.

Can’t always ignore them either. Like, when your polemical adversary is trying to jail you for ten years. I refer to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who indicted me and two others for abetting democracy in Oklahoma.

Before our recent arraignment, I attended a news conference at which a number of concerned citizens, legislators and leaders of taxpayer and voter groups spoke out against this politically motivated travesty. I noted that we, the Oklahoma 3, acted in good faith to follow Oklahoma’s regulation requiring petition circulators to be state residents. Even though the regulation has been challenged in court as a violation of the First Amendment.

But Mr. Edmondson told reporters, “This is not a First Amendment issue.” Then, admitting the opposite was true, he added, “If the courts determine that the state’s process violates the First Amendment, so be it.”

First, he pretends to be oblivious to the First Amendment issue. Then, he acts as if he can do whatever he pleases, Constitution or not, unless a court steps in to stop him.

As someone observed at FreePaulJacob​.com, Edmondson’s cavalier disregard for the Constitution, the very highest law, doesn’t square with his own official responsibilities. It’s just not consistent with his oath of office.

He’s sworn to uphold the Oklahoma constitution and the U.S. Constitution. Not prosecute those of us who take both very seriously.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.