ThisIsCommonSense.org

Technology has had a lot to do with the longest economic expansion in our nation’s history, currently in its ninth consecutive year.

One of the few surveys of congressional voting behavior on technology issues has been done by the Information Technology Industry Council. The council is a consortium of large publicly-​traded corporations in the technology sector. Their survey ranks each congressman on seven key votes important to the hi-​tech industry. These include issues such as Y2K readiness, trade relations with China, amending U.S. patent laws, and legalization of digital signatures that will make e‑commerce transactions more secure.

Fourteen elected members who have voluntarily agreed to limit their terms in office have organized as the Citizen Legislator Caucus. Whether you agree with the hi-​tech industry on all these issues or not, it’s interesting to see if there is a difference between citizen legislators and those pursuing a career in Washington.

Citizen legislators ace the survey. Their average score was 87 percent. They even bested the House Internet Caucus. Nearly two-​thirds of citizen legislators scored a perfect 100 percent. Among the Internet Caucus only 39 percent of members hit the top ranking.

Perhaps their real-​world experience gives our citizen legislators a better understanding of what it takes to succeed in the real world of hi-​tech and the real world of business, to the benefit of us all.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

No one seems to stick up for the average person anymore. Maybe that’s because like the residents of mythical Lake Wobegon, we all view ourselves as above average.

Recently, a commentator wondered what it might take to get Joe Six-​Pack off the couch and to the polls this November. Well, I have news for him. The average person is working, not lying on the couch. Joe Six-​Pack is busy taking care of his own life working, taking the kids places, volunteering in the community.

Why should he take time out of his busy day to vote if there isn’t any real choice? If once in office, the politicians won’t listen anyway? Joe Six-​Pack is getting a raw deal by the powers that be.

A Pew Research study found that less than a third of Congressmen “think the American public knows enough about the issues … to form wise opinions about what should be done.” Among presidential appointees and senior civil servants (bureaucrats) less than 15 percent give the people any credit for their opinions on the issues.

Frankly, most of our leaders don’t think they should pay us any mind oh, except when it comes time to collect taxes. Then we certainly count. The political elite would do well to stop dumping on Joe Six-​Pack and start listening. Joe is not only smarter than they think; but he also pays the bills.

And given a chance to make a difference, he’ll be at the polls all right. As the career politician’s worst nightmare.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Nearly everyone says they support “campaign finance reform.” But people don’t agree on what that reform should be. And when you consider that any so-​called reform will be written by the career politicians themselves, well, it’s easy to get discouraged.

Moreover, if lightning strikes and a reform is passed that doesn’t just increase the advantages for incumbents, the incumbents could still thwart the reform through the Federal Election Commission. The FEC is very political. It’s comprised by an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Anytime both parties flagrantly break the laws, as they did in the 1996 campaign, career politicians get a free pass.

Meanwhile, the FEC illegally harasses groups that run issue ads discussing the records of congressmen. A federal judge fined the agency for such conduct. Interesting, isn’t it, that the FEC lawlessly assaults groups that career politicians don’t like, but can’t manage to enforce the laws that are on the books.

But the problem is deeper than one renegade agency. It’s career politicians in Congress who talk reform but seek to block information that might hurt them politically. Why should Congress have any power at all to muzzle groups or individuals, even if they do call for an incumbent to be defeated? The First Amendment that guarantees free speech specifically tells Congress to butt out.

Freedom of speech means the freedom to say even those things that the people in power don’t like. This is America.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Money is not the root of all evil. I like it. Everyone I know likes it.

Money can be very helpful. They charge money at the movies, the cleaners, the grocery store. Of course, some of the things folks do to get money aren’t too kosher. Most Americans believe their representative in Congress has traded votes for money. Now that’s evil. It’s why people want to regulate money in politics. But the regulations haven’t worked.

Now enemies of the initiative process claim money is corrupting the people’s lawmaking and seek severe restrictions. That’s just silly. Unlike candidates, who can be bribed by contributions, initiatives are written down in black-​and-​white. Initiatives can’t change their legal wording after passage the way politicians discard campaign promises once in office.

Compare the initiative process to candidates. Even when initiative proponents outspend opponents by a two-​to-​one margin or more, most initiatives lose at the ballot box. Money doesn’t dictate the outcome.

But in candidate races, the bigger spenders win 96 percent of the time. Money’s an inanimate object. Money isn’t the problem, but power corrupting the individual. It’s when money buys our elected officials that we have a problem.

So, hands off the initiative process and let’s break up the power that corrupts our representatives with term limits.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

For years Syria has been on America’s official list of terrorist nations. Recently the Syrian dictator, Hafez Assad, died after three decades of a brutal reign of power. His government allowed no political freedom whatsoever. Dissent was a crime.

“I always respected him,” said Clinton, praising Assad for taking part in peace talks. Respected Hafez Assad? A dictator? A sponsor of terrorism? Does Mr. Clinton know something that the State Department doesn’t know?

Oh sure, Assad sometimes cooperated with the U.S. on the public scene, when he wasn’t befriending terrorists behind the scenes. Maybe he did want to improve his standing in the eyes of the international community.

But that’s what manipulative dictators do. They play the power game. But does that make them heroes of freedom, peace and democracy? Well, maybe Clinton just admires the guy’s staying power; Clinton would love another 30 years in power himself.

I guess it would have been a terrible shock to international diplomacy if our President had simply said, “Another thug bites the dust. Hooray!” But can’t we have a little respect for the men and women and children who have been maimed or killed, in body and in spirit, over the past thirty years: the victims of Hafez Assad?

Some argue we have to deal with dictators as we try to achieve piece in a war-​torn part of the world. But we don’t have to send roses to their funerals.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

How much should our opinion matter? I think my opinion should count a lot, especially when it’s well informed, which is usually.

No doubt you feel the same way. When it comes to representative government, our opinions certainly should be important. Not all-​important, of course. We want representatives who share our values, but we want them to rule by principles, not just by polls.

But sometimes public opinion should carry a great deal of weight, even if our representatives have a different opinion.

Foreign policy is one example. Should our congressmen be making life-​and-​death commitments for us around the world, against our will, without the support of the very people who will have to pay the ultimate price for the policy?

According to a recent survey by Rasmussen Research, most Americans think the U.S. should commit to the military defense of just four nations Canada and Mexico on this side of the globe, and across the pond, Great Britain and France.

Yet for one reason or another, the United States currently has troops in more than 100 countries. And we are committed to defend scores of allies. A lot of us were very skeptical of the bombing in Kosovo. But our doubts didn’t stop our representatives from giving a green light to the action. When troops are sent abroad, life and limb is at stake.

In a situation like that, our representatives had better listen to what the people have to tell them. Don’t you think? That’s my opinion, anyway.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.