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It is apparent to all — Washington is broken. Politicians get elected and stay for 20, 30 even 40 years. Like a stagnant pond, there are no new ideas, direction or vision. Washington politicians are often more concerned with getting re-elected than why they should be re-elected.

When 18-year incumbent Congressman John Doolittle announced his retirement, there was hope that new ideas might come from the new representative of the 4th Congressional District. Newbie Air Force Major Eric Egland was in and former state Sen. Rico Oller jumped in.

Then former Sacramento Congressman Doug Ose found his way to Auburn to announce he was also in the race. Ose, from the neighboring 3rd Congressional District, served from 1999 to 2004, and then retired, honoring his promise to only serve in Congress for six years.

Evidently there is no cure once bit by the Washington Beltway Bug. Ose saw Doolittle’s retirement as his ticket back to Washington; his pledge to only serve six years was thrown out. No problem, though, no one really expects politicians to keep their promises or tell the truth.

At the announcement, a reporter asked him the rather surreal question of whether he would give a term limit promise. Former Congressman Ose, already intending to break his promise, answered simply, “No.” We should not be surprised. In hindsight, Ose really left his heart in Washington. He never closed his campaign account, keeping almost one-half million dollars in reserve to aid him in his return.

So, what should the 4th Congressional District expect from former Congressman Ose, the sequel, if he were elected? Well, remember that in 2006 the Republican Congress received a major “thumping” in large part due to their spending addiction. In fact, discretionary domestic spending — excluding defense and the war on terror — increased faster under Republican control than under any Democrat since LBJ. Ose was one of the big spenders. For example, with Medicare already heading for bankruptcy, the Republicans, along with confirmed big spender Ose, passed the largest expansion of the federal government since the Great Society — the budget busting Medicare Prescription Drug Bill (HR 1, Roll Call Vote No. 669, Nov. 22, 2003).

Ose also voted for a plethora of other irresponsible and wasteful spending, such as grants for studies on “Mood Arousal and Sexual Risk Taking,” “Sexual Habits of Older Men,” “San Francisco’s Asian Prostitutes/Masseuses,” “American Indian Transgender Research” and “Child Health and Human Development Study on Pandas” (HR 2660, Roll Call Vote No. 352, July 10, 2003), all paid for courtesy of the Placer County taxpayers.

But it does not stop there. Remember that big spending also requires big taxes and that is why Ose took pro-tax positions, such as support for taxing the Internet by opposing the permanent extension of the Internet Tax Moratorium HR 3709 (Roll Call vote No. 155, May 10, 2000).

Ose also voted for what was nicknamed the “incumbent protection plan,” the McCain-Feingold bill (HR 2356, Feb. 14, 2002, Roll Call vote No. 34). Will he protect our private property rights? Ose voted against an amendment that prohibited the National Coast Guard Museum from being located on any property that has been taken from an unwilling seller through eminent domain. (HR 2443, Roll Call Vote No. 604, Nov. 5, 2003). Ose voted for HR 1885, the Illegal Immigration Residency Extension (Roll Call Vote No. 53). The word “illegal” seemed to be lost on former Congressman Ose.

Ose was only one of 11 Republicans to vote against HR 4663, the Budget Enforcement — Federal Sunset Commission (Roll Call No. 305, June 24, 2004) that would have established a commission to review all federal agencies for their efficiency, effectiveness, redundancy and need. This commission would have helped eliminate government waste, and Ose opposed it.

While in Washington, Ose was not part of the solution, but rather part of the big government-spending problem. In the 107th Congress alone he sponsored 37 bills to increase spending by $46.7 billion.

Washington is full of big spenders piling debt upon our kids and our kid’s kids. Voters in Placer County should help former Congressman Ose keep his term limit pledge and look to candidates who have not been indoctrinated into the Beltway big-spending, know-it-all mentality.

It is time to clean house and get rid of the old dead wood. It is time for a new beginning with new ideas. Candidates such as Major Eric Egland, Rico Oller, and now rumored Tom McClintock are such candidates with new ideas, untainted by the Beltway. They are the kind of candidates we need representing us, not retreads who serve only their own interests.

Ken Campbell is the former chairman of the Placer County Republican Party.