Clear Pledges To Serve No More Than Five Terms

Richard Clear’s congressional run was introduced Wednesday by an official from an Idaho term-limits group and an Idaho candidate who sang the praises of politicians who voluntarily limit their terms.

But term limits are not going to be the issue of his campaign against incumbent Republican George Nethercutt, Clear insisted.

“The issue will be keeping your word,” the former radio talk show host said.

That may not be much of a distinction to voters, who have had eight months to decide what they think about Nethercutt’s decision to seek a fourth term after promising in 1994 and 1996 that he would only serve three.

Billboards, yard signs and even city buses have urged “Keep Your Word, George,” as part of a campaign by U.S. Term Limits, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. Nethercutt’s response has generally been that he did keep his word to cut taxes, lower the deficit and revise farm programs, and he needs time to accomplish more.

Clear believes his on-air support in 1994 was crucial to Nethercutt beating then-House Speaker Tom Foley. He also believes Nethercutt’s promise to serve only three terms was the difference in a race in which the Republican challenger beat a 30-year incumbent by some 3,900 votes.

When Nethercutt announced he was running in 2000, Clear began talking on the air of running against him. Last week he quit his talk show job at KGA, and Wednesday he said he will campaign full-time.

Just as Nethercutt had the Contract with America in 1994, Clear has his Contract with the 5th District. It, too, contains a term-limits promise.

Instead of promising to quit after three terms, Clear says he’ll quit after five. That’s two more than Nethercutt and two more than the most ardent term-limits supporters demand of the candidates they endorse. It’s a figure Clear said he came up with on his own, because “I have other things I want to do with my life.”

If he can beat Nethercutt in the Sept. 19 primary, and the top Democrat in a current field of three on Nov. 7, Clear said he wants to make things better for schools, farmers, people in uniform, veterans and taxpayers.

He believes the Northwest can restore salmon runs without removing federal dams, through technology that would channel the fish around the dams in canals.

“American ingenuity can solve this problem,” he said. “It would be expensive, but it’s going to be expensive no matter what we do.”

He would try to replace the current income tax system with a flat tax of about 17 percent, and allow deductions only for the number of children in a family. He would support allowing workers to pay into private accounts rather than the Social Security system.

He would support a tax cut, although he’s not sure how big. He would first spend the surplus on Social Security, Medicare and reducing the national debt. He would like to see campaign finance reform that reverses the current spending limits, raising the limit for individuals from $1,000 to $5,000, and dropping the limit for political action committees from $5,000 to $1,000.

Clear also believes one of Nethercutt’s top legislative priorities, the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act, needs changing but he has to study how much.

“I need to hear from people who are suffering,” he said. “More than tinkering, I think it probably needs to be totally revamped.”