Even Adam Smith, the great free-market economist, could be suspicious of business. So when you hear business people talking about business-government “partnerships,” feel free to raise an eyebrow. Are they trying to fleece their customers the best way they know through government?

That’s what came to mind when Steve Ballmer of Microsoft recently declared that computer security is “bigger than any single company” and requires a “joint effort” with strong government action to meet the crisis. To some extent he’s right. Just as in home security we need police to nab burglars and robbers and vandals, and swiftly prosecute them, so too must the government learn how to deal with software criminals. But when Ballmer tells Apple and IBM and Cisco Systems to get on board, he’s sweeping under the rug an important truth: the biggest computer security problems are all associated with Microsoft’s programs.

Yes, Linux systems are under attack every day, just as Ballmer says, but the most successful hacks are into Windows systems. The plague of viruses out there target almost single-mindedly Microsoft’s technology. And, programmers tell me, Ballmer’s spin won’t fly: it’s not that Microsoft’s the biggest target; it’s the easiest target. Microsoft sells houses with locks, but leaves the keys scattered on the lawn. Some security. So Ballmer’s call for a joint effort sounds an awful lot like a company trying to get others to shoulder its own burden, pay for its mistakes. Be as wary of this effort as you would an email with an unknown attachment.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Post-communist China is run by the Communist Party. Karl Marx’s writings still exert some influence, but mainly as entrails do in the hands of the king’s augur. These putative Communists want only one thing, really: to maintain rule.

The same is true over here, to an extent. Those in power tend not to give up power, and rarely extend it to the people. Too few of these United States have initiative and referendum, and too few politicians work towards more democracy more citizen control. But, thankfully, in America we have a Constitution that limits the powers of our politicians, and a people often willing to fight City Hall, or whomever.

On the island of Hong Kong, they have a Basic Law, signed by the British when they retreated a few years back, as well as by the tyrants in Beijing. That Basic Law call it a Constitution allows for democratization over time, “one country, two systems.” Unfortunately, Beijing recently “interpreted” that Basic Law, saying that anything Hong Kong does would first have to be approved by Beijing. Two countries, one system. Beijing politicians fear that any move towards universal suffrage in Hong Kong or even the selection of a democratic leadership might spread democracy to the mainland.

Which is what we in America hope will happen. Our president has strained relations with Beijing by objecting to the interpretation. Bravo! Now, Mr. President, how about telling baby brother Jeb to stop supporting restrictions to the citizen initiative rights of Florida voters.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

I’ve talked a lot about the pork-filled highway bill recently passed by the U.S. House of well, er they call themselves Representatives. But what can be done to stop these pork-fests that waste our money?

First, we must devolve power from Washington back to the states and localities, where voters have at least some measure of influence on their elected officials. Why should the politicians most removed from our control Washington congressmen take the biggest bite out of our wallet? What possible rationale exists for sending tax dollars from our own states to Congress for highways, or education, or welfare just so Congress can take a cut and then ship the money back? The best way to stop the bandits in Congress is never to let them get their slimy little fingers on our tax dollars to begin with.

Our state representatives are closer to us, we can see them face to face; they are more vulnerable at the polls because the advantages of incumbency are less; and, in 24 states, we have the citizen initiative process to overrule them.

Second, we need term limits. The longer people stay in Congress, the more they tax and spend. Why? Because they realize their personal power and influence is directly tied to the power and control exercised by the federal government. The longer they stay, the easier it gets to spend millions and billions and trillions of other people’s money. Term limits keep those in office a few steps closer to the real world, where the rest of us live. Nowhere would term limits reverse incentives more than in our pork-barreling Congress.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

There are two kinds of partisans in politics. There’s the partisan of a cause. And there’s the partisan of a party. The former judges a proposal or act on how it serves one’s chosen cause; to the latter, judgments focus on one’s chosen organization.

So many pundits in and around the feeding trough that is Washington write as if it is only their party that matters. You know who and what I mean. Now take Robert Novak. Though a lot of people may think of him as a mere GOP partisan, he’s not. He directs some of his most trenchant criticisms at the GOP, when the party fails to promote causes Novak believes in.

In an early April column, “A bill full of pork,” Novak once again showed his true colors. The Republicans were marshaling the highway bill through Congress, and with it tons of pork, the kind of pork that they had ostensibly opposed when they took over Congress a decade earlier. Novak notes that the last such bill in Democratic hands had 538 pork projects earmarked for specific congressmen. This latest bill had 3,193 such earmarked expenditures.

Novak also emphasizes just how little many of these projects had to do with highways: a “Renaissance Square” in Rochester, a historic bus depot in Jessup, a Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. It’s all just pork for Porkville. You may not agree with Novak on everything (I don’t), but you have to admire his independence. And he’s often right. Not far right. Just right.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

People tend to rise to the standards demanded of them. Unfortunately, Washington, DC, is a city with standards so low that to meet them one must duck.

Let’s start with an arresting January headline in The Washington Times : “Official keeps job despite lying.” A job where? With the DC Board of Elections and Ethics! Vialetta Graham is chief technology officer. She lied about her computer science degree. She has none. Kenneth McGhie, the Board’s general counsel, explained the city’s decision to keep the liar on, this way: “The reason it wasn’t prosecuted was because it wasn’t a misrepresentation of a material fact. . . . It wasn’t required for the job.” But isn’t honesty a requirement for any job?

The Washington Post headlined a recent story: “City Schools Will Not Punish Most Credit Card Abusers.” A report on the misuse of DC credit cards urged that those abusing the system be suspended without pay or dismissed. But no. Assistant superintendent William Wilhoyte explained the lack of disciplinary action: “If they had gained from it personally, I would say there’s a very different situation.” But the report never even looked at whether school personnel gained personally.

Here’s the kicker: Thirteen DC policemen have been arrested so far this year for crimes ranging from sexual assaults to drunk driving. That’s more than in the cities of Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia combined. One reason cited was the lowering of standards for new policemen. Washington: a shining example of low expectations.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.