> This is an article written by Charlie Reese, a former columnist for the
> Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
> Very interesting perspective on the state of our Nation!
>
> —–Original Message—–
>
> 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 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 Federa l 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 20 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.