Saturday, May 29, 2004

Voter initiative under attack

***************
COMMON SENSE
***************

The voters in Wyoming will very likely throw these two bums out.

___________________________________________________________________________
I think they've all got copies of the same rulebook.

Two years ago, two career politicians in Montana -- a
Democratic senator and a Republican senator -- filed
an "emergency" lawsuit against Montana's term limits
law. This was some ten years after voters had passed
it.

The Montana lawsuit failed, but now the Wyoming
Supreme Court has ruled 5-0 to outlaw the statutory
term limits which Wyoming voters had passed in 1992
by a whopping 77 percent majority.

As in Montana, the Wyoming lawsuit was filed by two
state legislators, a Democrat and a Republican, about
to be termed out of office. Yep. Politicians are
always cheerfully bipartisan when their entrenched
incumbency is at stake.

The pair claimed that the voters' exercise of the
right of citizen initiative was "unconstitutional."
Even though it was exercised just as it was intended
to be exercised -- as a curb of the arrogance and
excess of officeholders refusing to listen to their
own constituents.

Fortunately, not all Wyoming legislators are so
cynical. After the decision, Representative Becket
Hinckley of Cheyenne immediately proposed a
constitutional amendment to impose term limits once
again. If passed, such an amendment could not be
unilaterally weakened by the career politicians (who
had already stretched a six-year limit to a 12-year
limit). And such an amendment could not be
unilaterally revoked by the court, either.

Let's keep our fingers crossed. The battle ahead is
going to be a tough one, but in previous fights with
their legislators, Wyoming voters have proven they
don't give in easily.

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
________________________________________

Vote to keep Common Sense! Here's why:

http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/20031014careerpoliticians.html

Cast your vote:

http://www.termlimits.org/donate/cs.html
________________________________________

Paul's latest column at Townhall.com:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/archive.shtml

To subscribe to Common Sense or notify us of
an email address change, send a message
to subscribe@termlimits.org

YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT KEEPS COMMON SENSE ALIVE.
Contribute now. Visit our donation page at
http://www.termlimits.org/donate/cs.html
to donate at subscriber, supporter, sustainer
or platinum level (we offer bonuses for each
level of support). Thank you!

PROMOTE COMMON SENSE! If you wish to reprint
Common Sense in your print publication or web
site, you have our permission to do so, and we
appreciate it. We only ask that you let us know
-- and let your readers know how to subscribe
to Common Sense by email. Readers can subscribe
by sending an email to subscribe@termlimits.org
or by signing up at the Common Sense home page:
http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Common_Sense/

The opinions expressed in Common Sense are Paul
Jacob's and may not necessarily represent the
position of U.S. Term Limits or the U.S. Term
Limits Foundation. Paul's daily commentaries are
heard on radio stations nationwide and on the
Internet.

Do you have friends who would enjoy receiving
Common Sense? Forward this commentary to them
and encourage them to subscribe!

E-mail: CommonSense@termlimits.org
Call: (800) 733-6440
Fax: (202) 379-3010
Write: Common Sense / U.S. Term Limits Foundation /
10 G Street, NE / Suite 410 / Washington, DC / 20002.

To find out more about the term limits movement,
visit http://www.termlimits.org

To unsubscribe from Common Sense, send a message
to cancel@termlimits.org

No comments: