Common Sense with Paul Jacob

As children we learned that honesty was the best policy. When we get older some people forget this lesson. They’re called politicians.

Mark Twain once humorously called Congress “America’s only native criminal class.” We laugh, but when politicians campaign saying one thing and then do the opposite it assaults the very foundation of our representative democracy.

How can the people control their government if they are lied to by those who go to Washington to decide policy? How can they know what they’re voting for?

Pundits are quick to blame the voters for the country’s problems. After all, they say, we elected the bums.

But hold on.

Jimmy Carter promised to balance the budget, but never submitted a balanced budget to Congress. Four years later he was defeated by Ronald Reagan, who likewise promised a balanced budget and never submitted one. Then George Bush promised he would not raise taxes. He did. Bill Clinton defeated him promising a middle-​class tax cut that he soon abandoned.

A number of Congressmen have pledged to limit their time in office knowing that’s what the voters want. The good news is that most of those who made the term limits pledge are keeping it. Those few who aren’t keeping their word have denied citizens an honest choice in elections.

We cannot allow politicians to break their word in the belief that they’re all dishonest. They aren’t all dishonest, and we must hold them accountable for their words and deeds. Honesty is not only the best policy; it’s the only way that we as citizens can have a say in our government.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

We hear a little too often that we in the United States should change some policy simply because other countries do things another way. The implication is somehow that if most countries do things differently we in the U.S. must be behind the times.

I’m reminded of my Mother’s oft-​repeated admonition, “If everybody else jumps off a cliff, are you going to?”

Let’s remember that there is something special about America, something unique. We have freedom not because a king granted it to us, but because it is ours by birthright. In America, we created the government, and therefore we, the people, are the sovereigns.

The Declaration of Independence established our country as the first nation ever created on the principles of self-​government. It reads: “We hold these Truths to be self-​evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed … ”

We’re in charge. In no other nation are the people held to be the sovereigns. Talk to people in other countries, even the democracies of Western Europe, and you can see their attitude toward government is shaped differently than is ours.

It’s not that we can’t learn from other countries, we can. But it would be like jumping off that cliff my mother warned me about not to cherish our unique American heritage.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Term limits are taking effect all over the country and the results have been more competitive elections with new people getting involved in the process.

That’s a very good thing, unless of course you’re a career politician who hopes to stay in office forever.

Let’s face it, the people and the politicians just disagree on term limits. The politicians want to hide from the term limits voters enacted and keep on running. In Florida, incumbents have so monopolized the field that in most races no one even runs against them, and thus, voters have no choice at all about who represents them in the state legislature.

Yet, this lack of competition didn’t stop the politicians from launching a desperate lawsuit to overturn the term limits, opposing the will of 77 percent of the voters. In California, a recent poll showed 73 percent support term limits more now after 9 years on the books than when the law was first proposed. But that hasn’t stopped legislators from writing bills to repeal or weaken term limits.

The same is true in Oregon. In Maine, legislators were all set to weaken term limits. A bill passed the House by a vote of 76 to 71. But then radio ads alerted the public to the legislature’s actions and with the public up in arms, members reversed themselves defeating the very same bill 94 to 52.

Here’s the message for career politicians in every state: you can’t run and you can’t hide either. The people are watching.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Is $150,000,000 a lot of money to you? Or is it just chicken feed?

That’s how much of your money Rep. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma saved by blocking wasteful spending in recent appropriation bills. He stopped a 12 percent increase in the Agriculture budget, headed not to farmers but to the bureaucrats in Washington. He also angered colleagues by blocking a big increase in spending for Congress itself.

Money doesn’t mean as much to folks in the nation’s capitol as it does to you and me. They’re always spending other people’s money, namely yours.

The Washington Post referred to the millions Coburn saved as “chicken feed.” Our national government spends $40,000 a second. How long does a person have to be around such spending before losing all touch with economic reality?

While it’s frustrating that the political class in Washington doesn’t value the hard-​earned tax dollars American working people pay, it’s rewarding to see how frustrated they are at having to deal with a Tom Coburn. You see, Coburn limited himself to three terms and will not seek reelection next year. So there’s no way to threaten or bribe him.

“Government of, by and for the people” means sending representatives to Washington who will represent the taxpayers, rather than promote their careers by fattening special interests. Tom Coburn’s courage in holding the line on spending has led a Capitol Hill newspaper, to call him “the de facto leader of the House.”

That kind of statesmanship isn’t chicken feed, it’s priceless.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It’s baseball season, but in Washington when you hear “three strikes and you’re out” it’s usually about getting tough on crime.

But is the principle of “Three Strikes/​You’re Out” really that tough? Some experts think it’s too tough on non-​violent offenders, but too lenient on violent predators. Why should a murderer, rapist or child molester get a second or third opportunity to destroy another person’s life?

We hear a lot of talk from politicians about getting tough on crime, but consider a few facts:

• The average time served by convicted rapists is only 5 and 1/​2 years.
• Convicted murderers average less than 8 years behind bars.
• And each year, murderers and sex offenders that have been released commit more than 14,000 murders, rapes and sexual assaults.

Representative Matt Salmon is taking action to stop violent criminals by providing incentives for states to keep violent offenders in jail. His legislation would require a state to compensate a second state if a murderer or sex offender they release goes on to commit another violent crime in another state.

The principle of “three strikes, you’re out” actually applies to Congressman Salmon. He’s limited his service in Congress to three terms. This has him working a little harder than his careerist colleagues, and on things that really matter.

