545 people

[mj278]

This is little old, so I am not sure if it has been posted here before. But I thought it was a great article. Makes you think.

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 an y 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 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

http://blog.appbbs.com/peter/2008/04/18/545-people-by-charlie-reese/

[Muser]

Yes, it's been posted before...but it's worth repeating from time to time.

[Osborn F. Enready]

Great article....

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

Yes it's a great article.

I have even repost it else were !
Thanks !

[PatrickHenry]

We need a Federal Recall Law...

[Trish]

I've read this article several times. It's as true this time around as it was the first.

[Truth_and_Power]

No, no, no, you're supposed to think that they are to gullible to see what's being done without their approval, too dumb to figure out how to stop it, and sooo motivated to try again. If all this were on purpose.. there would have to be a reason. And we wouldn't want to strain ourselves thinking of that, would we?

Next, on American Idol!...

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

No, no, no, you're supposed to think that they are to gullible to see what's being done without their approval, too dumb to figure out how to stop it, and sooo motivated to try again. If all this were on purpose.. there would have to be a reason. And we wouldn't want to strain ourselves thinking of that, would we?

Next, on American Idol!...

That's true ! Those people are registered REP & DEM Voters !

It's just angers me that I (and many others) have to pay for the Complacency, or weakness,
or Apathy, or plain stupidity of the majority of American Voters !

I just hope with this internet thing, smart people can touch enough cerebrally challenged
Americans so we will all work for a better government !

[Osborn F. Enready]

NoMoreDems-Reps said:
That's true ! Those people are registered REP & DEM Voters !

It's just angers me that I (and many others) have to pay for the Complacency, or weakness,
or Apathy, or plain stupidity of the majority of American Voters !

I just hope with this internet thing, smart people can touch enough cerebrally challenged
Americans so we will all work for a better government !


Cerebrally challenged..... indeed. :clapper: :thumbsup:

[Truth_and_Power]

Os-

A modern libertarian is someone who feels that debt is a bad idea and should be avoided.

[Osborn F. Enready]

I wish I had enough room to put that in my siggy T&P. ;)

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

Cerebrally challenged..... indeed. :clapper: :thumbsup:

When half of the people here are talking about what Mrs Mcsame wore, or Palin's
daughter ect... and not how our Government is screwing up American or how we
can fix it.......

I just call em' as I see's em'

[Milton Bradley]

When half of the people here are talking about what Mrs Mcsame wore, or Palin's
daughter ect... and not how our Government is screwing up American or how we
can fix it.......

I just call em' as I see's em'


It really is becoming like an episode of the Twilight Zone for me.


It seems like I'm the same, but most everybody else is different, and I'm feeling very uncomfortable in this situation, yet, there is no way out.


[quo Twilight Zone theme]

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

It really is becoming like an episode of the Twilight Zone for me.


It seems like I'm the same, but most everybody else is different, and I'm feeling very uncomfortable in this situation, yet, there is no way out.


[quo Twilight Zone theme]

I was thinking more like the first Matrix movie, where the masses are all plugged in and
in a happy dream that they believe is reality. But the Twilight Zone is good too....

"....That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone! ....."

[Troubadour]

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Every organism acts to perpetuate the environment that sustains it.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Republicans are not against deficits, they're against spending money on the American people that might instead be stolen and distributed to their campaign contributors.

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

We don't have high taxes, and inflation results from deficit spending.

You and I don’t propose a federal budget.

Nothing stops us.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.

Or the time, or the inclination.


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.

This is a gross oversimplification and utterly fails to understand what a government is. The Constitution was written in recognition of the complexities already apparent in governing an assortment of rural farming communities. If there were no "mystical forces" at work, as the author seems to think of fundamental laws of nature like economics, we wouldn't even need a Constitution - we could just blithely demand that events unfold as we wish them to and the cosmos would obey, as the author appears to suggest. The way to meet our potential as a society is not to ignore reality and then become conservatives when the resulting failure convinces people that "gubmint don't work" - if you make intelligent decisions in the first place, the results will be shockingly good. It's true even on the level of everyday life.

[mj278]

Every organism acts to perpetuate the environment that sustains it.



Republicans are not against deficits, they're against spending money on the American people that might instead be stolen and distributed to their campaign contributors.



We don't have high taxes, and inflation results from deficit spending.



Nothing stops us.



Or the time, or the inclination.



