The Nation's Pulse/Mr. Term Limits
Carroll, Vincent
THE NATION'S PULSE Mr. Term Limits by Vincent Carroll For a party that hasn't controlled both houses of Congress in nearly forty years, let alone most state capitals, Republicans are remarkably...
...IMPORTANT Allow six weeks for address change...
...Box 549 Arlington, VA 22216-0549 (Please attach address label here...
...He would ban not only campaign contributions from PACs, but also any out-of-state contributions to local races, in or-der to limit the influence of national interest groups...
...Nevertheless, between ten and fifteen states arelikely to vote this year on term limits, including Florida, Arizona, Washington (again), Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming...
...George Will [a recent convert] applies the functional test in promoting term limits that the present system isn't working...
...That's how real political reform occurs, too...
...In the nineteenth century, it was common to serve only four years in the House and six in the Senate...
...Although Republicans have the most to gain from term limits, the movement is by no means a conservative cause exclusively...
...Prior to 1984 he had only dabbled in politics...
...Write ASIAN ROSE ENTERPRISES, Dept TP, Box 6206 Great Fails, Montana 59406 PENFRIENDS-ENGLAND-USA Make lasting friendships...
...Democrats like Jerry Brown, Sen...
...Finally I interrupted him and said, 'Hey, I'm in a legislature that's two-thirds Republican, and we still can't do those things.' The problem isn't just the Democrats...
...On reviewing the first volume, Ronald Bailey wrote, in Forbes: *"Nearly half a century ago, most of the smart people sneered when Friedrich Hayek published The Road to Serfdom...
...But that's an opportunity for Democrats or Republicans...
...The world was wrong and Hayek right...
...And the Republicans, he might have added...
...It's just that in practice they don't work...
...First-term governors William Weld of Massachusetts and John Engler of Michigan have faced down the spending lobbies and trimmed government—to popular acclaim...
...HAYEK This multi-volume series is the definitive collection of the preeminent proponent of libertarian philosophy...
...Although term limits are only a modest part of Considine's political agenda, they provide a case study of the 44-year-old businessman's operating style, which is to end-run the establishment whenever it stands in his way...
...808) 325-7707...
...35 per column inch for classified display ads...
...Although at least three other candidates will vie for the nomination, he is the overwhelming favorite to lock up the right to run against Wirth...
...Considine argues that twenty-three initiative states is enough to provide a critical mass of officeholders who in time will push a constitutional amendment through 40 The American Spectator February 1992 Congress for ratification by the states, on the assumption that opposing term limits will become an ever-growing political liability...
...According to Considine, the real clash in American politics is now between outsiders and insiders, and he expects that underdog candidates will find it useful to back term limits—as, for example, Wofford did in his race against the self-proclaimed Washington insider Richard Thornburgh...
...Not only did he fail to win the Republican nomination, he couldn't even attract the 20 percent of state assembly votes needed to force a primary...
...Considine flip-flopped on the death penalty...
...Polls show that support for limits cuts across party lines...
...For the most part, though, stand-patters reign, due less to what they stand for than what they stand against—Democrats...
...Noiv available: ^ Volume 1: THE FATAL CONCEIT The Errors of Socialism Edited by W.W...
...Although clearly to the left of the average Colorado voter, Wirth is polished, combative, and a great fund-raiser who will outspend any opponent...
...Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin helped create Milwaukee's experiment with school vouchers...
...3. Return this form to us at the address listed below...
...Bartley, HI and Stephen Kresge $40.00 cloth ^ Volume 4: THE FORTUNES OF LIBERALISM Essays on Austrian Economics and the Ideal of Freedom Edited by Peter G. Klein $29.95 cloth And the classic: THE ROAD TO SERFDOM $9.95 paper At bookstores or, for MC/Visa orders, call: 1-800-621-2736...
...Considine knows that even with term limits, incumbents will still win most elections...
...He established a training program for prospective GOP candidates and launched his term-limits drive...
...2. Attach the mailing label from your most recent issue...
...That's okay, but it isn't enough...
...1. Please write your new address in the space provided...
...In 1987, Considine took another gamble when his district's state senator suddenly resigned...
...Considine's distaste for the state of American politics has also soured him on political action committees...
...Single or divorced gentlemen, tired of bars and single clubs...
...Free information...
...Still immobilized in a hospital bed last October, Considine gushed with policy proposals, everything from indexing capital gains to encouraging educational choice by granting parents the right to organize their own public schools...
...t's not that Considine considers term limits a political cure-all...
...In 1981 he moved to Colorado, where today he runs Cairn Co., oneof the country's largest property management firms...
...To be sure, there are bright spots...
...Don't forget TAS Address Changes Made Easy...
...As it happens, Republicans had the most to lose from term limits in Colorado, where they greatly outnumber Democrats in the legislature...
...A convention button said it all: "Say no-no to Bill and Bo...
