Back in the 1980's, Charlie Reese wrote a provocative essay on government that has been edited and revised by many over the years. An edited version is current circulating in emails on the internet, and prompts this opening post.
The original went something like this:
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 irresponsible spending and high taxes, why do we have payola, pork barrel spending, 2000+ pages of expensive spending bills, and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President and Congress 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 but Congress signs off on it.
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 hold the power to create, mitigate, correct, or exacerbate most of the socioeconomic problems that plague this country.
The Federal Reserve is not the problem. It is those in government who created it.
Lobbyists and special interests are not the problem. It is those who accept bribes and kickbacks from them.
The courts are not the problem. It is the sort of people that the President appoints to them and the Congress confirms.
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 vested power along with 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 or appropriate the spending bills that come out of it. It is ludicrous to accuse a President of lowering or raising taxes when he does not any kind of power to do that. Only Congress does.
Congress has full power to override a Presidential veto.
Likewise the President is solely to blame when he fails to competently carry out the administrative responsibilities assigned to him.
The truth about our elected representives is:
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 generations of Americans are made dependent on big government, it is because they want them dependent on big government.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq or anyplace else in the world, it is because they want them in Iraq or elsewhere.
If they enjoy unimaginable profitable retirement and health plans that are unavailable to most Americans, it is because they want it that way.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible for all that.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be required to answer to the people who are their bosses.
They are the people's representatives. They are the people's employees because we pay them to do their jobs.
If we do not exercise the power that we have to competently supervise and direct them, that is our fault. And if we do not see that they become unemployed when they don't do their jobs, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Or maybe we want the sort of government that we have? There's 545 of them. There's 300+ million of us.
The original went something like this:
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 irresponsible spending and high taxes, why do we have payola, pork barrel spending, 2000+ pages of expensive spending bills, and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President and Congress 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 but Congress signs off on it.
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 hold the power to create, mitigate, correct, or exacerbate most of the socioeconomic problems that plague this country.
The Federal Reserve is not the problem. It is those in government who created it.
Lobbyists and special interests are not the problem. It is those who accept bribes and kickbacks from them.
The courts are not the problem. It is the sort of people that the President appoints to them and the Congress confirms.
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 vested power along with 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 or appropriate the spending bills that come out of it. It is ludicrous to accuse a President of lowering or raising taxes when he does not any kind of power to do that. Only Congress does.
Congress has full power to override a Presidential veto.
Likewise the President is solely to blame when he fails to competently carry out the administrative responsibilities assigned to him.
The truth about our elected representives is:
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 generations of Americans are made dependent on big government, it is because they want them dependent on big government.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq or anyplace else in the world, it is because they want them in Iraq or elsewhere.
If they enjoy unimaginable profitable retirement and health plans that are unavailable to most Americans, it is because they want it that way.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible for all that.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be required to answer to the people who are their bosses.
They are the people's representatives. They are the people's employees because we pay them to do their jobs.
If we do not exercise the power that we have to competently supervise and direct them, that is our fault. And if we do not see that they become unemployed when they don't do their jobs, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Or maybe we want the sort of government that we have? There's 545 of them. There's 300+ million of us.
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