This is a gross oversimplification and utterly fails to understand what a government is. The Constitution was written in recognition of the complexities already apparent in governing an assortment of rural farming communities. If there were no "mystical forces" at work, as the author seems to think of fundamental laws of nature like economics, we wouldn't even need a Constitution - we could just blithely demand that events unfold as we wish them to and the cosmos would obey, as the author appears to suggest. The way to meet our potential as a society is not to ignore reality and then become conservatives when the resulting failure convinces people that "gubmint don't work" - if you make intelligent decisions in the first place, the results will be shockingly good. It's true even on the level of everyday life.

I didn't write it. But it figures there would be someone who refuses to see things for what they really are. The people in Washington do not care about me and you. This includes both the dems and the repugs. They are both crooked...they are both corrupt...Washington has become a special interest group concerned only about themselves.

It is interesting that you only chose to point out the negative aspect of the Republican party in your response concerning deficits. Your partisanship shows. And you see to think that our politicians will actually make intelligent decisions. That's a laugh. Do they do it every so often? Yes. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

[Osborn F. Enready]

mj278 said:
It is interesting that you only chose to point out the negative aspect of the Republican party in your response concerning deficits. Your partisanship shows.

DING DING DING DING DING!!!! WE HAVE A WINNA!

The partisan denial in this forum is something to behold, isn't it?

[Milton Bradley]

The partisan denial in this forum is something to behold, isn't it?


No.


It's funny, you say that like you have found something rare, but in reality it seems this place just got two coats of the same stuff they're spraying all over the place.


Heh, must have been a government oversight.


In truth though, it gets so bad in these forums that I'm surprised some of these people can function outside of this closed little universe.


I'd like to see some of thier faces if they were to stand behind me in the checkout line in the grocery store, and overhear some of the conversations I'm having with the grocery clerk.


I bet I could make some of them bite their tongues off.

[Troubadour]

The people in Washington do not care about me and you.

Most people in most professions don't care about what they do - it's about money, or power, or convenience, or some other ulterior motive. And yet civilization works, because a minority does care, and every once in a while they are in charge. If you are so jaded by your disappointments, and so unwilling to look closely at history that you truly believe government is intrinsically corrupt, nothing can be said or done to change your mind - you are sticking to an ideological position and refusing to question it.

This includes both the dems and the repugs. They are both crooked...they are both corrupt...

No, they're not both corrupt. It's not acceptable to just make up your own reality because the actual one is too complicated. What you're saying is equivalent to comparing the United States to the Soviet Union in 1962 because "both countries oppress their people," which is as true as it was completely delusional in lacking proportion. For every statement about mass murders, gulags, and totalitarianism in the USSR, I could have conjured up films of Southern police beating down defenseless civil rights protesters. Likewise, for every phonebook full of daily Republican crimes committed from the top to the bottom of the Party, you could bring up some Democratic Congressman from Louisiana or Montana who got caught accepting bribes in 1987, or talk about how the Party fails to live up to its rhetoric against special interests. Your views are completely devoid of scale.

The Democratic Party is not corrupt - it is full of ordinary politicians with a vague bent toward compassion and intelligence, and buoyed by a philosophical core of genuine liberal leaders who embody and fight for the best in America. The Republican Party, however, is corrupt to the core, morally and legally, distinguishable from the Mafia only in its pretenses. Within the halls of power, it is strictly a club for the ruthless to pursue self-interest at all costs, and its constituencies in the broader population consist of everyone whose minds are ruled by hatred, greed, or fear. It is, simply, evil.


It is interesting that you only chose to point out the negative aspect of the Republican party in your response concerning deficits.

Is there another aspect?

Your partisanship shows.

Because I'm showing it. I'm partisan because the Republican Party is consistently wrong, and at every turn demonstrates its complete moral and intellectual bankruptcy.

And you see to think that our politicians will actually make intelligent decisions.

If you elect intelligent leaders, you'll get intelligent decisions. It's not supernatural.

[Osborn F. Enready]

Troubador said:
The Democratic Party is not corrupt - it is full of ordinary politicians with a vague bent toward compassion and intelligence, and buoyed by a philosophical core of genuine liberal leaders who embody and fight for the best in America.

LOL... what BS.

If that were the case, why then are they working to erode individual rights as much as, if not more so than Republicans?

Why do they show equal disrespect for the law of the land?

Why are they equally guilty in ballot access restriction, gerrymandering, etc?

That is some facade you are building there......built entirely on blind partisanship and denial of the facts.

