Monday, March 17, 2008

545 Responsible People

HOW TRUE! Finally someone most of us can agree with. I don’t know if this guy is real or what, but it is an interesting idea. A bit simplified, (there are economic cycles and outside influences) …but he still has some good points. And of course, we are responsible for whom we vote for.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years, reporting on everything from sports to politics. From 1969-71, he worked as a campaign staffer for gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional races in several states. He was an editor, assistant to the publisher, and columnist for the Orlando Sentinel from 1971 to 2001. He now writes a syndicated column which is carried on LewRockwell.com. Reese served two years active duty in the U.S. Army as a tank gunner

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA’S WOES
BY CHARLEY 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.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY 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 G.W. BUSH 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 Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted-by present facts-of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise 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 t hey want them in IRAQ.

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 exist 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.

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Elizabeth sez: OK Peepul - There it is in pretty clear language. It’s up to US to oversee the idiots in Washington and make sure they allocate and spend our - OUR - OUR!!! - money wisely and carefully. WE make the decisions about who our Representatives are, who our Senators are, who our President is. They, in turn, make the decisions as to who the Supreme Court Justices are, who the people on the Federal Reserve Bank Board are. You’ll see this on my other blogs, too!

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years, reporting on everything from sports to politics. From 1969-71, he worked as a campaign staffer for gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional races in several states. He was an editor, assistant to the publisher, and columnist for the Orlando Sentinel from 1971 to 2001. He now writes a syndicated column which is carried on LewRockwell.com. Reese served two years active duty in the U.S. Army as a tank gunner HOW TRUE! Finally someone most of us can agree with. I don’t know if this guy is real or what, but it is an interesting idea. A bit simplified, (there are economic cycles and outside influences) …but he still has some good points. And of course, we are responsible for whom we vote for.

2 comments:

Suzanna said...

I don't fully agree that *we* decide who our senators, representatives, and presidents are. We are allowed to vote for whomever the parties in power decide to run for office. Ever try to write in the name of someone who would do a good job? It's useless. We don't really choose our congressmen and presidents; the national parties do in that *they* decide who will run, even in the primaries. Oh, we write letters to our senators and representatives and get back beaurtiful letters thanking us for our "invaluable input" and all that, but it all comes to naught. If you want to get some insight into what's happening to the economy in this country, listen to some of the audio interviews at
http://www.howestreet.com/ especially the article at
http://tinyurl.com/ytnqt3 . The two central columns lists previous interviews. Below that to the left click "view more" to listen to older interviews. It's an education, all right.

Elizabeth said...

Ah, but we do decide - we can influence the parties by being members of our party of choice and taking part in the "vetting" and selection process. My X-BIL is a member of one of the parties in his state and has guided me through the process. We actually have more power and influence than we think we have - BUT we have to be willing to spend as much time on local, state and national political processes as we do with our work-a-day lives - maybe even more. It needs to be the same kind of obsession that it was for Jefferson, Adams, Henry, Payne, Franklin, and the other Founding Fathers. They spent huge amounts of their time on setting up this country. We, as a citizenry, are mainly sitting on our asses and complaining about not having enough leisure time. I know I'm all too guilty of that! Washington would be ashamed of me! So would my ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War! I'm not really working at making sure this country keeps on going!

The political process is what we have at the moment. Until we find another process, we need to work within it. Since there are so many issues, and there are only so many hours in the day, I have to pick and choose which ones I will work on. My issue is the Fair Tax. I'm working on it at my local level. There is a Phone In Town Hall Meeting on Thursday evening - we'll be in on it. I help by mailing stuff out and doing some e-mailing. It isn't much, but it's something. . .