...r MOVING...
...he broke his back in a riding accident last summer and his recovery won't be complete until spring...
...If it's not a grassroots movement that will live on its own, then we think it's destined to fail...
...Incumbency has always been an advantage, but at least in earlier times officeholders were much more likely to step down on their own or be denied renomination...
...In Pete Wilson, California has been seized by a Democratic thinkalike on taxes, while Louisiana's premier GOP attraction of late has been a bigot with broadcast-booth looks...
...Just be sure to allow six weeks for your change to take effect...
...Overseas, sincere, attractive...
...Enclosed is: $ for insertions...
...Warning against Republican complacency in a riveting speech before the (continued on page 65) "The world was wrong and Hayek right"* THE COLLECTED WORKS OF F.A...
...Term Limits by Vincent Carroll For a party that hasn't controlled both houses of Congress in nearly forty years, let alone most state capitals, Republicans are remarkably short of new ideas and innovative leaders...
...The turning point for him came in 1984, when, as manager of then-Senator William Armstrong's re-election campaign, he commuted regularly to Washington for a GOP campaign training school and spent a great deal of time observing Congress...
...The movement faces two huge obstacles: only twenty-three states (and the District of Columbia) allow voter initiatives, and the Supreme Court could declare state limits on congressional seats unconstitutional...
...The good news is the Democrats are out of gas, and that creates an opportunity," says Terry Considine, Republican state senator from suburban Denver...
...TERM LIMITS (continued from page 41) party vacancy committee, Considine challenged the runaway favorite, changed many votes, and won the seat...
...Then, despite his sympathy for illegal aliens and his support of liberal immigration quotas, he used the word "wetback" when discussing immigration policy...
...Free details, photos...
...Special Discount Offer: Pre-pay for 3 ads—get a 4th ad free...
...None of these states is likely to apply the limits retroactively, but virtually all will extend the limits to Congress...
...Senate...
...He even wondered if the term-limits organizations being created in nearly two dozen states could be used someday to hold "a de facto national referendum" on other issues that Congress refuses to touch...
...He also argues that "we could lose the legal question and still win the political argument," citing the 17th Amendment, which requires the popular election of senators...
...HE, Box 5500, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96745...
...We offer people who can fly in and dispense advice," says Shari Williams of Americans Back in Charge...
...In theory I'm for them...
...And Jack Kemp still pushes empowerment of the poor and tax cuts to encourage economic growth...
...415) 897-2742...
...Challengers will pledge support, incumbents will have to follow suit, and before you know it we could see it in the Constitution...
...They were working at cross-purposes to the economy, and they didn't even care...
...Pre-payment required for all ads...
...Harris Wofford, and former Vermont governor Madeleine Kunin have also endorsed the idea...
...In the eyes of many party regulars, Considine has finally paid his dues...
...He is under no illusions about what he could achieve in the U.S...
...The only other group of comparable influence is the Committee for Congressional Reform, an arm of the D.C.–based Citizens for a Sound Economy...
...That's all there is to it...
...bureaucrats and lobbyists—not taxpayers—as their main constituents...
...World's #1 Service...
...It passed only after courts struck down early attempts by individual states to require such elections...
...Since there's no hope of getting such a proposal through the Colorado legislature, he has toyed with organizing another petition drive and putting the plan on the ballot...
...Tim Wirth in this year's election, but he's already a national leader—perhaps the national leader, if measured by results—in the movement for term limitations...
...Sometimes we give money, but this is a very fragmented movement, so we don't go in and run campaigns—and we don't help at all unless the organization is bipartisan...
...That's why this is not a partisan movement...
...I have less trouble with a dedicated liberal, someone with a coherent set of principles and values—a Moynihan, for example—than a Republican who is primarily concerned about his own re-election," he says...
...ASIAN LADIES DESIRE CORRESPONDENCE...
...Asian Experience, Box 1214TR, Novato, CA 94948...
...He also plumped for a state ballot initiative he might sponsor in 1992 to limit the growth' of government spending...
...Harmony, Box 82295AS, Phoenix AZ, 85071 CLASSIFIED ORDER FORM Pates: $1.10 per word ($5 extra for TAS box number if desired...
...The point of term limits, Considine believes, is to put politicians in better touch with voters by reviving political competition and hence public interest in elections...
...Even if the system worked, it still wouldn't be self-governance to rely on a professional class of politicians...
...My crucial question for the Republican party is: What are we for...
...I believe in a big tent, but I don't believe in incoherence...
...SUNSHINE INTERNATIONAL Dept...
...Senate seat being vacated by Gary Hart...
...Almost any major social changes—environmentalism, feminism, civil rights, Mothers Against Drunk Driving—come from the bottom up," he says...
...Reform became Considine's passion only after he concluded that the present system was fundamentally corrupt, incapable of dealing decisively with such problems as education, productivity, and the collapse of the family...
