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Townhall: Democracy by Pretense

Insiders continue to chafe at the restraints imposed upon them by outsiders — that is, citizens. But citizens who keep their eyes on the prize can keep republican government democratic. Sometimes the outsiders just cave. Click on over to this weekend‘s Townhall column. And come back here for more information.

ERRATUM: The column incorrectly printed Mr. Ray Warrick’s name as “Ray Warren”; it has been corrected in the version that will be archived on this site in two days. Apologies to Mr. Warrick, and to our readers.

Oh, and did you catch last week’s Townhall column? Here it is on this site: “Minor Infraction, Felony Prosecution.”

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term limits too much government

Is He Serious?

Gov. Rauner

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner ran for his state’s highest office while simultaneously spearheading a wildly popular initiative — a proposed constitutional amendment to place state legislators under term limits.

Unfortunately, the amendment was blocked from voters. An appeals court ruled it outside the scope of the state’s initiative process, and the cowardly state supreme court dodged the case.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rauner’s campaign as an outsider — opposed to both Chicago and Springfield political machines — earned him the governorship.

Most politicians would cry crocodile tears for term limits and claim, aw shucks, there’s just no way to get them enacted . . . especially with the Malevolent Monarch, Mr. Michael Madigan, the state’s longest corruption-serving Speaker of the House, as term limits enemy #1.

But Rauner isn’t backing off. “Rauner has at least one non-negotiable item on his wish list for the spring legislative session,” writes Matthew Dietrich of Reboot Illinois in the Huffington Post: “passing legislative term limits.”

Rich Miller of Capitol Fax reports that “Democrats were shocked,” when an “administration official . . . more than implied that if the [term limits] constitutional amendment isn’t passed by May 31st, then the governor would not support any revenue increases to patch next fiscal year’s massive $6 billion hole.”

“Would the governor really threaten to crash the entire government over a term limits bill?” asks Miller . . . answering, “Yep.”

Goodness, Gov. Rauner is absolutely serious about enacting the reform the people of Illinois know is Step 1 in fighting the state’s rampant corruption: term limits.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Gov. Rauner

 

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Accountability Common Sense government transparency term limits

The Article V Path

Can Americans term-limit Congress?

Twenty-three states had passed term limits on their congressional delegations by 1995 — many while simultaneously term-limiting state lawmakers.

Voters in most other states lack statewide initiative rights. But if the term limits passed by the 23 had been left alone, the pressure would have been enormous to bring term limits to the whole Congress.

Alas, in its 1995 Thornton decision, the Supreme Court ruled, five to four, that this method of building a more perfect union is constitutionally imperfect.

U.S. Term Limits currently backs an amendment that would originate in Congress to limit House members to three two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms. Just in case congressmen don’t get around to passing such an amendment, though, USTL has also endorsed the Article V path to term limits being promoted by Citizens for Self-Governance.

Article V of the Constitution authorizes states to call a constitutional convention if two thirds of them apply. In 2014, Georgia, Alaska and Florida did formally apply for a convention to consider term limits and other reforms. Lawmakers in many other states advocate similar applications. As with congressionally proposed amendments, any amendment offered by the states’ convention would then have to be ratified by three fourths of the states.

Is Article V a long shot? Yes. Every means of imposing congressional term limits has proven to be a long shot.

When we get there, it will be because one of the long shots paid off.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Don’t think legislators deserve a 150% pay raise?

Arkansas Money Grab

The Arkansas legislature is on track to receive a massive pay hike. You can stop it.

Call (501) 682-1866

Learn more here.

 

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Accountability folly government transparency incumbents initiative, referendum, and recall meme term limits too much government

Stop Phony Crony Pay Grab

Arkansas Tricksters

Are people in Arkansas as stupid as their legislators think?

Last November, legislators tricked enough voters to narrowly pass Issue 3.

I’ve addressed before the measure’s dishonest ballot language, mis-identifying a doubling of allowed terms as the “setting of term limits.” And about a much-ballyhooed gift ban that has proven so weak that now most legislators are offered “free meals nearly every day.”