Representative Salmon’s legislation isn’t as catchy as “three strikes, you’re out” but working to stop violent predators from destroying the lives of innocent people is more important than a media sound bite. And it’s not a game.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Representative Mark Sanford says: “Musical chairs is a great children’s game, but not one that I would recommend for committee chairmen.” Washington politicians often act like children and they’re doing it again when it comes to term limits for committee chairmen. Like spoiled brats they’re refusing to share power.

When Republicans took over the Congress in 1994 they promised to shake up the corrupt fiefdoms of powerful committee chairman and share the power through term limits. Those term limits on committee chairs were the most important reform they made. Now that the limits are coming up, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert announced that chairmen can simply swap committees so that the same small clique-​averaging over 20 years in Washington-​can keep their stranglehold on power. Self-​limiter Matt Salmon of Arizona called Hastert’s decision “slight of hand” and Joe Scarborough of Florida said, “This absolutely subverts the spirit of the term-​limit rule we voted for in 1994. A lot of things have apparently changed around here since then-​and not for the better.”

The House Republican leadership has found a way to thwart their own most trumpeted reform by playing musical chairs, so that power can be hoarded in the hands of a few career politicians. In so doing, they’ve once again become the very enemy that they claimed they would run out of town.

This game of musical chairs isn’t over. The Republicans have a very slim majority. Come the 2000 elections, Republicans may find the music has stopped and they’re short a seat.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

There’s a new word in the English language: to “Nethercutt.” To nethercutt means to go back on one’s word; to say one thing in order to get elected to public office and then to do the opposite once elected. It means to be dishonest, a hypocrite, an opportunist.

The word comes from Congressman George Nethercutt, who defeated the Speaker of the House on a pledge to serve no more than three terms in Congress. Nethercutt has now broken his word to the voters and plans to keep running to cash in on a career in Washington.

The Seattle Times defines “Nethercutting” as, “the cynical, self-​serving hypocrisy of someone who exploits others for personal gain.” In stark contrast to Nethercutt, Representative Matt Salmon and seven others who made term limit pledges have kept them. When asked about Nethercutt’s excuses for breaking his word, Salmon said bluntly: “I don’t buy those arguments and I can trump all of them with one card: if you give your word you ought to keep it end of story.”

The sports pages recently carried a story about the kind of integrity Mr. Nethercutt lacks. Felipe Alou is the manager of the Montreal Expos, a baseball team that has been down on their luck this year. Alou turned down an offer to go to another team, saying: “I always said I would not leave this organization … I had to keep my word. It doesn’t matter if you are winning games or losing games. We die with our word.”

No wonder people like sports better than politics. There’s less chance you’ll get “nethercutted.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Abe Lincoln told us that “a House divided against itself cannot stand.” Today, we so often see the public sector pitted against the private sector. This only divides our country, weakening all of us.

Too many politicians never experience what it means to work in the private sector. So how can they represent the majority of Americans who do? On the other hand, many congressional districts don’t have a living soul who has ever served in Congress other than the incumbent. That denies us the kind of shared knowledge we need to have an informed debate.

Consider the 16th district of Michigan, represented for the last 44 years by John Dingell. Mr. Dingell’s father held the seat for 22 years before that. So for the last 66 years no one else in this part of Michigan was able to gain experience in the Congress. No wonder there’s such a wide gulf between the public and private sector!

It would help if those who represent us in Washington know that one day they’ll be private citizens again. We also need to give more people a chance to serve in public office. Term limits is now accomplishing this in 18 state legislatures and can do the same in Congress.

As Americans, our strength has always been our ability to bring people together from different nationalities, religions and philosophies through a common belief in individual freedom and equal opportunity. Career politicians divide us. And history tells us that united we stand, divided we fall. Old Abe had a point.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Some people complain about the commercialization of Christmas. What I’m worried about are folks forgetting the true meaning of the Fourth of July.

We don’t celebrate July 4th for the sake of the date itself. July 4th is important because it’s Independence Day the day that our Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was unveiled to America and the world.

On July 4th 1776, America was born as a separate and independent nation, and the first nation ever conceived in liberty for every person. Our experiment with self-​government began on July 4th. But it didn’t stop there.

We had to build a new government, brick by constitutional brick. The patriots who built that government did a great job, but they weren’t perfect.

One thing they failed to provide for was term limits. Thomas Jefferson was unable to attend the

Monday, June 21, 1999

Constitutional Convention. He worried that without term limits the new government would slowly change from one representative of the people to a government benefiting the politicians. Jefferson said: “Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on office, a rottenness begins in his conduct.”

For a century and a half, few legislators served for long periods. But then the power and perks of office began to grow, and today, career politicians cling to office like barnacles to a rusty hull. Since 1776 we have continued to fight to protect and expand freedom. That’s something we should remember on Independence Day.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

A while back, I told you about Congress legislating smaller toilets that perform so poorly that a black-​market has developed for the old outlawed toilets that actually work. It’s outrageous that the politicians think they can dictate every aspect of our lives, and in the process take things that work and break them.

Well, our federal government is at it again. Our career Congress has given the Department of Energy the authority to regulate our household appliances. It seems that the bureaucrats at the D.O.E. don’t like washing machines in which clothes load from the top. They say front-​loading machines use less energy. The problem, however, is that consumers want top-​loading machines. 95 percent of consumers purchase these washers. The front-​loading machines have been on the market for years, but they cost more and they just don’t work to the satisfaction of consumers.

Too bad, say the politicians and bureaucrats. The Department of Energy is in the process of regulating our popular washing machines right out of existence. Of course, the makers of the politically favored washers are happy. Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute reports: “Producers admit that they don’t even have to worry about consumer satisfaction since the public would no longer have a choice.”

If career politicians knew anything about washing machines, there wouldn’t be so darn much dirty laundry in Washington. Tell them to leave our washing machines alone. And our toilets too while you’re at it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.