545 People

(I know I know, this is somewhat of a longer READ but I found it to be damn good , and I have a feeling a few others here might enjoy this as well....sooo if it's TL;DR for you.... then you just missed out on a great read!) =)

545 vs. 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years...

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545 PEOPLE

By Charley 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 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? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party.

She 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 , it's because they want them in IRAQ ..

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.

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Comment by ☠Realize Lies☠ on March 24, 2009 at 6:54am: This is the last Charley Reese column, as the author is retiring.

GOODBYE,
by Charley Reese

Years ago, the first time I saw my friend Brother Dave Gardner after he had survived a plane crash, the comedian smiled and said, "The devil like to got me." That's a good explanation for my last trip to the hospital.

I've been running a footrace with piled-up years and bad living habits, and they have pulled even and will soon be ahead. I know it may not seem to normal people that writing three columns a week requires any hard work, but it does require energy to do the research and an alertness of the mind that I can no longer muster. Hence, this will be my last column.

It's been a difficult decision to make. In one sense, I'm not sure there is even a Charley Reese without the column, but I would rather quit now than to reach a point where the editors and readers know that I should quit. Those of you who have read my column have made me a sort of guest in your home, and I don't want to overstay my welcome.

I don't intend to croak, but that's not something we can control. I have some tidying up to do. One of the things I have to do is to say a heartfelt thanks to the readers and to the editors. I've stirred my share of controversy, and the easiest solution to controversy is to simply drop the column. I greatly admire those editors who stuck with me. I deeply appreciate the loyalty of my readers. The sales reps and the staff at King Features are the best in the business. I feel honored to have been associated with them. To them, freedom of the press is not a slogan.

I've had a good run. In 1955, when I started as a reporter, newspaper city rooms were full of tobacco smoke, alcoholics, gluepots, steel rulers, copy pencils and typewriters. There was a lot of profanity and an occasional fistfight. Editors excelled in sarcasm. But they taught me how to write clear sentences.

One afternoon when I reported in, I asked an editor if he would like to get a cup of coffee. He glared at me and said, "Reese, I just spent $15 getting a buzz on, and I ain't about to ruin it with a (expletive) 10-cent cup of coffee."

Today's newsrooms look more like insurance offices. Computer keyboards don't make much noise. If the reporters smoke anything at all, it's not tobacco. Instead of greasy grills, most newspapers have salad bars. I'm sure H.L. Mencken would have seen salad bars as a sure sign of decline.

John McCain can have the last laugh, since I've said several times that he's too old to be the president. He is, even if he is more durable than I am. There are some who will celebrate my going, and it galls me to give them that pleasure. I was never ambitious, but I've always been competitive and pugnacious.

At any rate, it's a great time to be an American. George W. Bush, who turned out to be a gift to comedians but a blunderer of the first order, will soon be out of office. It is historic and a good sign that a black man, Barack Obama, can win the nomination of a major party. When I started in the business, the South was still segregated, and blacks were invisible both as employees and as subjects of news stories, with the exception of crime stories.

The great advantage of a free society is the capacity to self-correct itself. You'd think dictators would have figured that out, but if they are not paranoid when they seize power, they become so trying to hang on to power.

Well, enough random thoughts. My goal as a columnist has always been to stimulate and, if necessary, provoke people into thinking for themselves. If we fail to do that, a free society won't last. I wish you all a fond farewell.

August 30, 2008

Comment by ☠Realize Lies☠ on March 24, 2009 at 6:51am: No need to apologize cehbeach, Mr. Reese wrote it ... refer to the first link provided.

http://www.apfn.org/APFN/woes.htm

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/46601

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2206329/posts

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/545-people/

http://www.hunteridge.com/blog/america/545-people/

http://replytoj001.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/20/1891260-545-people

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/august172008/545_081708.php

http://bacanation.com/blog/?p=38

http://forums.stockfetcher.com/sfforums/?q=view&fid=1001&tid=71842&qrid=

http://theanchoressonline.com/2008/09/27/545-people-with-too-much-power/

http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?bpid=95011&t=01001565617395526549

....... and that's only a handful of the links available ... you know... I thought you guys were more internet savvy then me, it only took ONE Google search for "545 People".... i guess next time I'll be a little more "informative" =)

Comment by Mitsos on March 23, 2009 at 6:18pm: http://wrightrepublican.blogspot.com/2009/02/charlie-reese-545-people.html

Comment by Mitsos on March 23, 2009 at 6:15pm: Representative democracy is not real democracy because you put your power in to the hands of somebody you have no control afterward. How can 545 people represent 300.000.000 people?
Democracy = power of the people by the people. In the former Soviet Union people could vote for the communist party.
The had actually 2 communist parties. One got 99% of the votes and the other got 1% of the votes.
In my countries ALL parties are corrupt and represent the power elite. Dimos = the citizens
Kratos = the state or power = the citizens are the state and have the power.
How so? Because every Athenian was once in his lifetime in the position of power. That position could be kept only once in a lifetime and only for one year. THAT what democracy WAS about back then 2 1/2 thousand years ago but we don't need that anymore ...................!?

Comment by Mitsos on March 23, 2009 at 2:19pm: The way the system works it takes care of it's own people. The top 0,1% of the population. Whoever you vote for will be a stern supporter of the top 0,1% . If not.... accidence are known to happen.
Democracy the ancient way was that nobody can be elected more then once in his life time and can be only one year in power. That way every citizen would serve once in his lifetime in the government. I am talking of ancient Athens.
Why did they invent that system? Because they had problems with nepotism, corruption, special interests groups and people assembling to much power. When people get power they change. The reason why me must change the people in power more often.
Just my 2 Drachmas.

Comment by eire138 on March 23, 2009 at 12:45pm: you were right. Good read.

Comment by ☠Realize Lies☠ on March 23, 2009 at 12:05pm: HA, are you just saying that to disagree or would you like to elaborate? Perhaps you'd like to debate a 70 year old retired Journalist on his quote there? Tell me lurk, what other group of individuals in the world deliberately create problems so they can campaign against them?

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