What a horrific event. One young man murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech.

It is a tragedy for all of us. We all have loved ones. We can all imagine the pain of rearing a child to the point of adulthood and to struggle so hard to place that child in a rewarding and very safe environment . . . and then lose that child.

But as much as it affects us all, we cannot truly appreciate the unfathomable, crushing loss of 32 � no 33 � sets of parents. And spouses. And brothers and sisters. And close friends.

So what do we do?

Maybe it is what we don’t do. Media folk quickly jumped on the response to the shooting by the administration and police. As if they are supposed to be clairvoyant.

I know journalists want to pursue the next story, but show some respect, allow time to mourn. If the media can’t, we viewers can change the station.

Others will rush to debate gun control. But guns were prohibited on campus.

The students and faculty at Virginia Tech will hug other students and faculty. And they’ll suffer and grieve and go on as best they can. That’s the bittersweet reality of this world.

And the rest of us? We might watch less TV and hold our own kids a little tighter.

This is no panacea, no big solution. It’s just Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

What would we do without crusty curmudgeons?

You may remember Howard Jarvis of Proposition 13 fame. He fought for the 1978 property-tax-cutting initiative that enabled many California home owners to keep their homes. At the time Jarvis was 75.

Pete Schabarum was a little younger in 1990 when he led the charge for the California term limits initiative he co-authored with Lew Uhler. These days Schabarum is 78, wears a hearing aid, and is legally blind. But he has hardly retired from political activism. Not with term limits again at risk and California politicians up to their old tricks.

Lawmakers in the state are limited to six years in the Assembly, eight in the Senate. A total of 14 if they get elected to both bodies. But state lawmakers are pushing for a term limit extension that would allow 12 years maximum in the legislature as a whole, which could be served in either chamber. Supposedly a “cut” in tenure.

Schabarum says, “They’re being disingenuous when they say this will be a reduction. This is about allowing the guys who run the place to hang on longer.”

Schabarum also has an answer for those who say that term limits reduce “experience” in the legislature. The chance for legislators to really, really know what they’re doing before being booted. He says, “Isn’t it interesting that everybody starts complaining about not having enough knowledge around the fifth year of their six-year term?”

Indeed.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

I guess once again my Mother was right: if you want something done, ask a busy person.

Take Dennis Polhill. He’s a successful engineer, a “nationally recognized pavement expert,” according to his official bio at the Independence Institute website. He became a community leader in the early 1990s. He has led the Colorado Term Limits Coalition since ‘94. He’s helped enact term limits and helped fend off the politicians’ endless attacks on the issue.

Pollhill has also been very active fighting for the right to citizen initiative. And he’s an expert on privatizing government services.

Polhill has got more than enough on his plate, sure. But then the Foothills Fire Protection District Board started acting up. In 2004 they imposed a ten percent hike in the property tax, doing it illegally, without voter approval. And the board’s administrative costs have ballooned absurdly, jumping from $160,000 to $500,000 over the last six years alone. When citizens started questioning the board’s conduct, its members closed ranks, even starting to meet in secret.

So Polhill and other residents of Golden, fed up, formed the Committee to Reform Foothills Fire Protection District. They successfully fielded two candidates in last May’s election, who ran for office on a platform of reform. And now, as members of the board, the two winners are extremely well situated to push for change.

You might say Mr. Polhill helped pave the way . . . .

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

There are times to give thanks and times to give ‘em “what for.”

Mike Dunmire knows both. Dunmire, a Washington state retiree, says, “I’ve been fortunate . . . I have my health, a wife I love, and had a career that brought me financial success. In recent years, I’ve supplemented my ‘normal’ charitable giving by supporting political efforts to hold government more accountable.”

Mike’s been a big supporter of Voters Want More Choices , a citizens group led by Tim Eyman and Jack and Mike Fagan. Now, Voters Want More Choices is proposing a Taxpayer Protection Initiative, to create greater accountability, transparency, “public participation, and wider agreement before state government takes more of the people’s money.”

Dunmire told the group that, this time, he just wasn’t able to contribute because of other commitments. But then state legislators began debating a spate of bills designed to damage or destroy the voter initiative process. Mike Dunmire loves voter initiatives and went to Olympia to testify. And, thankfully, riled up citizens stopped the legislation.

But Mike didn’t like what he saw: “legislators snickering and rolling their eyes during citizen testimony.” Citing this arrogance and “their disrespect for the Constitution,” Dunmire decided to contribute $250,000 to the Taxpayer Protection Initiative after all. And he challenged others to help this measure gain a spot on the 2007 ballot.

That’s giving them “what for.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

It looks like citizens of Milwaukee, Wisconsin have a good chance of stopping a fat pay raise of the sort that politicians love to give themselves.

County Supervisor Jim Schmitt has been talking about raising the salaries of county supervisors by $5,000 a year. He says it’s needed to bring salaries in line with what other county officials make. Right now Milwaukee board members get more than $50,000 a year.

Enter a local government-accountability group, the Citizens for Responsible Government . CRG made the case that if all relevant factors are considered, the supervisors’ salaries are indeed comparable to that of officials in other counties. Indeed, CRG argues supervisors could do with a 40% cut in salaries.

Having heard from CRG and others, Schmitt says he’s now reconsidering his plans for the pay hike. At least he didn’t try to pull off this pay hike in secret, behind closed doors in the middle of the night, as Pennsylvania state legislators infamously tried to do not long ago.

It’s no surprise to see Citizens for Responsible Government jumping into the fray here. The group has track record defending fiscal common sense and property rights and calling public officials to account. In 2002 they were behind the recall of Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament, caught trying to fatten his government pension. That’s the only recall CRG has filed themselves. But since then they’ve been very active in promoting other worthy recall efforts.

My kind of people.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.