From Charlie Reese, former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
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 Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you, though
you appear to have several choices.
1. You can send this to everyone in your address book, and hope they do
something about it.
2. You can agree to vote against everyone that is currently in office,
knowing that the process will take several years.
3. You can decide to run for office yourself and agree to do the job
properly.
4. Lastly, you can sit back and do nothing, or re-elect the current bunch.
YOU DECIDE, BUT AT LEAST SEND IT ON.
