ThisIsCommonSense.org

What with the incredible presidential election, there’s been a lot of talk about democracy lately. I like democracy. As Winston Churchill pointed out, it’s the worst form of government except for all the others. I give it an A minus.

But some listeners tell me, “Hey, America is a republic, not a democracy.” They stress the problems with unfettered majority rule. It’s wrong to have two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner, they say. And they’re right​.In America, no majority can tell us how to worship, what we can or cannot say, how to live our lives. We don’t vote on absolutely everything. There are constitutional limits that protect our freedom to make our own personal choices.Maybe there should be even more limits on what can be voted on than there are. But we do vote. We do decide some things democratically.

Thomas Jefferson referred to the United States as a “democratic republic,” and I think that’s right. After the Constitution was crafted in 1789, Ben Franklin was asked what form of government the congress had given the country. “A Republic,” said Franklin, “if you can keep it.” Democracy as such competitive elections, votes that matter, citizens making decisions is not a threat to our Republic. True, many things should not be decided by the government.

But when it is appropriate for ‘We the People’ to act, we should be allowed to act. That means democracy.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Ever notice what dictators have in common? I mean, aside from trampling everybody’s rights, jailing their critics, piling up money in Swiss bank accounts, chopping off the heads of ex-​wives, that sort of thing?

Yes, that’s right. Your run-​of-​the-​mill tyrant doesn’t like handing power over to others. They want to hang around as long as possible. Julius Caesar. Augustus Caesar. Genghis Khan. King Henry the Eighth. Hitler. Lenin. Stalin. Idi Amin. Pol Pot. Ferdinand Marcos. Slobodan Milosevic. When there’s somebody new, you know the other guy is either dead or applying for asylum. And in this country? Outright dictators, maybe not. Powerful people who like to stick around forever and get their every whim catered to? That’s another story.

In his new book about his years in Washington, self-​limiter Congressman Mark Sanford gives an example. Seems this 98-​year-​old Senator from South Carolinian (who shall remain nameless) was attending a public event when he suddenly decided he wanted his lemonade without ice. But a powerful eight-​term senator can’t be expected to scoop the cubes himself, can he? So a bunch of full colonels also in attendance got their military sleeves wet as they completed the mission for him. As Sanford remarks, if the Senator “hadn’t been slated…to be the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, he might have been instructed to strain his own lemonade.” Gee. Maybe so.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

These days we are so used to seeing politicians treat our trust with contempt, we almost think it’s wrong to expect otherwise. “What do you mean so-​and-​so is lying and cheating and breaking promises for the sake of perpetuating power?” we tell each other. “He’s a politician! Of course he’s lying and cheating etc. etc. Get real.“But that makes it sound like political leaders don’t have the same control over their actions as the rest of us do. It just ain’t so. I

f you want a nifty antidote to such cynicism, let me recommend a wonderful little book, hot off the press, by Representative Mark Sanford, called The Trust Committed to Me . Mark is a Citizen Legislator who has limited his own terms in office. He tells all about how he took on the career politicians to win his seat, then how he and other citizen legislators fought the good fight against the career politicians once he got to Washington. There are some great stories here. I’ll make you a deal. My outfit, U.S. Term Limits Foundation, will give you this book absolutely free if you contact us right now (until April 1, 2001). That’s right: F‑R-​E‑E. Just call 800 – 733-​6440, give us your name and mailing address, you must mention you heard this offer on Common Sense, and we will mail you a free copy of Representative Sanford’s book. Or click into our web site at www​.termlimits​.org. (Offer good through April 1, 2001.)

Hey, it’s a little late for a Christmas present, but what the heck? You deserve the best.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Merry Christmas, folks.  Boy, I’m telling you, this is getting to be a rough time of year. I just got a letter complaining about the entrenched incumbency of a certain office-​holder in the North Pole.

“Dear Paul,” writes Virginia Grinch of Whoville, New York. “Should Santa Claus be term-​limited? He has held the same office since the 19th century. He stays in power by bribing pint-​sized lobbyists who annually demand free goodies. Furthermore, many elves in his workshop have complained that Claus is arrogant in exercising his authority, and that he is even becoming excessive in his attentions toward some of the intern elves. It is time for Santa Claus to go. Sincerely, Virginia Grinch.”

Well, Virginia, I haven’t heard these charges about abuse of authority. I tend to doubt them though. I think Santa is a very merry, jolly, all-​around nice guy. It is true that many private organizations could benefit from term-​limiting their top officers. But even if a private group fails to organize itself in the best way, the damage it can do is limited.

By contrast, when it comes to government the whole citizenry suffers from the excesses of endless incumbency. Now, Kris Kringle deals with people on a completely voluntary basis. Taxpayers are not forced to pay for the gifts that Santa distributes. All he does is spread joy and happiness, and that should go on forever. So, no, Virginia, there should be no term limit on Santa Claus.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

What is going on down in Florida? It seems the election is never over: the results are ignored while the campaign just goes on and on.

Never mind the presidential race! I’m talking about term limits in Tampa, Florida and arrogance by Tampa politicians that you just don’t find every day, not even in Washington, D.C.

Voters in Tampa have been pretty clear about wanting term limits some observers think that’s why voters passed term limits to begin with. But the city council thought otherwise. When they placed a repeal of term limits on the ballot, many of the city council members no doubt were thinking: “The voters love me. They can’t live without me.”

But this past November the voters reiterated their preference when they overwhelmingly defeated the repeal. Now the anti-​term limits group wants to put the question back to the voters in a special election that will cost taxpayers lots of money and promise a much smaller turnout of voters.

But, finally, some sanity: Council Member Gwen Miller, who had voted to put it on the ballot once, said, “The people have spoken. If they felt like they wanted to end term limits, they would have said so. We don’t need to keep putting it on and on again.”

Voters love term limits because they want new people and new ideas in government. That keeps our government closer to all of us. Politicians, well, they just don’t get it. Or maybe they do, but just don’t like it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Throughout all this incredible and unprecedented legal and political wrangling over who will be the president, there was all along one thing we could count on that provided a true measure of stability: President William Jefferson Clinton would not, could not be the President of the United States for a third term. It may have taken us a while to figure out who is the president, but we had great certainty about who could not be.

The 22nd Amendment to our Constitution stipulates that no person can hold this highest office for more than two full terms. And once held for those two terms, he or she cannot ever hold the office again. The reason is simple: we shouldn’t allow any one person to hold power for long because power corrupts. Washington made the point when he stepped down as president after two terms.

Thomas Jefferson continued Washington’s limit of two terms and the tradition lasted until FDR. Then Congress passed the 22nd Amendment limiting the President to two terms though alas absentmindedly forgetting to term-​limit themselves.

And now, having seen a presidential election that could have turned into a real crisis, it’s good to know that life went on normally in our land because we are, at our best, governed by the rule of law, not the arbitrary edicts of men. The 22nd Amendment, term limits for the president, is an important part of that foundation of law.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.