The 535 people who are responsible for this MESS

[Baja boy]

I found this to be an interesting article.
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 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 cannot
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! And
while we're at it, have the people vote on term limits so we get them
out sooner. Whatever happened to the 'Statesman' or 'Stateswoman?'



Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel.

[mekender]

Surprisingly fair from the Orlando Slantnel...

But, i cant really blame the senators and congressmen, i blame the people. who else is responsible for the repeated re-election of the people that do nothing.

[Joe ex PNG]

As the old saying goes, everyone wants the bums thrown out...except for their bum. And sadly, the really horrible bums like Murtha, Boxer, Lee and the like are pretty secure- it's not very likely that the gerrymander queen Corrine Brown (sadly, my rep) will ever be thrown out.