CONGRESS
THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF AMERICA'S WOES
BY CHARLEY REESE
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 235 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 but 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 legislation's
responsibility to determine how he votes.
A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY
Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the
politicians? 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 Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan 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 appropriations and taxes.
O'Neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the
majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can
approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it, they can
pass it over his veto.
REPLACE SCOUNDRELS
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 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 Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.
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 it.
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 they have the gumption to
manage their own employees.
This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper