Citizens in Charge

Frequent readers of this blog will know that the president of Citizens in Charge Foundation, Paul Jacob, was the leader of the movement for legislative term limits in the 1990s. What you may not be aware of, however, is the story of how Paul got into politics in the first place.

This High Times article from 1988, when Paul Jacob was working on Ron Paul’s Libertarian campaign for president, shares some background. Here’s a short clip to whet your whistle:

On July 4, 1981, Jacob, then 21, went underground to fight draft registration. In September 1982, he was indicted for refusing to register with the Selective Service System… Jacob avoided the FBI for over two years, but was ultimately captured in December 1984…

During a two-day trial in July 1985, in Little Rock, Arkansas, [Ron] Paul testified in Jacob’s defense. Asked by a defense attorney if he supported Jacob’s position on the draft, Paul responded, “Absolutely. I mean, it is the position that only courageous people can hold and action only courageous people can take.” …

Despite the testimony, Jacob was convicted and ultimately served four months, 27 days in prison. (emphasis mine)

I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.

Paul Jacob is clearly a man of his convictions, whether it be his views on the draft, the merits of term limits, or his passionate support for initiative and referendum. As Joe Matthews of The Blockbuster Democracy Blog said, “Whether you agree with Jacob’s politics, [Citizens in Charge Foundation] is a smart move.”

Or as Paul Jacob himself put it, “I would have said it, but Joe Mathews … beat me to the punch. Of course, you don’t have to agree with my politics to support initiative and referendum.”

And that’s why many years later, with Citizens in Charge Foundation only in its first full year of operation, Ron Paul endorsed the important work of his old friend, Paul Jacob:

For more than 30 years, I have been pleased to call Paul Jacob a friend. I have always admired his hard work and the courage of his convictions.  Time and again, Paul has stood up against intrusive, unconstitutional government and fought hard to protect our great American tradition of individual liberty. Paul’s work with Citizens in Charge Foundation to protect and foster the ballot initiative process across our country is both noble and important.

Our Founding Fathers understood that government works best when it operates on the smallest, most local level possible. Our Constitution was drafted to leave the majority of power in the hands of the People, so that the People would hold the reins of the government rather than yield control to detached bureaucrats and special interests.

This principle is why the ballot initiative process is so significant. When local citizens are given the chance to work out their own problems, we are best able to sort out the complex issues that we all face.

I applaud the mission of Citizens in Charge Foundation, and think that our Campaign for Liberty would find them to be wonderful partners in many of our battles across the country.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I was previously employed by the Ron Paul for President campaign in 2008.