ThisIsCommonSense.org

We send good people to Washington, but after they get there they seem to change.

That’s one reason voters support term limits. They feel that representatives under term limits, imposed by law or by their own conscience, will be truer to their convictions. Focused on returning home and resuming their former lives, rather than staying in Congress forever, these members won’t be captured by special interests.

Now there’s more than a gut feeling among voters. There’s proof.

The National Taxpayers Union studied the legislation introduced and supported by members of the class of 1994. These congressmen came in like lions. On taxes and spending, the NTU study found those with self-imposed term limits kept faith with their original commitment to people back home. They stayed as strong as lions supporting a cut in government spending even after their first term.

Those seeking a congressional career behaved far differently. They broke faith with taxpayers by supporting 4 times more federal spending after their first term in office. They changed into lambs.

National Taxpayers Union President John Berthoud said, “When politicians plan a career in Washington, they will change their behavior . . . captured by the forces inside the Beltway advocating bigger spending and a larger federal government. Lawmakers who keep their pledge to limit their own terms appear to keep other promises as well lower spending and less government.”

Want representatives who keep the faith? They’re the term-limited ones.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

On too many tough streets it’s a jungle where young people are often pressured into joining gangs. One place you don’t expect gang activity is the halls of our nation’s Capitol.

Yet, in Congress pressure to join the gang is enormous. The congressional gangs are organized by the leadership of both parties. If you question the analogy between the congressional leadership and a street gang, consider the experience of Representative Bob Schaffer of Colorado.

Schaffer is a different breed who pledged to limit his time in Congress. His short-term status in Washington helps him keep his common sense and integrity. He was singled out by the National Taxpayers Union as the most frugal congressman for spending the least tax dollars on his office. Believing Congress is violating the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from taking a salary increase without first standing for re-election, Schaffer sued to stop the automatic pay raises career politicians keep giving themselves.

Boy, that really angered the gang in Congress! They kicked Schaffer off the Republican Policy Committee as punishment.

You see, fighting for reform in Washington, doing what you believe is right, and not becoming a career politician is against the rules of the gang.

Now, young people should think for themselves and stay out of gangs. It’s tough to fight peer pressure, but it’s critical that they reject the corruption the gangs bring to the neighborhood. Doesn’t the same go for our congressmen?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Yankee Stadium in New York is called “the house that Ruth built.”

Babe Ruth became a legend in his own time, selling enough tickets to make the Yankees a very successful team, not only in the record books, but also on the team’s bank statement. Ruth brought the fans, fans bought tickets and the Yankees built a great stadium. Those were the days.

Today it’s different. Oh, the games are as fun as ever, but when it comes to building stadiums, a political rip-off is taking place. You see wealthy owners today don’t build stadiums. Increasingly, you build them. That’s right, it’s your money that’s taken in taxes to pay for most of the new stadiums whether you like sports or not. Now, I love sports, but I hate political rip-offs.

It happened in Milwaukee. Voters said no for a publicly financed stadium, but the legislature stiff-armed voters, raising the sales tax to pay for it.

Pittsburgh voters turned down a plan for a new park, but the politicians are still subsidizing it.

In Seattle, voters said no to forking over $285 million for a new stadium, but the state legislature is clipping them with higher taxes and doing it anyway.

People love sports, which generate a lot of money. But when sports teams raking in millions of dollars get in bed with politicians to rip-off the taxpayers for huge subsidies it’s just flat wrong.

We don’t need an instant replay to make the call. “They’re out! Caught stealing.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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If you think we have only 12 months in a year and January comes after December, you must live outside Washington.

Politicians bristle at the notion that they don’t live in the real world. But when it comes to controlling the spending of our tax dollars and staying within a budget, the politicians in Washington prove they’re from a completely ‘nother planet.

Looking for some scheme to spend more tax money without breaking their own promised budget caps, the career politicians will try almost anything.

Almost anything, except keeping their promise, that is.

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in Congress for 20 years, admits the obvious, “We all know we engage in a lot of smoke and mirrors.” The latest scheme they’re offering: a 13-month yearly budget! 13 months. That’s right. 13.

Not 12. 13.

Now, to us common folk it seems there are only 12 months in a year. But the congressional leadership refuses to trim the increases in their spending so the calendar has to bend a little. And there ain’t no ‘controlling legal authority’ out there to tell ’em, “Hey, only 12 months in a year, bubba.”

That’s another full 30 days of spending for the Martians in Washington. Let’s put the new congressionally fabricated month right after December and before January. Since it’s a creation of career politicians in Washington designed to get around reality; perhaps we should call the new 13th month “Deceptuary.”

“Deception” plus “January” “Deceptuary.” What else would you expect from Planet Washington?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Another shooting spree leaves more people dead, this time in a church in Ft. Worth, Texas. What can we do to stop these acts of violence?

Darn good question. First, though, let’s stop blaming ourselves. A headline in my paper screams, “America the Violent.” These acts are not the fault of society at large. You and I are part of society. I’m not to blame for these shootings. Are you?

Stop blaming guns. My state representative sent me a letter saying, “I voted for no guns at school.” Idiotic. Did anybody vote to put guns in schools?

Stop blaming the media and video games and movies. Some of this is offensive, but it doesn’t put a gun in someone’s hand and pull the trigger for him.

When it comes to politicians I admit it’s tempting to blame them. Politicians do their darnedest to screw up an awful lot of things. But these shootings are not the fault of politicians. In fact, most agree that none of the gun laws or other measures being emotionally debated in Congress would have prevented any of these killings.

Who is to blame? The killers. That’s where moral responsibility lies. They’re the ones that did it.

The hallmark of a civilized society is individual responsibility. When we blame others for what criminals do, we send the wrong signal. It’s not society’s fault. Let’s teach our kids that everyone is responsible for his or her own actions, good actions or bad.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. hated prejudice. He said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

It’s wrong to prejudge people because of their race or creed or nationality. But is discrimination wrong in and of itself?

Every day we discriminate for and against people because of what they say, how they act in short, because of their character. And well we should. Martin Luther King thought we should all be judged on the basis of the content of our character.

The Miss America Pageant is changing its standards to allow women who have been divorced or had abortions to compete for their title. The story is a troubling one. It doesn’t have to do with where you stand on abortion or divorce. It has to do with the freedom of any private organization to promote what it believes in.

The Miss America organization says it changed its rules to avoid being sued under New Jersey’s discrimination law. As a private organization, Miss America has a right to set the standards for character that they deem important. And to do so without being harassed by the New Jersey legislature.

While it’s profoundly wrong to prejudge others by their race, sex or religion, it is every bit as wrong not to reward people of high character. Our country’s very future depends on rewarding good behavior. When it comes to character, let’s discriminate.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.