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Hey. Got a violin? Seems poor old Michigan lobbyist Craig Ruff president of something called Public Sector Consulting, if you can believe that has made a boo-​boo. And now he’s banging his head against the wall. Yeah, Mr. Ruff has got it rough all right.

In a recent op-​ed Ruff testifies that long ago and far away about 9 years ago, while he was helping pound out policy in the governor’s mansion, as a matter of fact he made the mistake of voting for term limits on state and federal officials. The federal limits did not survive the Supreme Court. But the state limits did. And now the results are coming in, and Ruff is regretful. Because it turns out that term limits actually limit terms. Oops. In Mr. Ruff’s eyes, Michigan voters are being denied an “opportunity” to re-​elect Governor Engler, as well as dozens of state senators and representatives who must soon make way for others. This could lead to a disturbing trend of electoral contests actually meaning something in Michigan.

Why is that so tragic, in Mr. Ruff’s view? Well, for one thing, more empowerment of average citizens means that the lobbyists will take control of the legislature. Huh? Funny how so many lobbyists are so eager to give up the loads of extra power term limits supposedly gives them. There must be quite an outbreak of public-​spirited altruism in the centers of power these days. Well, I could make a case against Lobbyist Ruff. But I think I’ll just let him make it against himself.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Someone once said, “No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” Now the people of Oregon are beginning to see just how far their politicians will go to serve themselves at public expense.

Top of the list: Kill term limits. But these honorables know that 70 percent of their voters want term limits. They don’t want to appear too self-​serving. So, Oregon’s career politicians are trying what they think is a brilliant idea: use the courts to overturn the law. You see, Oregon judges have recently been rewriting the initiative laws to block measures opposed by politicians but passed by voters. These rulings have made it possible for Oregon judges to strike down almost any constitutional amendment.

Legislators, who could have clarified the judicial haze, are instead exploiting it. They suspended their usual legislative business to pass a new bill designed for only one purpose: to allow an immediate lawsuit against the voters of Oregon over term limits. Just recently, a judge played along, striking down the term limits amendment, saying that congressional term limits and state legislative term limits were not, “closely related” enough to pass muster. Just one problem: that same ex post facto legal reasoning would also scuttle as many as 40 other constitutional amendments. Let’s hope the Oregon Supreme Court will end the insanity.

But, at least now we know that career politicians are happy to legislate their state governments into chaos, if that’s what it takes for them to stay in power. Quite a case for term limits, eh?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Are you a fan of the ancient Greek and Roman gods? No doubt lots of folks think they’re nifty … even Hephaestus, the fire god, known to the Romans as Vulcan.

But does your affection for the god of fire mean that we should want the nation’s taxpayers to spend $3.5 million to clean up a statue of Vulcan out in Birmingham, Alabama? I mean, couldn’t the folks out in Birmingham handle it themselves with a bucket of water and some good rust remover? Okay if it’s a large statue, maybe lots of water and rust remover? It just seems to me this is a local job.

I’m not the biggest fan of Senator John McCain and his idea of campaign finance reform. His idea of making electoral politics more equitable is to hobble free speech and hamper electoral competition. The Senator has the wrong solution for a very real problem … the problem of pork.

But, he’s right about the pork. It was McCain who tried to stop federal funding to scrub down the statue of Vulcan. His effort has been dubbed “symbolic” because “only” a few million dollars were in play. McCain’s staff had identified some 24 pages of alleged pork in the appropriations for the Department of Interior alone. But even the amendment to stop this one symbolic slice of bacon got clobbered by a vote of 87 to 12. So, that’s at least 87 mutually back-​scratching senators who think they’re entitled to splurge taxpayer dollars on their district, at your expense and mine. Vulcan, have I got a job for you.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Ah, freedom … In his great pamphlet, Common Sense , published in 1776, Thomas Paine wrote, “Freedom hath been hunted ’round the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.” It was Tom Paine’s dream that America would be a home for all those throughout the world who loved freedom. And Paine’s dream has come true.

In fact, it came true again recently for Chinese citizen Gao Zhan. She’s a scholar and a permanent resident of the U.S. She, her husband and their five-​year-​old son were detained in China in February after visiting their parents. Her husband and son are U.S. citizens and were soon released. But Gao was held for five months, ultimately convicted by a Chinese court and sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage. Finally, due to pressure from the U.S. she was released.

Upon her arrival back in America, Gao told reporters: “Before I departed Beijing, I was warned not to talk about anything. Not to talk about my time, my experience in China, in any form … But with America standing behind me … I’m not scared. Here,” she said, “I can breathe freely, and now speak freely.” I hope America will always welcome those who, like Gao, love freedom. As it says on the Statue of Liberty: “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Yes, that’s our land, our country! And let’s keep it that way.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Even the IRS can make mistakes. Just look at the historical record. Sometimes the IRS confiscates property they really should not have confiscated. Sometimes the IRS deprives people of constitutional rights they really should not have deprived people of. Sometimes the IRS intimidates and terrifies people they really should not have intimidated and terrified. But hey, everybody’s human. Even out-​of-​control government agencies exempt from the constitutional constraints that are supposed to guide everybody else in government can make mistakes. So don’t blame the IRS for periodically trampling the rights of innocent taxpayers. That’s their job. And it’s easy to screw up when you don’t have to worry about being held accountable for your screw-​ups. The IRS has finally gone too far, though.

Instructed by Congress to send tax rebates to some 112 million Americans, the agency decided it would be good to mail notices in advance of the checks, to explain that a check is on the way. Many have wondered why the explanation could not have been sent with the check. Yet, how else could the IRS have gratuitously spent millions of taxpayer dollars on an unnecessary mailing? But now it turns out that 523,000 of those unnecessary notices gave the wrong information, telling 523,000 taxpayers that they’ll get back more money than they actually will get. The check itself is accurate, but the announcement about the check is not. So now 523,000 corrections must be distributed. But don’t worry if you happen to be one of those misinformed people. The announcement about the announcement is in the mail.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Here’s a question they could use on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” See how you do with it. The question is: What are the chances that a congressional incumbent, who has been in office for more than two terms, will be reelected if he runs again for office? A) Not a chance, B) Fifty-​fifty, C) Between 80 and 90 percent, or D) Between 99 and 100 percent. If you have to use a lifeline, you haven’t been paying attention to the last four hundred installments of “Common Sense.”

The answer is D, between 99 and 100 percent. Sure, once in a while an incumbent Senator might get knocked out of office. But it’s rare indeed for a member of the House to lose in his district. And it is especially rare after the incumbent has survived his freshman and sophomore terms in office. The advantages of incumbency are just too great. Some of us have argued that because of Congressman Gary Condit’s tap dancing with the police during the Chandra Levy missing-​person investigation, the congressman should resign. So far, he shows no signs of doing that. If he does run again, he might or might not win. But the whole sordid mess reminds us once again that it really does take a big scandal to rattle the cage of congressional incumbency. Unless a representative retires, dies, gets squeezed out of power by redistricting, or lies to police about a missing person who might be dead, he has a permanent lock on power. If what we want is a healthy and competitive democracy, that’s not a situation we should accept.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.