Common Sense with Paul Jacob

In Washington it’s politics over people.

A case in point: Congressmen Jay Dickey of Arkansas has been under fire lately. Black farmers are seeking help in making the Department of Agriculture pay up after a court awarded monetary damages in a lawsuit alleging discrimination. Dickey told the black farmers that Republicans won’t help them because they haven’t contributed to or voted for Republicans. A large number of black farmers in the lawsuit live in Dickey’s district so the congressman is in for a very tough reelection battle. Therefore, he’s trying to contain the damage of his candid admission that career politicians often decide policy on the basis of who helps them politically, not what is right and just.

Dickey, supposedly a fiscal conservative, is now publicizing a long list of projects costing millions that he has showered on African-Americans. He even pushed a bill, finally, to urge the Department of Agriculture to pay up. But get this: the Congressional Black Caucus defeated the bill. Why would the Black Caucus undercut a bill that urged the government to pay damages to black farmers? Because they didn’t want Dickey to get the credit. Mr. Dickey and the Black Caucus are at each others throats, but they have something in common: they both decide the issues based on what’s best for their own political careers, not what’s best for the country. That’s why voters of every color and creed want term limits. No wonder over 98 percent of incumbents are reelected. So much for fair elections.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Our Constitution is the highest law in the land. It establishes the specific powers of Congress, and reserves other powers to other institutions or to the people. That’s why members of Congress are required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution.

But as with most of their promises and commitments, congressmen don’t have a very swell track record of doing what they have pledged to do. In fact, sometimes I wonder whether they even know what the Constitution says. Sure, the career politicians often don’t read the legislation they pass, but since it can be thousands of pages long that’s not so surprising. Bad, yes, but not surprising.

But the Constitution is short, straightforward and to the point. Leaders who used words to communicate, rather than hide their ideas wrote it. Any person can read and understand the Constitution in 20 minutes. But Congress has a bad habit of knowingly passing bills of uncertain constitutionality, and treating the Supreme Court as the goalie for the Constitution; let the Supreme Court strike down sloppy laws if necessary. But that’s not the way it’s supposed to work.

And that’s why Supreme Court Justice Scalia was right to speak out bluntly against this lazy practice that disregards constitutionality at will. Mr. Congressman: Pass only those bills you believe are constitutional. Stop passing legislation willy-nilly and peppering the Supreme Court with a zillion half-baked laws. You have a duty under the Constitution; you took an oath. Stop passing the buck.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

We have a special cultural glue in this country that goes beyond the laws, the Constitution, even the Bill of Rights. It’s called “The American Way.”

It’s about fair play and having your day in court and getting your chance to speak and make your choice when you vote. It’s about being able to trust that in the open and fair battle of ideas we can make our government what it should be. But the American Way is under assault. Trust is giving way to cynicism.

One reason is that the Federal Election Commission, a partisan organization itself, is allowing the Commission on Presidential Debates to turn those debates into a partisan tool. Gore and Bush are invited and no other candidates are allowed. Polls show 47 percent of voters want the option to vote for an independent for president this November. A majority wants to see more than just Bush and Gore on the national podium.

And yet the government is working in a partisan fashion against our democratic interests. Republican Alan Keyes warns that the partisan lock-out feeds a sense that [quote] “our elections are a sham, that have no significance, but are in fact a manipulated outcome dictated in the end by those who already have the power . . . That sense of cynicism will destroy our political system no, it is destroying it.”

Great civilizations fade when they abandon their fundamental strengths. It will happen to us, too, if we abandon the American Way.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Some years ago, Congress passed legislation giving the government far-reaching powers to battle organized crime. The law is known as RICO, for Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO has often been used to harass people on a mere suspicion of wrongdoing that has nothing to do with “organized crime.”

Well, now a new kind of “organized crime” is bringing RICO full circle. The criminal enterprise being investigated? Congress itself. Sounds like an open-and-shut case. Are congressmen really racketeers? Democrat Patrick Kennedy is using RICO to sue Republican Tom DeLay for scheming to “extort political contributions from individuals and entities with interests before Congress . . .” Ouch. That’s a new one. Career politicians bullying folks for contributions? Somebody hand me the smelling salts.

And now Republicans are scouring public records to unearth fundraising shakedowns by Democrats. No one in official Washington seems too shocked by the charge that top-ranking Republicans are racketeers or for that matter, that so are Democrats. Polls show most Americans believe congressmen are more likely to use their power to “help friends and hurt enemies” than to achieve a “fair result.”

The Washington Post editorialized, “. . . both parties could be said to ‘extort’ money from business, with varying degrees of crudeness. Success against Mr. DeLay would therefore trigger a barrage of copycat litigation.”

By all means, let’s put a stop to this before the entire Congress gets carted off to the hoosegow. On second thought, where’s Janet Reno when you really need her?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Recently there was a congressional hearing on why the White House failed to honor a subpoena to turn over e-mail messages pertaining to one of the numerous Clinton scandals we’re supposed to keep up with. Considering the Administration’s deep and heartfelt commitment to the rule of law, one would expect them to abide by a court order to produce these e-mails.

But at the hearing, White House attorney Cheryl Mills wailed that holding the hearings does not feed one hungry child, or help one family to get healthcare, or help one person get job training, or . . . Well, you get the point: Something like “Yesterday’s gone. Let’s think about tomorrow.” Any recently arrested mugger would happily echo this sentiment. “Forget about me and my crime . . . what about the widows and orphans?”

Meanwhile, recent audits of the Medicare program have found billions of dollars misspent. Audits of other government programs show the same widespread failure to get money to the people these programs are designed to help.

And recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development shelled out $2.8 million of our tax dollars to help people in Washington, D.C. get job training and start businesses. Problem is the money is all gone and the program didn’t provide any real benefit to the poor. Instead, well-connected consultants made off like bandits, while HUD was asleep at the switch. What else is new?

We may not be feeding the children, as Cheryl Mills complains; but we sure are feeding the crooked consultants. But that’s all in the past right?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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.