545 People
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
I've read the following before, but I saw it again this week in an e-mail and felt compelled to pass it along to readers.
It's a column written by Charley Reese. Reese, 73, is a retired syndicated columnist. He wrote for newspapers and was syndicated by King Features.
His column appeared in the Times-Union for many years.
He wrote an article for the Orlando Sentinel Star that was published on March 7, 1985. It was headlined: "Looking for someone to blame? Congress is a good place to start."
The column was very popular and widely read.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was modified and e-mailed all over the place. What's striking about it is how relevant it remains even 25 years after it was originally written.
Most of the e-mails are titled, "The 545 People Responsible for America's Woes" or something similar.
No one knows if Reese himself was involved with modifying and resurrecting the column.
Reese was a sort of maverick when it came to politics and his writing. He switched from Democrat to Republican. He supported the election of George W. Bush and then turned against him after he was elected, becoming one of the president's harshest critics.
Anyway, what follows is that column. I think it speaks volumes about what plagues us as a nation.
Basically, I couldn't have said it better myself, so I'm going to let Charley Reese say it.
Frankly, regardless of your political ideology, my view is that there is little room for disagreement here. I think the guy is spot on. Here is the original version, as it appeared in 1985.
*****[[In-content Ad]]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 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.
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.
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.
It is interesting - and frankly disheartening - that the column remains so relevant today. One would have hoped we would learn from the mistakes of history.
But no.
Today we have leaders who decry the horrible deficits they "inherited" while doubling and tripling them. Then for good measure, they enact the largest, most expensive and unsustainable government program in history.
The old adage is true.
Some things never change.
I've read the following before, but I saw it again this week in an e-mail and felt compelled to pass it along to readers.
It's a column written by Charley Reese. Reese, 73, is a retired syndicated columnist. He wrote for newspapers and was syndicated by King Features.
His column appeared in the Times-Union for many years.
He wrote an article for the Orlando Sentinel Star that was published on March 7, 1985. It was headlined: "Looking for someone to blame? Congress is a good place to start."
The column was very popular and widely read.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was modified and e-mailed all over the place. What's striking about it is how relevant it remains even 25 years after it was originally written.
Most of the e-mails are titled, "The 545 People Responsible for America's Woes" or something similar.
No one knows if Reese himself was involved with modifying and resurrecting the column.
Reese was a sort of maverick when it came to politics and his writing. He switched from Democrat to Republican. He supported the election of George W. Bush and then turned against him after he was elected, becoming one of the president's harshest critics.
Anyway, what follows is that column. I think it speaks volumes about what plagues us as a nation.
Basically, I couldn't have said it better myself, so I'm going to let Charley Reese say it.
Frankly, regardless of your political ideology, my view is that there is little room for disagreement here. I think the guy is spot on. Here is the original version, as it appeared in 1985.
*****[[In-content Ad]]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 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.
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.
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.
It is interesting - and frankly disheartening - that the column remains so relevant today. One would have hoped we would learn from the mistakes of history.
But no.
Today we have leaders who decry the horrible deficits they "inherited" while doubling and tripling them. Then for good measure, they enact the largest, most expensive and unsustainable government program in history.
The old adage is true.
Some things never change.
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