ThisIsCommonSense.org

My favorite restaurants are those greasy-​spoon diners, the kind that U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton recently visited. But she forgot to leave a tip for the waitress, a single mom. Now, there’s no need to make a federal case over someone innocently forgetting to leave a tip. At any rate, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Hillary seems to live in a whole ‘nother world.

For instance, she was shocked by the high property taxes in New York after she bought a home. For the last 18 years she hasn’t had to pay property taxes or rent or a mortgage or even an electric bill, because the taxpayers picked up those costs.

Consider two other issues: education and Social Security. Mr. and Mrs. Clinton and many members of Congress claim to be advocates of public schools. They argue against providing any funds for poor students to go to private schools. But they send their own kids to private schools, not public schools.

Take Social Security. Can career politicians really represent the millions of Americans who pay the high payroll taxes and depend on Social Security in their old age? Remember: congressmen don’t need Social Security for a second; they have a lavish pension that makes them millionaires when they retire. Can career politicians “feel our pain” if they don’t have to foot the bill?

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people means they should spend a little time in the real world. It’s just a tip.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

People can make a difference. The proof? Term limits are now the law for 18 state legislatures — nearly 40 percent of the country.

These laws were the work of thousands of activists retired senior citizens who petitioned in store parking lots in bitter cold and sweltering heat; young people who took time away from their families; small businessmen who took time away from their firms.

And they won. They changed politics-​as-​usual. Their goal wasn’t to throw the bums out so much as to let new people and new ideas back in.

But, many politicians are taking it personally. They think politics is all about them. That’s why they ignore the people’s vote. Again and again they sneak around looking for some way to overturn the clear will of the people.

Again and again good citizens, whose whole lives aren’t politics, are forced to take time away from their jobs and loved ones to battle the politicians. Benjamin Franklin pointed out that, “In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns. For the former, therefore, to return to the latter is not to degrade them but to promote them.”

Some of our elected officials, whether they agree with term limits or not, have been willing to abide by the will of the people. They deserve our thanks. But those politicians who sow the seeds of cynicism by their un-​American maneuvering only make the case for term limits stronger.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Remember “Field of Dreams”? A farmer is going bankrupt. About to lose his farm, a voice tells him to build a baseball field on prime farmland “build it and they will come.” And they do come.

This year’s Republican primaries have seen phenomenal voter turnout. In Michigan, more than twice as many voters came to the polls as four years ago over 1 million people took time out from their hectic schedules to vote. Voter turnout was way up in South Carolina, too.

Why? Because this time, people believe there’s something to vote for. That’s not common. Few races are competitive. Incumbents win more than 98 percent of the time. Most states don’t have citizen initiatives so voters don’t get to decide issues or even weigh in on them directly.

But in the Republican primaries, people see a chance for their vote to count. Neither Bush nor McCain is an incumbent. And both candidates are talking about reform.

A friend from Arkansas told me that in 1992 he waited in line for over an hour to cast a vote for term limits. Wow, a whole hour. I’ve certainly never had to do that in Virginia. With no initiative process and rarely a competitive race at any level, I get in and out of my polling place with ease. But I’d rather wait in line, if it meant I had a choice.

We the people are not apathetic. We want reform. Hold an election that means something and we will come.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Career politicians love to be perceived as reformers, just as long as they don’t have to submit to any actual reform.

Term limits have teeth. We like term limits but politicians don’t. Better for politicians to favor some sort of complex reform scheme that offers lots of wiggle room and a scapegoat to blame when the planned failure occurs. That way they can play the corrupt game even while condemning the game they’re playing.

The Washington Post recently defended campaign reformers who only talk the talk, writing, “It seems too much to demand that a campaign reformer raise no money from the lobbyists he denounces …” Only in Washington do people justify raising money from those they denounce as evil.

If you don’t like this squishy thinking, there is a different view. Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona knows the problem is careerism. That’s why he has term-​limited himself to three terms. Why doesn’t Congress reform? Salmon says, “I have seen countless people come to Washington with a zeal for reform only to be seduced by the power, status and privilege that come with the office. And like an addictive narcotic, many people simply can’t give up power and influence after they’ve taken their first hit.”

“Only term limits can change the character of the people who aspire to serve in Congress,” says Salmon. “And until we do that, real reform will have to wait.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

In football, it doesn’t get any better than the NFL. That’s what it means to be a pro. In politics, to be “a pro” means something very different.

Missouri State Sen. John Schneider has been in office for 30 years. He doesn’t like the term limits that 75 percent of Missouri voters imposed on the legislature. With typical arrogance, Schneider has introduced legislation to water-​down limits so he can stay even longer. Comparing legislators to professional football players, he said, “There’s a whole lot of difference between the NFL quarterback who’s a rookie and the NFL quarterback who’s got some seasoning.”

Oh yeah? Missouri is home to the NFL world champion St. Louis Rams who were led this year by an unheralded rookie quarterback who grabbed most valuable player honors as well as MVP of the Super Bowl. More rookies please.

In California, Michigan, Colorado, Oregon, Arkansas, and Maine where term limits have already gone into effect the new “rookies” are doing just fine AND cleaning up messes left by the old pros. Give us the amateurs. An amateur is someone who does something for the “love of it.” If you aren’t in public office because you love this country, if it’s all about you and your benefits and your career, then get out.

Congressman Matt Salmon of Arizona is stepping down after six productive years as a citizen legislator. He puts it another way: “If the NBA operated like Congress, they would have a bunch of fat, old men shooting free throws.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

We can argue about the nature of God from our different religious persuasions, but I’m certain we’ll agree He isn’t a member of either the Republican or Democratic Party.

Though politicians would probably argue the point.

Arguing is what the Washington crowd does best, after all. And, they’re at it again. The simplest decision in Congress, if it requires even the tiniest bit of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, becomes the equivalent of the Paris Peace Talks.

Now the leadership of both parties are squabbling about who should be the new chaplain of the House of Representatives. Democrats want a Catholic priest and Republicans want a Protestant minister. As usual, the career politicians in Congress are acting like children.

If they can’t get along any better than this, they don’t deserve to have a chaplain at all. It’s bad enough that they sling mud, but now they want to drag people’s religious faith into the mud with them.

Enough is enough.

And pray tell what does this signal about their ability to solve any of the problems that we confront? If they can’t choose a chaplain without a partisan jihad, do you really expect them to work together to solve more complex problems? All their bloody fighting only demonstrates the critical need in Congress for new blood.

When he was the chaplain for the Senate, Edward Everett Hale was once asked, “Do you pray for the Senators, Dr. Hale?” “No,” he replied, “I look at the Senators and I pray for the country.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.