What kind of legislation would you like to see?

I'd like to see a lot of sunset laws. Everybody in America is currently in violation of a federal law, including you and me. But I haven't got enough money to find out which one I'm violating. Anybody can make that accusation, and it's probably going to be true. That goes from the President of the United States to the waitress here at the Cornell Cafeteria who forgot to report her tips. Society is eroding because we have too many laws and regulations, which can only be selectively enforced.

Do you see that actually happening?

Every day.

Do you see any realistic chance for sunset legislation?

Yes. I think there's a fundamental change of attitude in America. People are getting a little tired of the situation.

So the Proposition 13 sort of thing might spill over?

David Browder had a brilliant article in the recently on so-called single-interest groups. The politicians have learned that a single-interest group, on say abortion, can knock off the re-election of a distinguished senator, by generating 15,000 letters from Catholics in his district. Browder says that these politicians have nothing to cry about, because they are single-interest politicians who bypassed the party to get elected in the first place. In the old days, the party protected the politician. When Tip O'Neill said, "All Democrats will vote for this," you voted for it. When you went home and your constituents asked, "Why did you do that?" you said, "Listen, I'm a loyal Democrat. I've been protected by the party. I had to go along." Today's politicians have no such protection. Browder predicts a renaissance of the political party, because single-interest politicians--even Presidents--who challenge incumbents, without going through the party structure, are soon bereft. The only defense they're going to get is to join a party.

If they did that, we wouldn't have as much nutty legislation by single-interest groups for single-interest candidates. So I see a switch coming back toward party discipline.

I assume, though, there would be "clubhouse" politicians--precinct-level politics.

Sure, and it didn't work too badly.

Except that the liberals have been destroying it, something I don't think they wanted to do.

That's exactly right. So now we have single-interest groups on clean air, abortion, AFL-CIO, The Business Roundtable, what have you. Each has the capacity to defeat a candidate on a single issue. The light really went on for liberals when the Democrats lost Minnesota.