Jim Cash
B/G, USAF, (Ret)

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA . . . BESIDE YOURSELF. 

by Charlie 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 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.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY. 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 G.W. BUSH 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? She is the leader of the majority  party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget  they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto. 

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS. 

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

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 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 the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of  them out of office and clean up their mess.

author unknown

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"  She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3 .0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican party."

Hello Dear Readers,

I hope this finds you all well.  I'd like to take a moment to tell you about a friend of mine, not just a friend but a comrade-in-arms in the United States Navy.  I won't tell you her name to protect the innocent but I will tell you that she is about to take one of the biggest steps of her life.  You see in March she will take the oath that will make her a citizen of the United States of America.  It is a very proud moment for her and for those in her life.  I personally am very proud of her as we all should be.  (Of course considering I trained her it is kind of like watching one of your children grow up and graduate.)

Do you see the relevance here? 

She took the proper steps to leave Nicaragua, the country of her birth, and come to this country legally and then spent the time, effort and, yes, money to apply for and earn citizenship.  She even serves in the military of her adopted country and within the next year or so will do her rotation to the Middle East.  How many natural born citizens can say that?  Why do I bring this up?  Because all the illegal aliens who cross our border in the dead of night mock the effort she went through.  Because the calls for amnesty and for legalizing those who have come here illegally is a slap in the face to her and those like her.  When did we become a country that rewards breaking the law?  During my time in the military I have served with many fine people who were not born in this country.  Some were citizens and some were not but what they had in common was a burning desire to better themselves and to come to a place were they could live the American Dream.  Many of them came from places we call the third world where they lived in conditions we couldn't even imagine.  Some had to leave members of their families there to come here.  Regardless of where they come from they all took the steps to follow the law and they all endeavor to make their contributions to better our society as productive citizens.  Quite a few of them are more active in their communities than people who were born there.  (You know it's funny but I don't recall any of the immigrants I've known calling themselves Nicaraguan-American or Mexican-American or Filipino-American or even African-American.  They all came here to be Americans plain and simple.  If they feel so strongly about being just Americans why do we who were born here feel the need to separate ourselves into groups?  That is a topic for another article . . .)

I've heard politicians say that we need a guest worker program to provide the labor we need in agriculture and other no and low-skill jobs.  Fine, if that's what we need then let's set it up and truck them in.  Of course first we need to round up all those here illegally already and send them home so that they can apply to be part of that program.  If they want to play they have to go home and stand in line with everyone else rather than getting head of the line privileges just because the snuck in first.  Want to give them amnesty?  Okay, we'll just send them home rather than putting them in prison for breaking our immigration laws.  Once they all get home and apply to come here legally then we have to make sure to track them so that when it is time to go home they go home.  No U.S. driver's licenses or I.D. cards, just a guest worker card.  No welfare, social security or unemployment but of course they must pay income taxes like everyone else who works here legally.  Just for good measure let's make sure to heavily fine those businesses who hire people here illegally or help them to stay after their permit has expired.  If it's not good business then most people will stop doing it.

Oh yeah, we also need to stop making babies born in this country citizens automatically with all associated rights and privileges, especially if their parents are here illegally.  Of course the children can become citizens immediately when one or both of their parents achieve citizenship legally.

"What about rights?" you say.  Well, those who are here illegally have no rights, especially not to public assistance.  Welfare, unemployment, Medicare, Medicaid, free public education, Social Security, etc. are for citizens and legal residents who work and pay taxes to support those programs.  How can someone who has never paid income taxes be entitled to benefits paid for by those taxes?

Please don't misunderstand my tone, I am all for immigration, legal immigration.  The first Crowson to set foot in the New World back in the 1600's was an immigrant.  Immigrants bring rich culture, ideas, experiences and many other things that make this "melting pot" a better and more interesting place.  Of all my friends I only have one who would not be considered to be descended from immigrants and that's only because he's Navajo and his ancestors were already here when our forebears got here.  If it wasn't for immigrants there wouldn't be a United States of America but we are also a nation based on the rule of law, even immigration law.

Thank you for your time and may God richly bless you and your families.

Have some input?  Drop me a line at Talk2Lee@usa.com.