Charley Reese, a writer with the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper has offered a rather fresh look at the national leaders who are responsible for most of the mess we find our nation in.

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA'S WOES!!
BY CHARLEY 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.