ThisIsCommonSense.org

Hey, I used to think Representative Bud Schuster was the master of bribing his colleagues with the promise of pork or blackmailing them with the threat of its removal in order to get the high spending, high-​taxing legislative action that he wanted.

Well, move over, Bud. Bob Byrd wants a shot at the title. Yeah, turns out the senior senator from West Virginia tried to put the squeeze on fellow Democrats when it looked like some of them might vote yes to the Bush tax cut plan. Byrd told them in so many words, look you … you … you craven bipartisan bums … don’t you dare give the taxpayers of this country any kind of break!! If you vote for the Bush tax-​trim plan so as to let your constituents keep a tiny bit more of their take-​home pay, I will make darn sure that you don’t get all the pork you want for your district!!! Your pet spending projects will be hacked and slashed!! Lions and tigers and bears and Byrds, oh my!

First, Byrd delivered his threat behind closed doors. Then the Senator proved he really meant what he said by repeating his threat on the Senate floor. Here’s what he said (this is a direct quote now): “ ‘Let me say to my colleagues, if you vote for this budget conference report, don’t come to the watering hole.” Watering hole. Charming metaphor, that. But fortunately for the American taxpayer, the five or six colleagues in question ignored Senator Byrd’s twittering … and voted to give us back some more of our own money anyway.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

I’m talking about the St. Louis Declaration, a joint communiqu of 33 pro-​taxpayer organizations from all over the world. The declaration endorses the right of every human being to flee political and economic oppression. And it opposes recent anti-​taxpayer notions floated by such global political organizations as the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. These groups want the countries of the world to join hands and tax everybody at the same rate, the same way. Form a kind of global tax cartel. It’s a blatant bid to eliminate tax competition between nations.

If the goal were ever accomplished or even roughly approximated it would be a disaster for the world’s taxpayers. As things are now, citizens can at least vote with their feet when taxes are too punitive in their home country. And the danger of losing productive citizens does motivate at least some governments to try to improve their economic policies.

Without that competitive pressure, governments would be off the hook and citizens would be in the soup. We’d have to move to Mars to get a better deal. As the St. Louis Declaration puts it, quote, “It is a fundamental human right for individuals to move themselves and their property to nations with levels of taxation and public services compatible with their individual tastes and preferences.… Tax competition and diversity have been an engine for human economic progress that must continue.” Sounds good to me. Got a pen I can borrow?

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Pass the pork please. Thank you. Don’t ever forget to say thank you. It’s just good manners. Besides, you wouldn’t want to be punished the way the people of southern Arkansas were. They weren’t very appreciative of the pork they were getting.

Here’s the deal: Congressman Jay Dickey was in a tough reelection battle. He promised a mountain of pork if the voters would only send him back to Washington for yet another term. And he brought in lots of high-​powered Washington politicians with tax money bulging out of their pockets to say that if Dickey were reelected the roads would indeed be paved in gold or, at least paved. But then those uppity folks in Dickey’s district didn’t reelect the incumbent as they were instructed.

My goodness, they voted instead for a term-​limited state representative. That’s when $4 million federal dollars dangled before the voters were rescinded. And then the Office of Management and Budget removed proposed spending on Interstate 49. As one congressional big wig put it, “It might have been that people down there were not appreciative of the money they received.” Of course, now spending is back in for I‑49. After all, there’s a tough Senate race in Arkansas next year and a little dough might provide some leverage.

We taxpayers must always remember to be grateful to our honorable and benevolent rulers for the few pennies they kindly return to us from our many tax dollars. Maybe right after Mother’s and Father’s Day, there could be a new national holiday: Politician Appreciation Day. Please pass the pork … and the gravy.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

What’s the price we pay for all those federal regulations the government keeps churning out?

Clyde Crews, a scholar with the Cato Institute, estimates that our economy loses $788 billion a year because of regulations. He figures that a typical two-​income family loses about 18 percent of its after-​tax budget to hidden regulatory costs. Things cost us almost 20 percent more to buy than they would have without all the regulation-​run-​wild. Ouch. But not all of the cost is so hidden and generalized.

All these regulations also mean a lot of arbitrary power for bureaucrats. And very specific pain and suffering for the hapless individuals who become their target. Consider the case of the Manganas Painting Company​.In the early 1990s Manganas was hit with the second largest fine in the history of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration: four million dollars. Levied, of course, the very day new safety laws went into effect. And even though another agency, the EPA, had required a bridge enclosure that actually increased respiratory health risks. And even though John Manganas had bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of safety equipment.

The case has taken a while to make its way through the courts. But Manganas has already suffered a huge cost in lost business and lost reputation. He says he was always willing to meet OSHA’s requirements, but wasn’t given a chance. They painted him into a corner. Congress hands agencies the power to regulate, then washes its hands of the mess. There must be a better way.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

There’s a crisis facing California legislators and they are meeting it head on. Well, not exactly head on, but they’re tackling it. Well, they’re not quite tackling it, but they’re scheming pretty hard to get around it.

Think I’m talking about rolling blackouts that terrorize many who depend on electricity for life-​saving machines? And millions more struggling to pay astronomical energy bills? Heh heh. Think again. Naw, it’s term limits that have the career politicians’ full attention. The solution to every problem, according to these jokers, is to end term limits. Just give them some more time and they’ll solve each and every problem they’ve created. California term limits first took effect in 1997.

The asinine energy regulation bill, which caused the current crisis, was passed in 1996 by that last great, unlimited legislature a sort of parting gift. But while term limits has brought many new faces to the Capitol, too many of the old bulls switched chambers and are still around. Under current law they’re finally termed-​out of both chambers in 2004.

These super-​incumbents are using their tremendous experience not to fashion a solution to the energy nightmare, but rather to file and fund a phony new initiative. Proposition 918 pretends to “improve” term limits by allowing the politicians to continue to serve another eight years, even after already serving 14 years since term limits were passed, and years before that.

Well, the politicians aren’t going to get away with it. At long last, it’s going to be lights out for the power-​grabbing politicians.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Ever get the feeling that the politicians are trying to milk you for all you’ve got?Over the years, career politicians have stitched a crazy quilt of agricultural price supports. Peanut butter, sugar, and dairy products like cheese and milk are all more expensive because giant agricultural companies have good buddies in Washington.

Three or four years ago, Congress talked seriously about unraveling these supports. But old habits die hard. In fact, legislation is now pending in Congress to even further expand the milk cartels. This, though the National Taxpayers Union says we’re spending billions in higher grocery bills thanks to subsidies already in place. A few farmers may be helped, temporarily, by dairy and other farm price controls. But the rest of us suffer. And even many farmers are harmed when inefficient competitors rake in the dough mostly because of their size and propped-​up profits. The big firms are happy to be buffered from competition and they send crews of lobbyists to Washington to make sure things stay that way.

Various citizen legislators like Mark Sanford, the former congressman from South Carolina have led the battle in Congress on behalf of consumers. Thanks to Sanford, sugar price supports came up for a vote for the first time in years. But the lobbyists and the career politicians worked hard to protect their turf.

If we’re going to put an end to the price-​control regime in agriculture and get a cheaper grocery bill, looks like we’re going to have to put an end to career politicians first. All in favor say Aye.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.