Posted on 07/30/2011 8:21:33 PM PDT by Beaten Valve
Whether or not this is a bona fide column, I think there is a lot of truth in it.
Charley Reese’s Final column!
A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL. Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.
Charley Reese’s final column for the Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.
Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It’s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie 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 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? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He 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 and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
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.
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren’t so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he’s fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid...
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
‘Taxes drove me
to my doom...’
When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!
There are NO cuts!
What is being called cuts are actually reductions in planned increases!
Kill the federal monster. NOW!
Let the pieces fall where they may.
Fox News reporting that negotiations involve the nature of the triggers if Special Committee does not produce list of $1.8 trilion in cuts. Pubs want automatic across the board cuts as the trigger. I guess the dims just want it to be window dressing.
The Department of Energy was created by the Carter Administration to end our dependance on foreign oil.
They have failed, completely defund and eliminate the Department of Energy.
In this for blood? I don’t take physical threats lightly. So, I suggest you knock that off.
Second, war? I know about war. There are many people I would not fight beside. And you’re first on that list. You could not be trusted in a real fight.
Third, I’ve noticed lots of what you call negative posts. I call them realistic comments. I don’t see you going after them. Apparently my tag line hits the whimp on the head.
I never underestimated it. I am watching to see how many House democrats vote for this eventual bill, and how many House Republicans vote against it.
Imagine Obama campaigning next year on how he fought to get this 'big deal' deficit reduction package repeating "after Republicans spent eight years running up our credit cards"; even after Obama demanded tax increases and a clean debt limit increase instead of this.
Thanks. Yes, the “addict” ad is a start. But the ones that really gripe me are the propaganda pieces Dems ran on “Ryan” pushing grandma off the cliff AND the AARP commercial (run incessantly!) with the three seniors (one a black female, of course) saying “bad idea”, “what were you thinking”, as it relates to evil Repubs wanting to cut Medicare.
All we need to do is put together one which should run morning, noon and night, telling people the TRUTH about Obamacare - how it cuts $500 Billion out of Medicare, which will be (and is) forcing current and future doctors out of the profession, and which will absolutely force rationed care and deny many (presently available) procedures to seniors.
Just telling folks the truth about Obamacare will scare them, but they badly need to know it before it’s too late. I’ll promise that most aren’t aware of all this, but it should make them loudly speak out to Congress and, most importantly, NOT re-elect BHO.
Getting this basic truth out there is important for voters of all ages to hear, and we’d better start doing it now, all the way through to November.
Also, that “little” soundbite of Wasserman-Schultz ridiculing the Republicans for “insisting on spending cuts and lower taxes when these are things BHO does NOT want”, should become an equally important campaign ad.
I just saw the ad you are wanting!!!! It was terrific.
It uses Obozo’s quotes and hits on all the messes he and Dems created!
If the Reps are doing these ads..I will give them money, ha.
Next time I will look to see who created the ads.
Well, I’m for letting each state decide where their state legislators are concerned.
But I’m talking about FEDERAL term limits on congressmen and senators. How different things might be if there could be no more career politicians. I’d propose 4 years for both houses, limited to 2, no more than 3, terms.
Reps are so stupid to agree to this but we already knew that. McConnell, Boehner, they all need to go.
yes, let me know! I haven’t seen it.
I am going to find out what it says on the crawler and then go to their website and post its link here.
There are plans out on the table that would cut the size of government 2.5 trillion immediately with no tax increases, not half now half later for the total over ten years poppycock.
These people in Congress can't even see the trees for the forest.
I've been to D.C. on many occasions....this place just screams WASTE!
10% cut for all departments with some departments being eliminated all together. Cut endowment for this, subsidy for that.
Constitutionally, many of these programs should never have been put into place to begin with.
After reading the tentative deal, my biggest complaint is the cuts take place over 10 years, rather than over the time of the debt increase (2 years). My second biggest complaint is there is no mention of freezing federal wages and hiring. My third biggest complaint is Obamacare isn’t gutted.
But I would go crazy if I were in the legislature. Executive branch is the only place I could stomach the politics.
No, Terry. You need to knock it off. You're grasping for straws that aren't even there. I didn't threaten you, and you know it.
I've merely pointed out that incessantly banging the doom and gloom drum is demoralizing to those who read here. Jim Rob is clear in his mission statement that he feels no compelling need to provide a forum for that sort of talk.
It's destructive and corrosive to morale, and you really ought to rein it in.
Are you saying that this so-called deal is going to fix the economy? Is that what you are saying? That's the only way Obama wins in 12 - with a resurgent economy
I say make it crystal clear that Obama won and he OWNS the economy 100%.
Do we get a burger or a kiss first?
You’re absolutely right. The EPA’s ability to implement regulations whenever it wants is a huge problem. We need a combination of scaling back regulations and other solutions. I just think the main problem here is that the economy is trashed, and that the debt is an effect, not a cause of our problems. Lets use all the tools we have to implement a pro-growth agenda. You understood me correctly. Thanks
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