This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Charlie Reese | 545 vs. 300,000,000 People
Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. -- Chris
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
Taxes to pass
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, and 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
»
- rcwhalen's blog
- 45748 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Keep repeating the current group-think: Taxes are the mean by which the premium was paid for the US revolution insurance: Social Security/ Disability/ Welfare, Medicare/Medicaid/ Jobs training. Prior to these local governments paid the premiums with taxes and poor-houses. For the past 30 years the premium hasn't been paid. The policy was cancelled.
Now, just sit back and wait.
Keep repeating the current group-think: Taxes are the mean by which the premium was paid for the US revolution insurance: Social Security/ Disability/ Welfare, Medicare/Medicaid/ Jobs training. Prior to these local governments paid the premiums with taxes and poor-houses. For the past 30 years the premium hasn't been paid. The policy was cancelled.
Now, just sit back and wait.
Charlie replies:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-mike-lafferty-charley-...
Reese is mistaken about who is "responsible".
I submit that politicians are voted in by the populace, but most politicians work for the payoffs from their corporate benefactors (and in fact could not win elections without corporate media and financial backing). I submit that the person for whom an assassin works is even more reprehensible than the assassin.
By not identifying the real culprits, and blaming their front office PR staff, the implication is given that the problems are due to the moral failings of the PR staffers. Then the solution is to find more "morally upright" PR politicians. Ignored is the SYSTEMIC problem of why bought policians are constantly nominated, funded, and elected (often by 'lesser-of-two-evils ' votes begrudgingly cast).
The problems have more to do with corporate "personhood" and extreme wealth (and concomitant power) disparity than with the admitted moral turpitude of many (often shallow) politicians.
Regardless of who you want to hold responsible today, there is only one way to change it going forward. The power held by each of 544 elected officials must be diluted.
We need to return the House of Representatives back to a representation ratio we had before the end of the 19th century. And as for the Senate, 6 from every state, with an election for Senate held once every year in every state.
Only by knowing that their power will be reduced in the Hosue and Senate, will we find these politicians looking to the people they respresent for direction.
We all know this is not happening today.
Without ending corporate power and the extreme wealth disparity, rearranging the political deck chairs of the US Titanic is pointless. The problems do not originate from either the individual personality flaws of politicians or their term limits.
There was corruption and wealth disparity long before corporations existed. Political corruption is not something new.
The problem definitely do originate from individuals who are corrupt. Nobody forced them to take bribes and favors from lobbyists. Nobody forced them to enrich their cronies. Term limits will weaken the power of these parasites. Notice that the most corrupt and self-serving politicians have been in power for decades. They become untouchable. Term limits will never happen unless the government collapses and a new Constitution is enacted.
You appear to be oblivious to the workings of groups and organizations.
Nobody "forced them", but they were cajoled, rewarded, promoted, and taught to believe micro greed works out for the macro best. Those who are unwilling to be part of the "team" are ostracized, unfunded, and ignored if not arrested.
Corporations are autocratic, secretive, and pursue a single one-dimensional goal of profit. They have no intrinsic aversion to removing anything that stands in the way of their goal. Many politicians believe they are lying and cheating for the common good of the plebians who do not know what is best. Politicians and the wealthy believe themselves deservedly part of a superior elite, and believe advancing their self-interests will "trickle down" to everyone.
Just as politicians have been socialized to believe their highest duty is to protect business interests, the military institution is taught to protect markets, resources, and despicable allies for "security" and "stability".
Expecting superior politicians to triumph irrespective of the institutional backing for the lesser politicians is kool-aid "hopism". The institutions must change along with the political leaders. Both must change together.
I'm surprised I've read this far and TERM LIMITS has not come up. There's a beginning point. Main argument against it: "But the institutional knowledge and experience would be lost!" My response: "GOOD!" Most of that resides in the staff and other non-elected personnel anyhow.
One asshat for 10 years is better or worse than 10 asshats for 1 year?
Bought's bought.
Term limits will never happen. Why would a bunch of power hungry sociopaths fire themselves?
That starts at the local/state levels with elections. No problem. Now, getting them to stop rewarding themselves with nice health care and retirement programs is a different matter.
I'm surprised you haven't gotten your ass jumped for mentioning it.
The quote you supplied is the progressive response, the other side is like you said "Good" you people in Washington need the brakes applied.
It all depends on what people think the job of federal government is and what its limitations should be.
I don't care what the argument against term limits is, it would solve the entrenchment problem.
Edit: I don't give a shit if Ron Paul has some controversial views, I think I am going to give him some money and write him in.
O gets reelected, no problem bring on the collapse.
Good God, get it over with or get serious.
Dude, several of those taxes, tobacco, liquor, real estate, eg, are many centuries, not just just one, old. Making stupid errors of fact really takes away from your post.