...Ken Kramer, who lost to Tim Wirth in a lackluster campaign...
...It was appalling," he says...
...Bartley, Ill $12.95 paper, $24.00 cloth ^ Volume 3: THE TREND OF ECONOMIC THINKING Essays on Political Economists and Economic History Edited by W.W...
...Considine plunged ahead, regardless—not surprising for someone in whom distaste for go-along, get-along colleagues erupts with convincing regularity...
...Texas may hold a nonbinding referendum on the issue...
...The disgraced former House Majority Whip Tony Coelho knew what was up when he predicted, "Unless something drastic is done, term limits are going to sweep the country...
...In 1986 he badly overreached when he decided to run for the U.S...
...But Considine's business successes were not immediately matched by political ones...
...Dignified presentations since 1984...
...Meanwhile, former attorney general Richard Thornburgh's defeat in Pennsylvania only consolidates the GOP's recent record of utter fecklessness in Senate races...
...Which delegates did, nominating instead the awkward U.S...
...It left the impression that Considine, who is the son-in-law of Howard "Bo" Callaway, then the GOP state chairman, was not his own man...
...El C The American Spectator February 1992 65...
...Born to a well-off family in San Diego, Considine sailed through Groton, Harvard, and Harvard Law, and by his mid-twenties he directed a $60 million investment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange...
...C hallenging even a one-term incumbent will not be an enviable assignment...
...About a conversation he had a year ago with House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, Considine recalls: "He was going on and on about what could be accomplished for the country if we only had a GOP Congress...
...Taking advantage of growing national revulsion with Congress, Considine prodded the movement along by transforming Coloradans Back in Charge into Americans Back in Charge, whose two staffers, along with several allies around the, country, dispense tactical and financial aid to grassroots campaigns nationwide...
...The problem is the system and the incentives in it...
...He caused resentment by spending money like a sheik?1.1 million of his own—on a media blitz months before a possible primary...
...Seeking that perfect wife...
...It's not by accident that Colorado's amendment has become something of a national model...
...In Illinois: 312-568-1550 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS The American Spectator February 1992 41 CLASSIFIEDS r 111011111=11111 PERSONALS ASIAN LADIES SEEK FRIENDSHIP, MARRIAGE...
...Ad classification: Name: (please print) Address: City: State: Zip: Send ad copy with this form to: The American Spectator Classified Department P.O...
...He introduced a constitutional amendment in the Republican-dominated legislature, but careerists in both parties promptly sunk their knives into it...
...Since then, he has been on something of a roll...
...He drafted an air-quality law that set a visibility standard for Denver's notorious smog...
...The American Spectator Circulation Department P.O...
...If Considine loses to Wirth, however, it won't be for the usual Republican sin of failing to offer a clear alternative...
...Free reply...
...Considine faces the added disadvantage of a late start...
...The movement is also humming along in some non-initiative states, where citizens groups are collecting signatures to use in lobbying lawmakers to approve state constitutional amendments that can then be put to voters for final ratification...
...Against almost hysterical opposition, he ushered a bill through the legislature forcing metropolitan Denver's transit agency to contract out 20 percent of its bus routes to private providers—the first such law in the nation and one that is saving the agency millions...
...In Washington state, the ballot movement was led by a liberal, Sherry Bockwinkel, and enjoyed the backing of some feminists and minority spokesmen...
...Send age and interests...
...So Considine launched Coloradans Back in Charge, a citizens' group that gathered signatures, put the proposal on the 1990 ballot, and pushed it to a 71 percent electoral rout...
...In November, the movement suffered its first major defeat, in Washington state, where the initiative went much further than Considine thought prudent: it attempted to apply limits (severe ones, at that) retroactively, opening the way to a skilled counter-campaign led by the beloved House Speaker Tom Foley...
...CI Renew my subscription for one year (twelve issues?35) CI Payment enclosed CI Bill me later Name: (please print) Address: City State: Zip: Date of change: MR...
...More than one study backs him in his belief that the longer people serve in Congress, the more likely they are to adopt statist views...
...In Colorado, Considine dutifully tried to pursue term limits through official channels...
...Oklahoma and California also clamped limits on state terms in 1990, but only Considine's measure established limits on U.S...
...Considine is going to challenge liberal Colorado Sen...
...But without them, he fears, there is far less chance of wresting control of government from career politicians whose world revolves around the public sector and who regard Vincent Carroll is editorial page editor of the Rocky Mountain News...
...Even the support of Senator Armstrong backfired...
...Maine, Idaho, and Nevada are remote possibilities, and California may vote on whether to limit congressional terms...
...It was not an elegant campaign...
...We are equally out of gas...
...Box 549 Arlington, Virginia 22216-0549 PERSONALS ATTRACTIVE ORIENTAL LADIES seeking correspondence, marriage...
...congressional seats...
Vol. 25 • February 1992 • No. 2
