ThisIsCommonSense.org

Education. Education. Education. That’s what the U.S. Senate race in Virginia is all about this year. And boy, are we voters getting a heckuva education on politics!

Incumbent Senator Chuck Robb and challenger George Allen are both former governors. They know very well that the federal government provides little money to the state’s school system just lots of bossy mandates. Only 6 percent of Virginia’s public school funds come from the federal government. Still, both men are campaigning as the savior of Virginia’s public schools. They can’t fulfill that role from the U.S. Senate, but to win votes they’re pretending they can solve everyone’s problems.

George Allen is being helped by almost $1.2 million dollars in TV ads paid for by Virginia taxpayers. Allen’s buddy, Republican Governor Jim Gilmore is running ads talking about the great success of the Standards of Learning tests. These student tests, designed to ensure accountability in public schools, were Allen’s major educational achievement as governor.

Now accountability is a good thing, sure. But everyone knows that these ads are running right before the election to boost Allen. Needless to say, taxpayers aren’t thrilled with being forced to spend a million dollars on campaign ads. The governor’s spokesman Mark Miner defended the ads, saying, “People have a right to know where their educational dollars are going.” He’s right; people should know that our tax dollars are going to politics. And the politicians should know we’re sick of it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Boy, the politicians in Washington are such kidders. Always joking around. What a hoot. So funny I forgot to laugh.

The latest rib-​tickler is Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott’s gentle jibe about taking jobs away from Georgia voters if they don’t vote for a Republican for the U.S. Senate. While campaigning in Atlanta with Republican Senate candidate Mack Mattingly, Lott suggested in no uncertain terms that he would snatch away a lucrative military contract from an Atlanta-​based company and flip it to Mississippi if Georgia voters don’t elect Mattingly to the Senate this November.

Of course, no one in the crowd seemed to know that it was a joke when Lott stated, “If Mack is not there [in the Senate], I will do everything I can to move the whole operation to Mississippi. If Mack is there, we’ll split the difference. We’ll build the fuselage and you’ll do the rest. You get my drift here?” Okay, Lott. We get it. Ha, ha, ha. Stop, you’re killing me.

Later, when a reporter asked Lott about his implied threat, he was told it was all in fun. Yeah. Well, perhaps if our career politicians didn’t make so many decisions that affect our safety and our pocketbooks with only their own political interests in mind, it would be easier to know when they’re joshing and when they’re turning the screws. Mr. Majority Leader, keep the day job. On the other hand, maybe it’s time you got out of politics as well as stand-​up comedy.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Is it really so wonderful that the Republican leadership is trying to win elections “locally” this fall? Well, wait until you see what they mean by “locally.”

In 1994, Republicans snagged an historic majority of both houses of Congress by being national, not local. Their national theme was based on reforming the tax-​and-​spend culture of the federal government. Like-​minded candidates signed a pledge to do so, the Contract With America. But Republicans squandered the political capital they gained in 1994. Except for a few stalwarts (including self-​limited representatives like Matt Salmon, Mark Sanford, and Tom Coburn), they’ve caved on issue after issue at the first sign of trouble. They’re behaving like you guessed it career politicians.

And now the National Review reports that the GOP has a grand electoral strategy for 2000 of doling out as much pork as possible in districts where Republicans are at risk. Kate O’Beirne writes, “The House leaders can dispense enough pork and policy, with a dash of pandering, to insulate their members from political trouble.… After the appropriators take care of their own districts, 49 percent of what’s left over goes to the ‘vulnerable list.’ ” Great. And the purpose of gaining political power by handing out slab after fat slab of pork is to do what, exactly? Eliminate pork barrel spending? That’s not something you’ll ever be able to do while “Oink! Oink!” is your rallying cry.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Ted Kennedy is probably the perfect incumbent politician. Never mind the scandals, the personal problems, the body in the water, the high unfavorable rating. Kennedy survives by doling out tax dollars to special interest groups who in turn dole out big dollars to Kennedy’s campaign coffers. It helps to have the Kennedy name, of course, and to be the patriarch of America’s only almost-​royal family. But what’s good for friends of monarchy is bad for friends of democracy.

Even in 1994, when scandal lured a challenger with deep pockets of his own, Kennedy won handily with 58 percent of the vote. Of course, Massachusetts is a Democratic stronghold. But ask yourself: why this particular Democrat, all the time, decade after decade, no matter his flaws? This year, Kennedy has no competition to speak of. Credible challengers are scared off by the sheer weight of incumbency. Kennedy has raised $5.8 million for his reelection campaign, spent $2.7 million, and has more than $4 million in the bank (some of that left over from previous campaigning). His three opponents haven’t got half a million between them.

The story is not unique. In Massachusetts alone, 5 out of 10 House incumbents face no significant opposition. Too often, the major parties just don’t bother to field a candidate when the incumbent decides to run again. And so the incumbents don’t run, they walk, to unchallenged victory. It’s time for term limits.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It’s easy to imagine all that could be accomplished if you had the power. But it’s also easy to forget that power corrupts. That goes for you and me, too not just politicians. Once in power, our environment would change and so would the pressures we would face. And over time most likely we would change, too. Back in revolutionary days, Englishmen John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon wrote:

Men, when they first enter into [office], have often their former condition before their eyes. They remember what they themselves suffered from the abuse of power; so their first purposes are to be humble, modest and just; and probably, for some time, they continue so. But the possession of power soon alters their hearts. First they grow indifferent. Next, they lose their moderation: Afterwards, they renounce all measures with their old principles, and grow in conceit, a different species from their fellow subjects. And so, by too sudden degrees become insolent, rapacious and tyrannical. So that the only way to put them in mind of their former condition, and consequently of the condition of other people, is often to reduce then to it. A rotation, therefore, in power and [office], is necessary to a free government.

Power changes people. Not just bad people, but good people, too. That’s why we need term limits: because career politicians are no better than you and me.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

The election is weeks away, but a new report from the non-​partisan Center for Voting & Democracy picks the winners in every congressional race. In the past, their accuracy has been astounding.

In 1997, 18 months prior to the ’98 elections, leaders of the Center predicted 340 congressional races with incumbents and 21 open seats where there was no incumbent. The results? They were right in 339 out of the 340 incumbent races, or 99.7 percent. In open seats it wasn’t quite as easy, but they were right in 19 out of 21, or 90 percent.

How do they do it? They look at the breakdown of voters by party affiliation. You see, one of the most serious problems we face in creating a competitive electoral system is gerrymandering. This is the process whereby state legislatures draw the political boundaries. It allows politicians to pick their voters before voters can choose them. Add to that the awesome power of incumbency, which scares off competition, and you can see this is not exactly crystal-​ball gazing.

The courts have struck down districts drawn to get a certain racial outcome, but have turned a blind eye to districts that arbitrarily favor one party over another. The solution to incumbents monopolizing our elections is term limits. But another key factor in promoting democracy is to stop the politicians from drawing rigged districts that squelch competition.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.