Perhaps the biggest of the tricks used to pass the measure was this: Hide from voters the measure’s establishment of an “Independent Citizens Commission” . . . a majority hand-picked by those same legislators.

This “Legislative Cronies Commission” (as it should be called) has announced it will unilaterally hike pay by an outrageous 150 percent!

The commission claims to have looked at legislative salaries in nearby states, except Texas and Mississippi — two states that just so happen to pay lower salaries. Economic factors were also considered, supposedly, but household income in Arkansas has actually dropped in the last decade.

The commission held only one poorly publicized hearing — at, get this, 10:00 am on a Monday, when most folks were working. No surprise, public comments have run ten to one negative. Letters and emails contain words and phrases such as “shameful,” “insult,” “actually sick to my stomach,” “a joke,” “ludicrous,” “appalled” and “slap in the face.”

This led Larry Ross, chief crony on the commission, to rudely dis citizens, telling the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he would look at the “quality” of comments, not the “quantity.”

Only a tsunami of public anger can stop this rip-off of Arkansas taxpayers. Act fast. A March 16 meeting is set to finalize the increase.

Tell the Independent [sic] Citizens [yeah, right] Commission what you think: call (501) 682-1866.

This is Common Sense. Paul Jacob.

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insider corruption term limits

Resigned in Disgrace

The political insider’s method of dealing with scandal since President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation has evolved. President Bill Clinton marshaled the stonewall defense, and his scandals didn’t quite stick, even as incriminating facts came to light. Nowadays, it seems like politicians can stay in office no matter what the misstep, what the folly, what the crime.

So it’s heartening to see a scandal actually lead to a sitting, elected executive leave office under a cloud, in full Nixonian fashion.

Former Governor John KitzhaberIt happened recently, in Oregon. Democratic Governor John Kithaber had stuck himself in a deep series of fixes, having to do with a girlfriend, green energy, insider advantages, influence peddling, and even the destruction of emails to avoid getting caught. He had hung on in the face of bad press, trying to pull a Clinton, but couldn’t manage that feat.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Kate Brown, next in line, took the oath of office as governor.

There is no reason to pour salt on the former governor’s wounds, or bring down hasty anathemas against his replacement.

But let’s take the occasion to state the obvious: Kitzhaber was an old hand. He was serving a fourth term. He obviously succumbed to the temptations everyone in power faces.

He might have avoided his current ignominy had Oregon established term limits for the executive position. Though some governors manage criminal corruption in their first term — former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell comes to mind — one sure way to avoid corruption is to limit one’s exposure to corrupting influences.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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term limits

Yet Another Term Limits Scam

It’s like a matryoshka, the Russian wooden doll hiding another doll hiding another until you finally reach a black hole in the “inside.” That’s what the politicians’ referendum, Issue 3 — to more than double Arkansas’s legislative term limits — turned out to be: nearly endless nested scams.

Among other layers of the Issue 3 con game that not enough Arkansans stripped off before voting day, the measure narrowly passed last November pretended to be “setting” term limits as if anew. So maximum tenure in a particular legislative seat has now been stretched from eight to 16 years in Arkansas’s senate, six to 16 in its house.

In short, the worst has happened.

Wait. The worst?

Not exactly. It’s dolls within dolls: each one smaller, but each more of a “doozy” than the previous.

Now Arkansas incumbents and special interests want the amendment to be understood as something more than massively expanded tenure. They also want to re-start the term-limits clock. If they get their way, the 16 years a lawmaker may serve would start with the passage of Issue 3 just months ago, rather than the 1992 amendment.

State Senator Jon Woods (who helped craft the measure) asked Arkansas’s attorney general to “clarify” the matter.

Did this notion just occur to Woods, or was it part of his original scam, er, strategy?

The Northwest Arkansas Times called Woods’s rationalization for super-sizing already elongated term limits “hogwash.”

