545 vs. 300,000,000

Canceled.2014.1

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I found this and wanted to share it.




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. [The House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time. ]

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:

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?'

GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!
 
Gotta love those chain emails!


You failed to mention Reese originally wrote that in 1983. He retired in 1988. He is an ultra-conservative neolibertatian, although in my years of reading him I don't believe he ever switched parties.
 
Gotta love those chain emails!


You failed to mention Reese originally wrote that in 1983. He retired in 1988. He is an ultra-conservative neolibertatian, although in my years of reading him I don't believe he ever switched parties.

I did not "fail" to mention anything. What part of him writing this is 1983 or his own political affiliations is relevant to what he is saying here?

If you want to throw out what he said based solely on the fact that he wrote it years ago or that he is of a different political party, feel free to do so.

The point of the article still stands.
 
I did not "fail" to mention anything. What part of him writing this is 1983 or his own political affiliations is relevant to what he is saying here?

If you want to throw out what he said based solely on the fact that he wrote it years ago or that he is of a different political party, feel free to do so.

The point of the article still stands.

He is right to a point. The bottom line is the American get the government they vote for. They keep electing these clowns and fools in both parties. As I have said before, it isn't about left or right, republican or democrat. It is about the elites and who they perceive to be the non elites. Trust me, not one of us on this board is part of the elites.
 
I did not "fail" to mention anything. What part of him writing this is 1983 or his own political affiliations is relevant to what he is saying here?

If you want to throw out what he said based solely on the fact that he wrote it years ago or that he is of a different political party, feel free to do so.

The point of the article still stands.

You failed in that much of what you posted, attributed to Charley, wasn't written by him but was changed much later on to include in a chain email.

One could, as a matter of fact, make a compelling argument that we - the people - are to blame inasmuch we elected these people to represent us (with the exception of the SCOTUS).
 
Charley responds:
Some of the online versions of the 1984 column have been doctored, inserting Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner as House speaker for Tip O'Neill, and substituting Afghanistan and Iraq for Lebanon.

I reached Reese at his home in Casselberry, where he's enjoying retirement, reading, old movies and grandkids. After retiring from the Sentinel, which he joined in 1972, Reese continued writing a nationally syndicated column for King Features until 2008.

"I figured I had said everything I wanted to say," Reese explained, though his last column for King Features alluded to health problems as part of the reason he stopped.

He's aware of the online endurance of his "545 people" column, and its manipulation at the hands of users.

"I call it the Frankenstein column," he said. "That's one of the problems with the Internet. Once something goes on the Internet, people rewrite."


Let's make this clear. I'm not faulting Charley's column or his logic. One of the premiere attributes of a good writer is the ability to have your words resonate with every reader, which is what Charley did.

Charley's final comment?

Still a constitutional purist, Reese says the U.S. is obligated to pay its bills and believes the debt ceiling must be raised.
 
You failed in that much of what you posted, attributed to Charley, wasn't written by him but was changed much later on to include in a chain email.

One could, as a matter of fact, make a compelling argument that we - the people - are to blame inasmuch we elected these people to represent us (with the exception of the SCOTUS).

Indeed we could make the argument that we are responsible. But with the fear-mongering and persuasion by those 545, it is very difficult to make the changes we need. The most important change would be to remove that argument that only members of the main 2 parties are capable of winning elections.
 
Indeed we could make the argument that we are responsible. But with the fear-mongering and persuasion by those 545, it is very difficult to make the changes we need. The most important change would be to remove that argument that only members of the main 2 parties are capable of winning elections.

APPLAUSE

The sad reality is that most of the 300,000,000 WILLFULLY bend over and drop their pants.

It takes courage to make that important change that you speak to.

Only catastrophe can give Americans that courage.
 
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