Welcome to Call to Decision
Let's Start Over
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BY
CHARLEY REESE
Charley
Reese (born January
29, 1937)
is a syndicated columnist known for his
plainspoken manner and paleoconservative
views. He was associated with the Orlando
Sentinel from 1971-2001, both as a
writer and in various editorial capacities. King
Features Syndicate distributes his column,
which comes out three times each week.
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.
A
CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY 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 G.W. Bush
ALONE 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
Democrats, not the president, can approve any
budget they want. If the president vetoes it,
they can pass it over his veto.
REPLACE
THE SCOUNDRELS
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, 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
Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want
them in IRAQ .
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 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 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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