Five Hundred Forty-five People
By Charley Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create
problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans
are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against
inflation and high taxes, WHY do 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 equates to 545 human beings out of more
than 300 million citizens of the U.S.A. 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? Nancy Pelosi. 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 Army & 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!