- Joined
- Nov 25, 2003
- Messages
- 16,192
Got this sent to me and just had to share it-
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems & then campaign against them.
If both the Democrats & the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
If politicians are against inflation & high taxes, WHY do we have inflation & 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. 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 th! at a na tion 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 t he 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 Army &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, and they alone, have the power, and should be
held accountable by the people who are their bosses (that would be us!) 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!
It is rumored this column cost the writer his job at the newspaper. <_<
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems & then campaign against them.
If both the Democrats & the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
If politicians are against inflation & high taxes, WHY do we have inflation & 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. 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 th! at a na tion 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 t he 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 Army &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, and they alone, have the power, and should be
held accountable by the people who are their bosses (that would be us!) 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!
It is rumored this column cost the writer his job at the newspaper. <_<
