ThisIsCommonSense.org

Our Constitution is a magnificent document, unrivaled in human history. It protects the individual freedom we cherish and limits the power of government.

Everyone in politics claims to be “for” the Constitution. But guess what happens when a second-​term Congressman introduces a bill to require every law to explicitly state its constitutional authority. The career politicians can’t muster the votes to pass it.

But it gets worse. A group called Citizens for the Constitution made up of former congressmen, federal officials and Washington lawyers is even more unfriendly to the Constitution. These are the same folks who have been running the Congress and several presidential administrations, passing unconstitutional laws for decades. Their goal is to block constitutional amendments.

Now, most Americans are very cautious about amending the Constitution. That’s why only 27 of the thousands of proposed amendments have been adopted. But to suggest our Constitution should not be amended is to say women shouldn’t vote (the 19th Amendment) or slavery should not be outlawed (the 13th Amendment).

The Constitution was written by men not God. Part of the wisdom of the document’s drafters is their recognition of their own fallibility. That’s why they provided a process to amend it. The Constitution isn’t a dead relic to be placed on a museum shelf. It’s a living, breathing document. Let’s protect the Constitution. Sometimes that means amending it in ways powerful politicians oppose. Term limits come to mind.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Powerbrokers in the media have never liked term limits.

Over and over they write that term limits are dead. Of course, the fact that they write about term limits again and again only shows the activity of the movement, and the ridiculousness of their claims. Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newsletter, has muttered last rites for term limits so many times that we may request a volume discount at the cemetery.

Last year, one career politician defeated another career politician in California’s race for governor. The media called it a sign that the movement had lost steam. Of course, they ignored the fact that at the same time California voters passed a statewide initiative for term limits. In 1998 five states voted on six different measures. All of them passed.

Today, polls show massive voter support for term limits better than 3 out of 4 voters. And without mandatory term limits on Congress, voters favor candidates who limit themselves by a whopping 7 to 1 margin. Media opponents of term limits are at it again, though. While the vast majority of those in Congress who pledged to term-​limit themselves have kept their word, a few are waffling and thus some suggest the movement is doomed.

For goodness sake, it’s never been the politicians leading the charge for term limits. It’s come from the grassroots. Term limits are alive and kicking. In fact, limits on state legislatures will open up 417 seats next year. And many candidates for Congress are already signing the Term Limits Pledge. Mark Twain’s famous retort comes to mind: “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Let me speak frankly about the frank.

The frank, or franking privilege, is the ability of incumbents in Congress to send out mail at taxpayers’ expense. There seems to be no end to the perks Congressmen bestow upon themselves. But what gives them one of the biggest election advantages is this franking privilege.

Many career politicians are shameless enough to pretend this free mail is simply used to respond to letters from constituents. That sounds like a reasonable and necessary expense. But the truth is that over 80 percent of our tax dollars spent on franked mail goes for unsolicited campaign-​style mailings. The average incumbent spends a whopping $846,000 each year! That’s significantly more money than most challengers spend in their entire campaign.

While challengers have to raise the money from voluntary contributions, the career incumbents simply take this money from you and me the taxpayers. Sadly, this is another rip-​off brought to us by politicians who put their careers ahead of your pocketbook.

But there are those who don’t abuse the franking privilege. The lowest spender in the Congress was Rep. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, who returned close to 90 percent of his postal allowance. What makes Rep. Schaffer different? He’s term-​limited, having pledged to stay in Washington no more than 3 terms. Therefore, he isn’t spending his every waking hour chasing re-​election. An aide said, “He feels he can be more frugal with the taxpayer’s money.”

Unlike career congressmen, citizen legislators like Colorado’s Bob Schaffer speak frankly without abusing the frank.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

We cherish the right to choose our representatives to Congress. But before we choose our representatives, they choose us as voters. Confused? Well, you should be because the redistricting process doesn’t make any sense.

The Constitution stipulates that every ten years a census must be taken to count all Americans. State legislatures then draw a map setting the boundaries for congressional districts. So far, so good.

What doesn’t make sense is the way state legislatures draw the districts. And the court decisions on redistricting make even less sense. In recent years, a number of court cases have challenged congressional districts that are drawn to create a majority of black or Hispanic voters. Courts have ruled that setting districts along racial lines violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. North Carolina recently argued before the Supreme Court that their intent in drawing the latest map was “to help guarantee the reelection of Rep. Melvin Watt …”

Guarantee reelection? Huh? While the courts have ruled that state legislatures cannot gerrymander districts along racial lines, they have approved districts drawn to reelect all the incumbents. Now any two high school students with a calculator and a map could redistrict a state in a weekend. But it takes state legislatures months of political deal-​making to set districts for the benefit of their political buddies in Congress.

Incumbents are virtually “guaranteed” reelection, because they get to choose the voters before the voters get to choose them. Does anybody think this is what our Founding Fathers had in mind?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Monday, May 24, 1999

With more tax dollars flowing into Washington than expected this year, we’ve got a great opportunity to get our country’s financial house in order. Yet, career politicians seem intent upon spending the increased revenue as fast as it comes in. Our Congress keeps thinking up new programs.

And it would be easy for Congress to use the war in Kosovo as just one more excuse to break the budget cap. That’s why Representatives Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Mark Sanford of South Carolina introduced an amendment to the appropriation bill funding the war in Kosovo that would require across-​the-​board domestic spending reductions to offset the amount spent in the war. This kind of fiscal discipline has been sorely absent from past Congresses.

Alas, the careerists in Congress still lack fiscal responsibility. The amendment was voted down better than 3 to 1. John Berthoud of the National Taxpayers Union put it this way: “The House of Representatives voted to pick the pockets of all Americans rather than exercise fiscal restraint … this amounts to a declaration of war on taxpayers.”

If the career congressmen can’t or won’t live within a budget when times are good, we sure can’t expect them to pull any rabbits out of their hats in tough times, now can we? Why do representatives like Coburn, Toomey and Sanford care more about fiscal responsibility than their colleagues?

Simple. Each of them has pledged to serve no more than 3 terms in the House, and not make a career in Congress. As citizens rather than politicians, they know that government money doesn’t grow on trees. It comes from you.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

They say if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. But some folks don’t even try to build the mousetrap. Instead, they beat a path to Washington for special favors.

When someone builds a better product they deserve to do well financially. Their hard work and smarts make our lives better. The more lives they improve, the more they make. That’s the beauty and the fairness of the free market system.

Compare that with a system in which you get rich by convincing someone in power to subsidize your business or hobble the competition. That destroys the free market system that has made our country the richest in the world. But it gives Congress a lot more power when they can make some businesses winners and others losers. It’s how incumbent politicians raise so much money.

Avondale Industries, a Louisiana corporation, was worried that a merger of two competitors would put them at a competitive disadvantage. Every member of the Louisiana delegation to Congress urged the government to block the merger except one, Rep. John Cooksey. Dr. Cooksey took a pledge to stay in office no more than 3 terms. Not obsessed with his own career as a politician, he can concentrate on doing the right thing. “I want Avondale to be successful because they have a good product,” he said. “I don’t want them to be successful because they are being propped up by politicians.”

We need more citizen legislators who will do the right thing and protect everybody’s equal rights under the law. In politics, that’s the better mousetrap.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.