Irresponsible Congress

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA 'S WOES

BY
BHARLEY 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.