I have expressed these same comments many times, however I could never state them the way this guy did. I don't normally post other work but I think everyone should read this
545 People
By Charlie Reese
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and thencampaign 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 inflationand 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 hundredsenators, 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 interestsand 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 onlypropose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. TheConstitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives soleresponsibility to the House of Representatives for originating andapproving 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 budgetthey want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto ifthey agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 millioncannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - ofincompetence and irresponsibility.I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directlyto those 545 people.When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power ofthe federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what theywant to exist.If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budgetis in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are inIRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive socialsecurity but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people,it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble governmentproblems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whomthey hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts andadvice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power toregulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not letthem 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 aretheir bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their ownemployees.We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
One more comment: Charlie Reese is correct. These 545 people have created many of the problems this country faces. However, it is also true the we, the citizens of this country, reelect approximately 90% of the 545 every election. Therefore, we bear a great deal of the responsibility for the mess we have created.
