Makes sense to me... non-partisan

[biguglyman]

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.

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 andAfghanistan ...

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.

[x]

A serious over simplification of the difficulties of governance.  But... if it's something you can get your head around,

[3fan4life]

A serious over simplification of the difficulties of governance.  But... if it's something you can get your head around, I suppose we should give you the bozo award.

IN YOUR OWN WORDS:

who are you speaking for besides yourself?  Or are you using a common literary technique that uses the 'we' as though you somehow have gone out and garnered broad support?  Have you got the cajones to say, "I" ?

[Valkahuna]

A serious over simplification of the difficulties of governance.  But... if it's something you can get your head around, I suppose we should give you the bozo award.

SE, you are the most derogatory individual I've run across in a lifetime. Can you ever disagree with someone without resorting to name calling or belittling someone? You should be ashamed and kicked off of this board. 

[macdoesit]

biguglyman
Very easy to understand but then some do not understand laymen and some just like to argue, you could agree with these people and they would then turn 180.
Someone must have pissed on their rice krispies this morning. Probably every morning.

[biguglyman]

I'll take the bozo award...the shoes might actually fit!

[Lil D]

Valkahuna +1

[..]

A serious over simplification of the difficulties of governance.  But... if it's something you can get your head around, I suppose we should give you the bozo award.

4th time today Wayne. Good going. Well done.

They include activities that are unlawful, harmful, threatening, sexually explicit, defamatory, obscene, racial and/or ethnic slurs, personal attacks; harassing, offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or bashing comments or content; and similar pictures or links, especially those aimed at sexual orientation, gender, race, color, religious views, national origin or disability.

[Psychotic Bovine]

Actually, SE's behavior is perfectly simple.  He's nothing but a bully.  I had a college prof (a couple actually) that were SE's virtual twin.  They would berate anyone that disagreed with them because they had power.  (SE has distance, and pseudo-intelligence, which is his "power").  I got revenge on the profs by acing their classes.  I graduated with honors, and the last time I saw the worst prof of the bunch he was selling used cars (true story).  PHD that, "Dr" Smead!  No tenure for you!

[fon1961]

A serious over simplification of the difficulties of governance.  But... if it's something you can get your head around, I suppose we should give you the bozo award.

not all of us can be as smart as albert but at least he had patience with us mere mortals lol

[..]

Aint it great?  All the posts attack me, nothing to be said about the original post.  Does this tell you something about the mindset of the posters?

We simply replied to the insult to a fellow forum member.

Does that tell you anything about the mindest of the person who posted the insult?

[..]

Aint it great?  All the posts attack me, nothing to be said about the original post.  Does this tell you something about the mindset of the posters?

We simply replied to the insult to a fellow forum member.

Does that tell you anything about the mindest of the person who posted the insult?

No... but it does tell me a lot about you.

Excellent. I'm pleased you are learning.

[Big Rig]

Learning? Ruffled Feathers knows all and tells all he knows all...

[x]

Learning? Ruffled Feathers knows all and tells all he knows all...

Like I said, you attack the poster and nothing about the post.  Toss in a couple of nonsensical names... Ruffled Feathers?... and we've got an academic debate... NOT.

[Dubsvalk]

The poster is 100% correct1  There is nothing to disagree with.
Dubs

[Oss]

Oss, even with a bad head cold, gets out of bed and streches out his fingers over the keyboard

While it is true that the House of Reps has the power to initiate legislation the reality ALWAYS
has been that a good, or bad idea can be put forth by the senate or the President.

(note the masculine word is used because we dont have a female President yet)

One reason the State of the Union addresses are so long is that the President can use his pulpit to introduce HIS ideas of what legislation HE wants so that members of HIS party, or if he is really smart
a BIPARTISAN group can simultaneously work on a bill in the Senate or House.

Then the PEOPLE ( that would be those of us ready willing and able to vote) can pressure OUR representatives and senators to either pass or obstruct the Bill

The problem for well over a few hundred years has been that as a Republic, unanimity is rare in anything and in the past few decades the willing to compromise on one issue has been wrongly seen as caving and
pandering.  Although I would not  vote for Santorum for instance I can respect the way he explains why he had voted on certain bill or supported a person not of his party  Lieberman is another who is willing to work with an idea over party and was therefore abandoned by his party ( former Pres Bush goes into detail about this in his book)  Neither is perfect of course but they took their OATH over personal popularity and have therefore a small measure of respect in MY eyes.

Another reason is that with seniority in congress comes Power on committees and the ability to influence and obstruct. It is good that representatives are sent to represent their constituents, but unless they can balance that with their oath to the constitution over personal wealth  we get the same old same old

No representative wants their constituents to believe they did not help their district or COST their district jobs
To again quote POGO   WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US

WE must elect representatives, a President who will work for the country, protect the country from enemies both foreign and domestic and take the time to actually READ so we can make INFORMED decisions

Step one is to choose to IGNORE those with nothing but the wanton regurgitation of hate and vitrol

If we can put US of A first and lift up US IMHO this is the path to solving our problems.  If we can get others to advance the agenda of freedom we will be more secure Here. And (and this is just my view) if WOMEN are granted equal rights everywhere then those who lead by hate and fear will have less power with the people

My fingers are tired and I am going to take my meds and tylenol now

Ever wonder why a person gets sick just as vacation is starting?  I do.

Oss  

[Hef]

SE, It's OK to disagree with someone, but leave off the name calling.....it's senseless. I see several things posted that I don't agree with but I don't feel it merits a derogatory remark from me about the person who posted it.

I knew a guy once who was so bitter he had no friends because no one wanted to be around him. He was always putting others down and name calling and in his eyes was far more intelligent than any other man. He died a very lonely man. When he died my Pastor was asked to speak at his funeral and I was asked to be a pallbearer because the man had no friends to carry his casket. His family had broken all ties and counting me and three others from my church there was a total of 6 people at his funeral. One of the saddest things I ever saw. The funeral director actually told us he had sometimes been requred to hire pallbears because the deceased had no friends or family. True Story!

[Valkahuna]

SE, It's OK to disagree with someone, but leave off the name calling.....it's senseless. I see several things posted that I don't agree with but I don't feel it merits a derogatory remark from me about the person who posted it.

I knew a guy once who was so bitter he had no friends because no one wanted to be around him. He was always putting others down and name calling and in his eyes was far more intelligent than any other man. He died a very lonely man. When he died my Pastor was asked to speak at his funeral and I was asked to be a pallbearer because the man had no friends to carry his casket. His family had broken all ties and counting me and three others from my church there was a total of 6 people at his funeral. One of the saddest things I ever saw. The funeral director actually told us he had sometimes been requred to hire pallbears because the deceased had no friends or family. True Story!

I'm darn sure NOT going to Singapore to carry anyone's remains. If I go there, I'll be carrying my suitcase!

[G-Man]

    Feel better, Evan.

Ignore feature folks.  When he see's that nobody is responding to his crap, he may just go away.  But as long as you keep replying and "scolding" him, he'll just keep on doing what he does best.

[f6gal]

Learning? Ruffled Feathers knows all and tells all he knows all...

Like I said, you attack the poster and nothing about the post.  Toss in a couple of nonsensical names... Ruffled Feathers?... and we've got an academic debate... NOT.

And exactly how did your condescending response foster an academic debate?