ThisIsCommonSense.org

We simply don’t have enough money.” Doesn’t that sounds like all of us when we look at our family budget, but in this case it’s actually James Dyer, staff director of the House Appropriations Committee, complaining about budget caps on Congress.

It seems career politicians can never spend too much of your money. Yet taxpayers, who have been getting soaked for years, are ready to say enough is enough. The average taxpayer spends 42 percent of his or her income on taxes there are income taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc. So here we are paying more to government in taxes then we spend on housing, or on food, or you name it. And yet for those in Washington it’s never enough.

But there are those in Washington on the taxpayers’ side. Representative Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and a number of members who have limited their time in Congress are fighting to hold the line on wasteful spending. When the House tried to give hundreds of millions more to federal bureaucrats, Coburn led the charge against this waste. Coburn says plainly, “My inclination is to try to get Republicans to do what they told the American people they will do and not spend any money above the caps and not spend one dollar of Social Security money.”

Nowhere is the dividing line between career politicians and citizen legislators more clear than when it comes to spending our hard-​earned tax dollars. Career politicians spend trillions of tax dollars with the attitude that it’s never enough. Tom Coburn and other term-​limited members are standing up and saying, “Enough is enough!”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

There’s a big difference between “independence” and “arrogance.” Our Founders wanted judges to be independent from politics and the other two branches of government.

The judiciary could thus protect our freedoms and defend our Constitution against assaults from powerful politicians or even against majorities of the public.But being independent is no excuse for judicial tyranny. Judges must not abuse their power to interpret the law by, in effect, making the law. But that’s what’s happening across the country:

• Two years ago, Federal Judge Stephen Reinhardt struck down California’s term limits law saying California voters were too dumb to know what they were doing. Thankfully, his ridiculous and condescending opinion was overturned on appeal and term limits were restored.
• In Montana, just recently the state Supreme Court struck down a voter-​enacted tax initiative by rewriting the state’s Constitution and throwing out 100 years of precedence.
• In Nebraska, Judge David Lanphier struck down state term limits by rewriting the constitution’s initiative requirements and canceling a vote of the people. But in Nebraska voters can decide whether to retain a judge or not. And voters sent his arrogance packing.

On the federal level, though judges serve for life, the Constitution empowers Congress to regulate them. Career politicians are shirking their duties to protect our system. An arrogant Congress refuses to check an arrogant court, but ordinary citizens will and so will citizen legislators.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

In Florida, fresh-​squeezed orange juice flows like water. And so does support for term limits. In 1992 Florida citizens passed term limits by a record 77 percent vote.

Florida legislators, worried about being squeezed out of power, are now suing the people of Florida who passed term limits by that whopping margin! Of course, Florida’s professional politicians are not alone in their arrogance. Careerists in Ohio and Oregon are also trying to repeal term limits or at the very least delay the limits from taking effect. Current polls that show voters want to keep term limits just as they are. Still, politicians cynically claim to be pro-​term limits even as they support delaying and lengthening the limits.

The voters aren’t fooled. They know these same politicians blocked term limits for years. Politicians in Ohio and Oregon won’t get away with their attack on the term limits laws there. Legislators will also lose their lawsuit against the people of Florida the courts have upheld limits in California and Michigan and many other states. In 2000, these states will see more competition then they’ve known in decades. Nearly 90 of 160 Florida legislative seats will be subject to term limits, enabling competitive elections for many seats that are long overdue for new blood. Soon, not only will you be able to get fresh-​squeezed orange juice in Florida, but more important, fresh-​squeezed legislators.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

In The Wizard of Oz we learn there is no Wizard, only a plump man behind a curtain pushing buttons. When Dorothy confronts this fraud, he says, “I’m not a bad man, I’m just not a very good wizard.”

You can say the same of our congressmen, especially George Nethercutt. Remember Nethercutt beat the powerful House Speaker Tom Foley, 6 years ago, by promising to serve no more than three terms. Now that the time has come for Mr. Nethercutt to hand back power and return home, he’s waffling. He talks about his power to deliver goodies for the district what a great and powerful wizard he is, you see!

Now Nethercutt says he must deliberate and speak to the people of the district. Of course, keeping one’s word shouldn’t require so much deliberation. But in any case, Nethercutt is constantly avoiding meetings where his term limits pledge might come up. Spokane’s Lilac Festival Parade had expected to see Nethercutt, but with forty or more citizens holding signs saying, “KEEP YOUR WORD, GEORGE,” he didn’t show. Nethercutt had confirmed a meeting with Disabled Veterans. But a large contingent of veterans carried signs and banners asking the congressman to keep his word, so again, no Nethercutt. Local activists called for a meeting to talk about the issue. Nethercutt’s office said submit the request in writing. That done, and two more letters to boot, there is still no meeting, and in fact, no response.

George Nethercutt is not a great wizard, but who is? The problem is that if Nethercutt breaks his word he’ll cease to be a good man. There can be no happy ending to that story.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

New York’s Legislature is a mess. It’s like the California State Assembly before citizens there passed term limits and cleared out the career politicians and their partisan back-​stabbing and backroom deals.

Hofstra Law Professor Eric Lane says: “The New York legislature is the closest thing to non-​representative government you’ll find in America today. Everything in Albany is ridiculous. There’s no debate. There’s no discussion.” In a democracy, power belongs to the people and should be fairly dispersed. But in New York, two men hold near total power over the legislature: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican.

Behind closed doors, these two men render most of the state without any meaningful representation. This is what we’ve come to expect from entrenched career politicians. Last winter, these two pushed through an unpopular and outrageous 38 percent pay raise for the legislature. But one of the scraps offered the public was that legislative pay would be frozen if the state budget wasn’t passed on time. Lo and behold, the career rulers of the legislature can’t agree and thus no budget has been passed. Now we are beginning to hear the howls from legislators trapped in their own cage, and without their pay raise.

Term limits are law in New York City and several other cities where voters could weigh in at the ballot box. But in New York since voters don’t yet enjoy a statewide initiative process, the politicians can deny a vote. New Yorkers deserve a better government, but they’ll have to fight their rulers to get it.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of the all-​time great movies. The late Jimmy Stewart plays Mr. Smith, an honest man who knows nothing about politics, but who is chosen by the power brokers to fill a U.S. Senator’s unexpired term. They think Smith is such a novice that he won’t get in the way of their pork-​barrel and graft.

But Jefferson Smith turns out to be smarter than the big boys suppose. He can’t be bought off or scared off. When he discovers a graft scheme that would destroy a Boy Scout summer camp, Mr. Smith takes to the floor to filibuster against the bill. Today, another representative has taken to the floor of Congress to fight for what is right. Dr. Tom Coburn, the citizen legislator from Muskogee, Oklahoma, is serious about holding the line on spending and not allowing Congress to steal Social Security money.

When career politicians piled on a 12 percent increase in overhead funding for the Department of Agriculture, Coburn said no. He has offered 100 amendments to block the increase. The Republican leadership is upset with Coburn for not going along with their big spending. Many Democrats are attacking him for “hurting farmers.” But Coburn’s term-​limited himself and in his final term. He’s determined to do what’s right to get the nation’s fiscal house in order.

n the movie, the politicians complain that Mr. Smith is holding up the Relief Bill and hurting people. Mr. Smith says, “The people of my state need permanent relief from crooked men riding their backs.” In the end, Mr. Smith won and so will Dr. Coburn.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.