ThisIsCommonSense.org

President Clinton reminds me of my Mother. Boy, they both have a lot of energy!

And both Bill Clinton and my Mother seem to want to take care of me. But unlike my Mom, President Clinton thinks I’m entitled to an awful lot of things. And when I think about the part of my paycheck I don’t get to bring home, I remember my Mother never taught me I was entitled to stuff. I always had to earn things on my own and be independent. The flip side of that is that I don’t owe anybody else a living either.

Of course, sometimes people are down on their luck through no fault of their own, and Americans have always been generous when it comes to charity. But Bill wants to turn us all into charity cases. The Cato Institute counted Bill’s state of the union wish list. One hundred and four separate policy demands. All portrayed by Mr. Bill as wonderful benefits our government should bestow upon us. No mention was made of the cost of all the goodies, or whether the government can actually deliver the utopia it promises.

Looks like the era of big government isn’t quite over after all. Do we really believe that our government can or should take care of us every step of the way, cradle to grave? Is that what life is all about, a whole lot of something for nothing? I think most of us know different. Thanks Mom. Thank you for teaching me about the importance of personal responsibility and earning my own keep.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

As the presidential campaign heats up, politicians are apt to get even nastier in attacking their opponents. No one does that better than Vice-​President Al Gore.

Gore has claimed to be the inventor of the Internet, the inspiration for the book Love Story, and a ghostwriter for Hubert Humphrey in 1968. In each case, our impressive Vice-​President has been forced to admit his claims were, let’s just say, not true.

Now comes an ugly scene in New Hampshire where Gore’s campaign workers splashed mud on Senator Bob Kerry of Nebraska and called Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York “fatso.” All of this came as both men were campaigning for Gore’s Democratic opponent, Bill Bradley. It was intended to prevent the two from speaking to reporters.

Gore’s spokesman later defended the thuggish behavior as merely an exercising of the First Amendment. But here’s the kicker: Gore has attacked Bradley for stepping down from the U.S. Senate after 3 terms, as if everyone should worship the idea of a lifetime of Washington power-​wielding. And now his campaign workers chant “Quitter, quitter” at Sen. Kerry, who is leaving office after 18 years.

Our country was founded by those striving to limit political power. George Washington stepped down after two terms as president to make the point that our country shouldn’t allow anyone to monopolize political power. Abraham Lincoln stepped down after one term in Congress.

Were Lincoln and Washington quitters? Ask Al Gore.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

You hear a lot about politicians breaking their promises. It’s a dog bites man story. Not terribly surprising.What politicians tell us when they’re still just regular people usually gets confused, complex and oh so costly when they begin to pursue a career in Congress.

But there are exceptions to the run-​of-​the-​mill, slippery-​tongued operators: those who take the term limits pledge. Most have kept their word over 80 percent of them. Now that’s a man bites dog story. Sure, a guy like George Nethercutt, who wins office on his term limits pledge and then betrays the voters, gets all the media attention. The vast majority who keep their pledge don’t get headlines for being honorable. But the few who break their word pay a heavy price.

As Rep. Bob Schaffer told fellow members of Congress, “You can lie under oath, you can look the American people in the eye and lie directly, you can sexually harass a subordinate in the Oval office, but break a term-​limits pledge and you’re in real trouble.” Ask George Nethercutt his support has nose-​dived along with his reputation.

The overwhelming majority have kept their term-​limit promises to step down from power. They also keep other pledges they make. They act as citizen legislators, not career politicians. They fight the congressional establishment to do what they came to Washington to do. They’re not interested in politics for their own personal benefit. Ask the congressional candidates in your district if they’re willing to make the term limits pledge. That tells the story.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

American government is supposed to reflect the will of the people, but it really doesn’t. And the people know it.

Consider what’s happening in Idaho. In 1994, voters passed term limits for state legislators, statewide officers and local officials. Politicians railed against the proposal, as would be expected. Voters loved it. Yet, even after the votes have been counted the legislature constantly threatens to repeal the law. Only the outrage of the people stands in their way.

In 1998, legislators required a re-​vote on the issue. Even after a second approval of term limits, the politicians still refuse to accept the results. Local politicians complain that passing limits on them in a statewide vote wasn’t fair. It’s hard to find good people to serve they tell us. And the people didn’t really want limits on their local politicians.

Trusting the common sense of the people, Idaho’s term limits group agreed it was only right that local voters should be able to revisit term limits, to alter or even abolish them. Just let local folks at the local level take a local vote. Yet when legislation was introduced to allow local communities to do just that, all the sudden the local politicians fell silent. They refused to endorse or push the legislation. And last week, they sued the people of Idaho to overturn their will on term limits.

Let the people decide? Ha! These politicians want anything but that! Let the people beware.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.