After reading the article, this is what you decide to focus on?
your a dick
ur a pur spellar
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.
that says it all...
545 have only two skills, and that is finding and keeping the free ride with awesome benes. They will be replaced by 545 more who have only two skills. This is why a reset is needed and will happen. Thanks Chris for bringing us this great article. The takeaway is that we once had a prosperous nation with low taxes and a treasury that managed and created our currency...Only time will tell if we can get back to that former great position.
None of this will be solved until the private bank cartel and their spawn are wiped off the planet. Rothschilds, Warburgs, Rockefeller, Kissinger, Bilderberg, whatever you want to call them. Start at the top with their pictures loaded into a military drone and clean them and their spawn from the planet. Same goes for the Hedge fund managers; thank heaven John Paulson's fund lost 40%. Wipe the Blankfeins, Dimon, Pandit, Moynihan. Wipe Bernanke, Greenspan, and the Fed governors. We have to have eliminiation or we just face this problem again down the road.
Reinstate Glass-Steagall and the Fairness Doctrine, that Roger Ailes and Ronnie Raygun repealed. Confront Republicans. The tax cuts have been in place for a decade; where are the US jobs?
ALL Congressional and state Republicans need to be out looking for jobs. We need to confront Republicans and nail them. Take Faux News, take the ACORN pimp and prostitute and film the process. If Republicans can't show us where the jobs are, they need to be called liars, to their face, voted out of office and kept out of office. This is one-half of the population in the US, folks, that are liars.Their ideology for the past 40 years won't work anymore. We need to confront Republicans as a nation. I've read they tolerate Democrats being in office, then they wait to get the majority in DC and go to work weakening regulation.
Ron Paul and Michele Bachman are both in the House of Representatives, and the approval rating of Congress is 15%. If those two can't get any legislation out of the House, they will get nothing done in the White House. In advance of the 2012 election, make sure you don't fall for any BS out of Rupert Murdoch, Faux News, the Chinese, or the private bank cartel. All legislation originates in the House of Representatives, where Paul and Bachman both serve now. Any time the Congress wants to send a reduced spending bill to the President, they can do exactly that. Have they? of course not.
Hear, hear, Comrade! Ok, we get rid of all Republicans and put Democrats in their place. Replace slow socialism with immediate socialism! That will work extremely well.
As always, the solution to the problems caused by socialism is more socialism. The Glorious Future will be ours!
How about we get rid of the statists from *both* parties and actually give regular folks a chance to live their live. Oops, I hereby denounce myself as a traitor to the Revolution.
Wouldn't it be easier to get the minds right (thank you Cool Hand Luke) on the 545 rather than all the blood and mess of the hundreds of thousands it would take to make your Utopian dream come true? Seems so to me.
What power do we have to influence those 545 which can compare to the billionaires? We could have a single year term limit and all the politicians would still be bought.
we could do like the unions did back in the days... group up in mass and infuence them with axe handles and bats... it's only 545 of them.
Didn't the TeaParty show you that behind every scoundrel is a line of wannabe scoundrels?
I use to hate just CNN. Now I hate CNN and FOX News. Come to think of it, I hate all Main Stream Media. Guess I really just hate Ted "Fuck You" Turner, Rupert "Pervert" Murdoch, George "The Fag" Soros and Warren "Mr Insider" Buffet. Did I miss anyone? Oh Yeah, 545 other "Insider" politicians. Of course, there's always the Rothschilds..........???
ALL of TV and all the media are the same. Look deeper and you will see all the networks have deals, major investor money or joint ventures with Al Waleed/Saudi Arabia (SA). He is a major shareholder and was the one who decided Rebecca Brooks had to go at News International. And the Saudis are close to the Roth klan and much closer to Isreal than anyone realizes.
Oh the other thing - it is all about getting on Middle Eastern, Latin America and Chinese satellites for TV programming. CNN, Fox, ABC/Disney, Comcast/GE/NBC, Viacom/CBS/MTV and all of them will sell out the populace for open borders to stay on those sats. Murdoch is as bad as the rest. Summner Redstone CBS/Viacom will is a smaller player but MTV Indonesia can reach 1 billion muslims in that country. His networks will spew the joys of Islam. Al Waleed/Saudi Arabia are major investors in Disney/ABC/Fox/News Corp., TW/CNN, mega deals with GE/Comcast/NBC and the list goes on. TV is the enermy - all of it.
.....and I was wondering what happened to all those public service announcements!
http://www.coffinman.co.uk/jewish_roots_of_the_saudi_royal_family.htm
+ propaganda, + manipulation, + corporations, + political power, + public relations, + disinformation, + wars, ++++...
http://www.openfilm.com/videos/psywar
Perpetual war bill the House passed.
www.infowars.com/obamas-promise-to-veto-worldwide-war-bill-rings-hollow
Here is an anti-statist cartoon made in 1948, but it could just as well have been made today: Make Mine Freedom (1948) - YouTube
Won't see cartoons like that made anymore, you'd be put out of business.
