Category: Common Sense

It’s official. Passage of Congressman Mike Castle’s “Franked Mail Savings Act of 2001” is one of the top priorities this year of the National Taxpayer’s Union. That means that congressmen who votes against it will lose points with NTU, which rates congressional performance every session.

The franking privilege is one of the most flagrant abuses of taxpayer dollars that Congress engages in. As former House Press Secretary John Solomon admits, “the purpose of these mailings has become little more than to remind citizens of who their elected officials are before they vote. It’s an unfair perk of incumbency.” Only about 10 percent of franked mail is sent out in response to the mail of a constituent. Most of the time, it is nothing more than political advertising, a prepaid political benefit that comes at the expense of both taxpayers and fair electoral competition.

In 1999, individual postage limits for congressmen were lifted, making it easier than ever to abuse the franking privilege. Mr. Castle’s bill would define a “mass mailing” as being 250 pieces or more of mail. And it would prohibit such mailings within 180 days of general elections and 90 days of primaries. Of course, many other advantages of incumbency would remain untouched. But passing this bill would be a step in the right direction. Let’s see if our representatives do the right thing. Even if they don’t care what the National Taxpayers Union thinks, they should probably give a darn what the nation’s taxpayers think.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Oh those poor rich people. Don’t they need a little more help from the government? Now, don’t get me wrong. If somebody has more money than me and they’ve earned their money fair and square, that’s fine with me. Let them buy all the Lexuses they want. It’s their money, let them keep it and enjoy it. And while you’re at it, let me keep my money, too.

But welfare for the well-to-do is a completely different thing. Almost everyone, except for career politicians, would agree that’s just not right. Still, the new edition of the Cato Institute’s Handbook for Congress has a long list of examples of corporate welfare in the federal budget. There’s the sugar price supports. You pay more at the grocery store so $1.4 billion in propped up profits can benefit the 33 largest sugar cane plantations. There’s a “wool and mohair” subsidy that’s supposed to benefit people with small herds of sheep, but last we looked ABC television journalist Sam Donaldson collects almost $100,000 in subsidies every year.

And how about this for corporate welfare: every year the Agriculture Department splurges $80 million to subsidize the overseas advertising of food exporters, little guys like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. There’s an amendment proposed every session of Congress to kill this beauty, but somehow it always survives. So why does this nonsense happen? Oh, politics as usual, brought to you by career politicians.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Lobbyists can’t lobby Maryland Legislators from prison. Not anymore. I’m sorry, but legislators have put their feet down this time. No lobbying from prison, period. We can all sleep better now. Wait a second what?

Well, first you have to realize that there’s a “culture of corruption created and tolerated by legislators and lobbyists in the state of Maryland.” That’s what a judge said last year after yet another scandal and yet another Maryland lobbyist went to jail. So how to change the public’s view of the Legislature? Well, legislators could begin by reforming themselves, limiting their own power through term limits, for example. Or they could legislate some feel-good nonsense and declare all corruption healed by legislative decree. Of course, they choose the latter in triplicate.

Laws allow us to arrest folks for doing the wrong things; they can’t make corrupt people do the right thing. Arrests alone can’t bring accountability. The real problem is that Maryland’s incumbents face no serious competition for their seats. So they can abuse power at will. The bill’s prohibition against lobbying from prison comes by way of an earlier lobbyist turned convict who simply continued his lobbying practice using the jailhouse pay phone and, of course, his excellent contacts among all the Mr. Clean legislators. Maryland politicians mugging for the cameras with their latest phony Band-Aid that’s more evidence of the problem, not part of the solution.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Sometimes candidates for office say anything to get elected. Even things they don’t really mean. Hey, try to contain your astonishment. And yes, some of them even lie when they pledge to limit their terms in office.

A few years ago, one congressional candidate pledged to self-limit and then, just two or three days after being elected, said, “Oops, ha ha, forget what I promised during the campaign! I don’t regard myself as bound by that term-limit pledge after all!” It’s the kind of thing that gives cynical manipulation a bad name. Thank goodness, then, that there are folks like John Thune, a South Dakota congressman elected in 1996 who has repeatedly affirmed his term-limit pledge, following in the footsteps of honorable citizen legislators like Tom Coburn, Mark Sanford and Matt Salmon.

Congressman Thune is scheduled to leave Congress in 2002, and he’s not wavering. Thune explains it this way: “People in the country today are too cynical because of politicians who say one thing and do another,” he says. “I was sincere about [my term-limits pledge] when I said it, I mean it, and I will honor it.” On his web site, Thune lists as part of his credo that “public policy must encourage personal responsibility.” His personal integrity shows that those words have meaning for him. A political leader who says what he means and means what he says? It can happen. On important stuff, too. It just warms my heart.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

No idea was more completely overturned by the American Revolution than the so-called “divine right of kings,” the notion that kings ruled over people by right granted from God, a right that was passed down from generation to generation. Well, looks like the concept is making a comeback.

John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, has been in the Congress since 1955. Yes, that’s 46 years. He took over the seat in a special election after his father died. His father had held the seat since 1932. So the Dingell bloodline has held the seat now for 69 years . . . and counting. There has been speculation that Dingell, almost 75, will step down soon, and help his wife or son the queen and the prince, if you like to snag the seat in his stead.

