cattlejunky
Well-known member
I just received this in an e-mail and thought you all would appreciate it.
Subject: 545 People
This really says it all---
545 People
By Charlie Reese --
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then
campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.
The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court
justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally,
morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague
this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was
created by the Congress.
In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound
currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They
have no legal authority.
They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do
one cotton-picking thing.
I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The
politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist
promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what
they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of
party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount
of gall.
No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and
criticized the President for creating deficits.
The president can only propose a budget.
He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving
appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House?
She is the leader of the majority party.
She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they
want.
If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree
to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace
545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and
irresponsibility.
I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to
those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of
the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they
want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan
not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire
and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they
can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from
whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists
disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics'
that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their
bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own
employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel
Subject: 545 People
This really says it all---
545 People
By Charlie Reese --
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then
campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.
The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court
justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally,
morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague
this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was
created by the Congress.
In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound
currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They
have no legal authority.
They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do
one cotton-picking thing.
I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The
politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist
promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what
they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of
party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount
of gall.
No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and
criticized the President for creating deficits.
The president can only propose a budget.
He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving
appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House?
She is the leader of the majority party.
She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they
want.
If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree
to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace
545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and
irresponsibility.
I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to
those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of
the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they
want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan
not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire
and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they
can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from
whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists
disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics'
that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their
bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own
employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel