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, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, 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, 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 Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ.
If they 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.