But in a recent speech, Dingell suggested he plans to spend pretty much the rest of eternity in Congress. Said he to President Bush: “If and when your daughters, Barbara or Jenna, are elected to Congress, I’ll be there.”

Of course, a congressman, or even the president, is certainly not a king. No matter what they may think. It’s just the family business. But somehow that doesn’t sound much better. It still implies that power is something to be gobbled up, monopolized, exploited for personal gain. That’s not what America is all about. If government is to be of, by and for the people, well, it has to first be “of the people.” Not of kings and princes.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

An anonymous wag once said: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” How true. I get the worst of three worlds. Living in the Washington, DC area through no fault of my own, mind you I read not only about the D.C. City Council, but also about the legislatures of both Maryland and Virginia. That’s a triple whammy.

For instance, I constantly read complaints by the D.C. City Council about the dictatorial control of the city by Congress and the lack of any real representation for the people of D.C. in that Congress. But what does the Council really care about the people? They’ve routinely repealed election reforms passed by citizen initiative and are now gearing up to repeal term limits passed by 62 percent of D.C. voters.

In Maryland, the legislature has been rocked by numerous scandals with several lobbyists going to prison and politicians looking . . . well, corruptible. Legislators passed the usual feel-good nonsense in response. Now lobbyists must fill out additional paperwork and cannot under any circumstances lobby a legislator from prison. Hey, that’ll help.

In Virginia, the legislature’s been even busier. There’s a bill to require school kids to recite the pledge of allegiance, unless they have a religious or philosophical excuse. We’re one big happy nation now! Another bill mandates that we can sleep only in the bedrooms of our home. My wife has complained about my napping on the couch, but I didn’t think she had that kind of pull.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Some people say that campaign finance reform won’t abridge freedom of speech. Just regulate how money may be spent or raised. Of course, in campaigns all you do is talk, whether on the air or in person or on billboards or balloons. That’s where the money goes. Speech. Yakking. Communication. To get folks to vote for you. It’s just a coincidence, I guess, that campaign finance regulations make it harder for challengers to talk than for incumbents.

Former presidential candidate John McCain is pushing a dangerous proposal that allows politicians to regulate those who speak against them. And it’s happening at the state level too. In many of the proposals, the link between violating free speech and protecting the incumbent is hard to miss. In Montana, one legislator wants to give office-holders the right to review critical ads in advance. Groups would have to show their ad to the targeted politician before the ad can air. If the politician “rejects” the content and gee, what are the odds of that happening? the ad has to say so. Free speech?

In Virginia, one bill would have forced newspapers to collect ID from anyone submitting a political ad. The bill was defeated. But similar legislation is making the rounds in other states. Speech is just too scary to just let people talk, apparently. Paul McMasters, with Freedom Forum, says, “The answer to campaign speech we don’t like is more speech, not less speech. . . .” You can say that again. At least for now.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Maybe he was such a shoe-in he didn’t have to worry about it. But still, you’ve got to admire a cabinet nominee who’s willing to tell Congress: clean up your act! . . . even as that body is still considering his fate. But that’s Colin Powell for you.

Not quite your typical career politician, he’s able to look objectively at the doings of the careerists and say: Hey! Slow down! Take a chill pill, guys! Powell’s advice had to do with how frequently Congress interferes with peaceful market transactions between buyers and sellers, when one party to the transaction happens to live in the United States, and the other party happens to live in another country.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, General Powell said he was shocked by the number of countries subject to partial or total economic trading bans. Powell marveled that, “There was just tab after tab in the briefing books.” He said that before imposing any new sanctions, Congress should “step back for a while, count to ten, and call me.”

The State Department is now compiling a list of all the trade sanctions on the books, some of them going back decades, imposed in retaliation for who-knows-what real or imagined offenses. Our careerist congressmen are an arrogant crew that impose their will about anything and everything, from international trade to how much water we’re allowed to flush down our toilets, and then they’re off to the next problem and the next dictate.

Count to ten before passing another busybody law. I love it!

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, I always say.

On February 27th, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a noble event in the annals of democracy: the ratification of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment provides that no person shall stand for office for the Presidency of the United States more than twice. It ensures that no matter how much power a given chief executive may gather to his bosom, there is a definite limit on how long he may wield it. Every eight years there will be a fresh face, a fresh perspective a fresh start. But if it’s good for the goose, how about the gander?

During the 1947 debate on the 22nd amendment, a certain Senator O’Daniel suggested that ALL federal officials be term-limited, not just the President. His proposal was rejected 82 to 1. Yet all politicians face the same incentive, the same potential to be corrupted by power, to treat their seat like a monopoly.

Congress should honor the 50th anniversary of presidential term limits by passing a limit on their own terms two terms max in the Senate, three terms in the House. In a 1951 editorial on the new presidential term limit, the Washington Post said that, quote, “power-grasping officials are common enough in history and current world experience to warrant this safeguard.” That’s still true. And what’s good for the goose is still just as good for the gander.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.