Something came to mind as I was chatting with friends on Facebook.
What if the politicians didn't get paid unless the country were solvent?
No retirement plan for them unless there were one for the people.
They are supposed to be public servants right?
Here is a brilliant piece written by a journalist in Florida.
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.
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:
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!!!
Rob, thank you for sharing this. I wish more people think the way we do, but SLOWLY people are waking up. I'm thinking about the trip. Not kidding. I really am.
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