545 People 

By Charlie Reese (former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel)

Posted June 20, 2008

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!    

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