Those Elected Are Responsible

Charley Reese (January 29, 1937 - May 21, 2013) was an American syndicated columnist known for his conservative views.^[1] He was associated with the Orlando Sentinel from 1971 to 2001, both as a writer and in various editorial capacities. King Features Syndicate distributed his column, which was published three times per week.

This is his last column

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!