Gibson Guitar factory raided again, for nothing, that makes twice in last two years.
Why am I not surprised you like your propaganda in cartoon form?
Charlie I am with you on EVERY count.
What we have today is TAXATION WITH MISREPRESANTATION.
I for one see the constitution as an article to ensure freedom not steal it. And beyond limited sales tax (which is regressive unfortunately) I believe all other taxation is theivery, especially when you factor in the 545 venal diplicitous con-men and women we have in office and how they administer these not so progressive nor ethical taxes we have given over to them.
One of the worst human traits is to blame the other when the fault lies square with you. I was once in a relationship with a women that blamed me for everything because it was easier for her to do so rather than deal with her own shortcomings and insanity -- I removed myself from her swiftly enough and am grateful for it. But in the case of these elected officials, they will do everything in their power to stay in power and bend the rules and blame everyone and everything for their own mendacity and poor policy and so.........if only it were as easy as dumping them like a diseased ex........but alas the new crop of 545 or so would most likely not be much of an improvement since the average politician's character is composed of much pathalogy and not so much kindness and healthy concern for their fellow man and nation.
But WTF do I know?
"When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people."
~Abraham Joshua Heschel
Send it to the 545, along with a 'you're fired' note.
And why exactly can you not perform this service?
WE DA PEOPLE ARE ALSO THE PROBLEM...
The Public likes social benefits that come from tax revenue.
Charlie says we the people are all innocent...SIMPLISTIC THINKING...aka FOX NEWS MIND.
I challenge his 100 Years ago Middle Class biggest in world statement. BULL.
A suggestion about which country you believe it to be, would be very helpful.
if reece had ever really stated something even remotely approaching real truth, his editorial "career" would not have even got off the ground. therefore one must conclude that he was and is and always was just controlled opposition. this is the way things work i am sorry to say. i wish i could be more positive about it. but in journalism there is no such thing as independent thought because the jewish owners of media will not allow such things among the goyim....
Or perhaps he didn't reach an audience, of a size that would matter?
Well, no exclusion here:
"LIFTING tHE VEIL" Barack Obama and the failure of capitalist 'democracy'
http://vimeo.com/20355767
Time to start shooting congresscritters if they do not start doing the right thing.
I think that is called "revolution" and it is LOONNNNGGGG overdue.
Seriously- please post this to all you know... It's good for all of us to adjust our mindset to the above. This government is out of control and it is OUR government. We should hold them more accountable and vote more out, and not stand for all that has happened. Let's have the outrage and organization NOW before it's too late... If we're going down lets go down TRYING to affect this mess...
Sarcasm and defeatism are fun and all but, I'm sick of this shit. Passing the buck and saying we can't doing anything has gotten us here.
here is the problem fled, we that are aware are like a bucket of the purist water . this pure water is dumped into a billion gallon tank of sewage water...the pure water has no effect, so the sewage water will remain the stinking shit that is the majority of our society..... you need to change 545 + 295mill.= no fucking chance....the only choice we truly have is, as individuals, is to avoid as much of the system as possible....it helps to be self-employed, ...
Amen to self-employed. Keep your head down and ry to be as invisible as you can. Cover your ass w/incorporation, and take advantage of every possible loophole/deduction/benefit you can think of. Be aggressive. If you get audited, it's OK to have some stuff to fight about. Just be sure to find a competent accountant and file all the corporate docs on time....and keep good records.
BTW, sewage analogy is a good one. I spent a lot of my life and a fair amount of money working to make the system better. The Equal Rights & Anti-war efforts in the 60's & 70's were worthwhile, but not much since has really made any difference. Since then, our leadership choices have continued to erode in quality, and my fellow citizens seem to be evermore less deserving of my time and efforts. Frankly, it is both depressing and scary for those of us who were in love with this wonderful, abundant country we inherited. Too bad we have turned out to be such shitty stewards.
Independent Contractor,
Yup, and the Federal Reserve Act was pushed through on the 23rd of December 1913 when most Congressmen had disappeared off for Christmas.
DavidC
Glass-Steagall suffered the same fate....
Yes, but how many tried to do anything about it? Obviously, not many, if any.
It is a colectively corrupt organization. and now, with the unlimited corporate and "invisible" funding, provided by our Supremely Corrupted Supreme Court, it is about to become even more corrupt.....if that is possible.
300 million robots operating in sleep mode. Sweet dreams...
No shit, corporately bitching that no one is doing anything about it to boot, lol. But, but, but we're being held hostage.........fucking unreal sometimes.