The 545 who ARE accountable

T.D. sent me the article reproduced below. I believe that this article has to be at least 25 years old. It has been circulating in cyberspace for a long time. A former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper, Charley Reese, wrote the article. I took the liberty to update the article for 2008. I capitalized and used red letters where I changed the wording. The bold letters are mine, which I used for emphasis. If you would like to see the original you can find it in numerous places on the Internet.

There is so much truth in Mr. Reese’s words, that they may be even more meaningful today, especially in light of the sorry American political scene, which is a veritable nightmare. In the less than spectacular race for President that will insure less than optimal leadership the next four years, we have two radical leftist-socialists vying for the Democratic nomination against an aged, cantankerous, miserable moderate Republican-in-name-only (RINO). No choice really.

The 545 People Responsible for All of U.S. Woes

by Charley Reese

(and respectfully updated by gregjaye)

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 AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN and high taxes, we have AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN 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 330 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 but 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 legislation's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? 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 NANCY PELOSI, who stood up and criticized GEORGE W. BUSH for creating deficits AND RAILING AGAINST THE WAR ON TERROR AT EVERY TURN.

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 appropriations and taxes.

PELOSI is the speaker of the House. SHE is the leader of the majority party. SHE and HER fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 330 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise 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 MILITARY IS in IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, it's because they want them in IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.

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 it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist 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 they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

Let us consider carefully the words of Mr. Reese as we prepare to go into the election booth in November. There are a lot of people who need to be let go from their jobs. Let us get rid of those who only want to blame others for what they have done. The approval ratings for both the current President and the current Congressional members are at all time lows and really do justify a wholesale purge.