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel agrees. His just issued opinion lacks the word “hogwash,” but denies previous-serving politicians 16 additional matryoshkas — er, years.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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term limits

Merry Congressional Term Limits

In the spirit of giving, good will, peace, harmony, and important institutional reform, how about giving ourselves and our posterity a generous helping of congressional term limits?

I mean a maximum lifetime tenure of “three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit,” as spelled out in the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge that U.S. Term Limits invites candidates and congressmen to sign.

Alas, don’t expect a stack of 535 signed pledges.

Merry ChristmasAlso, don’t expect a constitutional term limit amendment proposed by Congress to be wrapped up in a bow under our Christmas trees this holiday season . . . or the next. That gift, which our elected representatives could give to us, is not on the list they check twice.

We the people can only secure this reform by relentless pressure and activism. This very commitment is the gift we can give ourselves right now.

I’ve been fighting for term limits for decades. (Never mind how many!) But at the moment, I’m just echoing the heartwarming sentiment posted at the TermLimitsforUSCongress Facebook page: “The greatest gift that we could give to our children would be to stand together and put an end to the corrupt career politicians in the U.S. Congress.”

Term Limits for U.S. Congress is not to be confused with the nation’s leading grassroots organization fighting for the reform, U.S. Term Limits — especially since the U. S. House term limits proposed by TLUSC is more generous than either I or USTL can sign onto.

But giving ourselves the gift of congressional term limits? On that essential question, we are merrily of one mind.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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local leaders term limits

Saving Term Limits

Most ballot measures to enact term limits triumph. According to U.S. Term Limits, 100 percent of such measures did so in last November’s elections. Voters also rebuff most attempts to weaken or repeal term limits.

But not all.

Politicians who loathe term limits often use all their resources and cunning to assail them. Occasionally they claw out a victory. Thus, last month Arkansas voters narrowly approved a multi-deceptive ballot measure with provisions to weaken the state’s legislative term limits. The measure passed despite everything pro-term-limit activists could do to expose the dirty tricks.

On the other hand, anti-term-limits forces in Prince Georges County, Maryland narrowly failed to flabbify term limits from two four-year terms to three four-year terms despite generous funding of the anti-term-limits campaign (primarily by local developers).

Much of the credit for saving Prince Georges term limits goes to University of Maryland sophomore Shabham Ahmed, creator of nothreeterms.com, who campaigned relentlessly against the measure. Ahmed believes that the vote was close only because some voters misunderstood what the measure would do; voters “do get caught up in the political propaganda.”

“People are tired of politicians in our county as it is,” she says. “Extending term limits would only increase the likelihood of creating a regime in politics, and voters don’t want that.”

No, we don’t.

But the politicians want that. And they’re not done yet.

Fortunately for the residents of Prince Georges County, defenders of term limits like Shabham Ahmed aren’t either.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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term limits

Day One Experience

A woman starts a new job. She has experience in accounting, learning, getting things done; no experience in that particular job in that particular office. Within days, though, she impresses her new boss with her skill and productivity. She knows what to do and she’s doing it.

True story.

Perplexed? Shocked? Can’t happen?

If that’s your response, I’m betting that you’re not anybody who has ever had to leave one job and start another — and make yourself worth your salary in that new job.

I’m betting that you are, rather, a would-be permanent officeholder facing term limits who has just been telling a reporter how long it takes — years, right? — to get the lay of the land. Then, just as you’re figuring out the difference between a bill and a law, boom! comes your term limit. Ergo, no matter how effectively term limits foster electoral competition or thwart political corruption, they must be repealed or at least drastically diluted.

Is that your story?

If so, I suggest that you resign and make way for a more conscientious student of life and work.

Leaders find ways to get a handle on complexities, to prioritize, to delegate. To the extent that knowing about the budget, lawmaking procedures, and so on would be helpful before starting the lawmaker job, how about studying up beforehand? If the budget is confusing, how about talking to policy analysts or accountants? I could get you in touch with some good ones.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.