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

Every organism acts to perpetuate the environment that sustains it.



Republicans are not against deficits, they're against spending money on the American people that might instead be stolen and distributed to their campaign contributors.



We don't have high taxes, and inflation results from deficit spending.



Nothing stops us.



Or the time, or the inclination.



This is a gross oversimplification and utterly fails to understand what a government is. The Constitution was written in recognition of the complexities already apparent in governing an assortment of rural farming communities. If there were no "mystical forces" at work, as the author seems to think of fundamental laws of nature like economics, we wouldn't even need a Constitution - we could just blithely demand that events unfold as we wish them to and the cosmos would obey, as the author appears to suggest. The way to meet our potential as a society is not to ignore reality and then become conservatives when the resulting failure convinces people that "gubmint don't work" - if you make intelligent decisions in the first place, the results will be shockingly good. It's true even on the level of everyday life.

A bunch of bad one liners and then a tangent, Wow that was briliant!

Let's see.... Yep, we still have $9.3Trillion in debt (Not counting the Fannie and Mac Bailout)
we still have politicians dismataling the Constitution and not following it, Still have Politicians
that are not fulfilling their oath to uphold the constitution, Corruption of the 545 Politicians
that make US Policy still in place ....

So your little slant on this post did nothing, the problem is still there, the People who
created the problems are still in power.....
Try agian.

[Troubadour]

Yep, we still have $9.3Trillion in debt (Not counting the Fannie and Mac Bailout)

There are many options for dealing with debt.

we still have politicians dismataling the Constitution and not following it

Always have, always will. Yet we remain.

the People who
created the problems are still in power.....
Try agian.

Wait a couple of months.

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

There are many options for dealing with debt.



Always have, always will. Yet we remain.



Wait a couple of months.

Why do you make excuses for bad work or the Corruption of our "Elected Official?

I'm sure some stupid Romans said the same thing a few years before their fall, too! That
does not make anything better! It just tells the Politicians that The America People are
"TOO WEAK" to stand up for what's right, so now they won't care what you say or think
they will just continue to screw you over.

You haven't figure out that the GOP & DNC control their candidates? That the duopoly is
still going to be in power(shared power)! That they will still be getting more powerful while
they put you in to more debit? That the only thing that will change is the wrapper that they
put on the same pile of crap and tell you it's a new wonderful present !

[Buck Laser]

I've been meaning to ask: where do you get that 545 number? Last time I looked, there were 435 in the House, and 100 in the Senate. Am I missing something? Is this like NIOSA's "529' number?

I know it's not supposed to be polite to call people on spelling or punctuation, but I thought most of youse guys was against fuzzy math. Explanation anyone?

[Osborn F. Enready]

In actuality its more like a few thousand, when you count all the sheep responsible for reading, approving or disapproving, providing executive summaries, etc for the non-working politicians.

[mj278]

I've been meaning to ask: where do you get that 545 number? Last time I looked, there were 435 in the House, and 100 in the Senate. Am I missing something? Is this like NIOSA's "529' number?

I know it's not supposed to be polite to call people on spelling or punctuation, but I thought most of youse guys was against fuzzy math. Explanation anyone?

From the article:
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.

[Troubadour]

Why do you make excuses for bad work or the Corruption of our "Elected Official?

Why do you interpret historical perspective as an excuse?

I'm sure some stupid Romans said the same thing a few years before their fall, too!

Rome "fell" in agonizing, centuries-long stages.


That does not make anything better! It just tells the Politicians that The America People are "TOO WEAK" to stand up for what's right, so now they won't care what you say or think they will just continue to screw you over.

People have never stopped complaining about official corruption, and it has never had any effect whatsoever. It doesn't wane because you complain more, or increase because you complain less - it's a function of society's general state. When the populace is more ethical, the politicians drawn from them are more ethical (than usual). It's that simple:If you don't want corrupt politicians, don't BE corrupt - it has nothing to do with whining about other people's corruption. Don't vote for someone just because they promise tax cuts or bring home the bacon - that'll have a lot more impact than whining about bribery or pork barrel spending.

You haven't figure out that the GOP & DNC control their candidates? That the duopoly is
still going to be in power(shared power)! That they will still be getting more powerful while
they put you in to more debit? That the only thing that will change is the wrapper that they
put on the same pile of crap and tell you it's a new wonderful present !

So you're telling me Howard Dean is in league with Dick Cheney?