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Ol Man River
02-02-2010, 07:46 PM
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, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do 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 equates to 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? Nancy Pelosi. 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 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.

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 Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.


This might be funny if it weren't so darned true.

Arrow
02-02-2010, 08:08 PM
You live in a Republic. That means that citizens vote for others to represent them in government. That's just the way it is. The nation is just too big to open up every decision to a nationwide popular vote.

Ol Man River
02-02-2010, 08:19 PM
yes we elect these people to represent us,

but the jest of the article is they are not doing what is
best for the citizens who elected them to represent us (citizens)

nor are they doing what is the best for the country as a whole.

so vote them them all out (republicians and democrats alike)


Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

Arrow
02-03-2010, 02:10 PM
My brother used to have that on a bumper sticker--"Vote 'em All Out." I don't disagree, but the fact is that our voter turnout stinks.

Ragnar Danneskjold
02-03-2010, 03:46 PM
You live in a Republic. That means that citizens vote for others to represent them in government. That's just the way it is. The nation is just too big to open up every decision to a nationwide popular vote.

Yep. And a direct democracy would be a nightmare. It would be horribly disruptive and chaotic to have every little detail of governance subject to the fickle winds of 'public opinion'. "We" are even more subject to shallow reasoning and moods of the moment than is Congress. It's essential that the process of making law be slow and deliberate, not nimble. Our republic is intentionally hobbled to slow it down and minimize (hopefully) the urges for silly and frivolous law.

moka
02-03-2010, 06:13 PM
And a direct democracy would be a nightmare.

Ha, it would be interesting. Might be quite an eye opener for some people.
But coming from a direct democracy I can see that the issue of diversity here would be more the problem then the "shallow reasoning and moods of the moment".

Ragnar Danneskjold
02-03-2010, 06:57 PM
[...]But coming from a direct democracy [...]


Oh yah? Where's that?

moka
02-05-2010, 07:36 AM
Switzerland.

Ragnar Danneskjold
02-05-2010, 08:06 AM
Switzerland.

Very cool. I'd love to visit there someday.