2.13.2010

This Was in Mah Inbox Today


By Charlie Reese


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 inflation and high taxes, WHY do 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 equates to 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.

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 the President 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? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the 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 Army &Marines are in
IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

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 exists 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!


(Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.)







Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.


Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.


What happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'

And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?

7 comments:

sparringK9 said...

im crying all right. what a bunch of putzes we are. we should refuse to do jack shyt! no commerce, no work, no nothing.. a tax strike

Nicolezmomma said...

Taxes are voluntary.

We may turn into a country like Greece, where the taxes are so high that people do business in cash so they don't have to pay any.

Less Government = More Freedom

boneman said...

maybe yes, maybe no.
I think you let a group off the hook way too easy...(and I have my guesses why) but if there's a profit to be made from it how in the name of what-now are you ever going to stop it?
(please don't get up the arms business, either...those tea-bagging armed militia clowns are more dangerous than our government ever was)
Indiana has a clause that says the legislature can take a second job...which sounds OK since their base pay is mighty measly...till five Democrats and seven Republicans got consulting jobs for a college that wanted state certification.
How much does a consulting job get?
six digits in four, a healthy five digits for the rest.

Now, the folk you let off the hook were the lobbyists.
well....hmmm.
Got free passage from the courts, did they? Who in the dickens is up for a raise?
The courts by any chance?
Followed by another congressional/senatorial raise?

So...what then?
Anarchy?
that won't be pretty.
Those idiot militias will find out the hard way about just how one sided that'll turn out. It's happened before. The Indians finally hit the very end of their rope...only to find they could be (and were) crammed harder down the tubes.
DANG!
Then, how about another party?
Bird was hot for that prior to the last election.
A lot were.
(oh heaven help me, do not say Missy Sarah...PLEASE... While there is scuttlebutt about her firing up a new party, this woman has no soul. Very few people walk around with no soul.
Some smile when they speak of war. Some rain bullets down on wildlife.
She's a little of both)
none the less, you vote for who you want.
But there isn't much room for any real change unless...and here's a terrible circle,...we PAY the legislature to stop taking money from lobbyists, we stop letting them eat at the 'big trough', and, in fact, we convince them to take a whole lot less money.

Uh-oh....boneman speaking that socialism talk again?
no mam.
Jeanie from Florida talked me through it (the way to really get the root exposed) and convinced me that it isn't viable....all I can think now is I'm on a sinking boat with no oars for us people and there's no way off the boat.

Dang.
THAT is some sad bit of business.
Some sad bit of business.
(this is getting long, isn't it?)

not a good thing around these parts. I best go wander off and think on it some more. I ain't exactly the lay down and cry kind'a fellow, either.
(Dang it! It took me four years to get my two year degree six years if you count the general studies in the seventies...where I had access to library books that told me way more than I wanted to know about our system)

boneman said...

(nope...no getting around it. That was a bit long)

boneman said...

(but I did bring wine and a chicken...

Pam said...

I so agree with this. In the attempt to represent what the people want, they give the people what they want. Very interesting column indeed and I have a few folks I want to pass it on to.

Meanwhile, I have long thought that people worried too much about lobbyists. I know some good ones actually. And there is one for both (or more) sides of an issue, so it is still up to the politician to pick a side.

I am quite intrigued by something though: How this new-ish mindset of living debt free; not spending on frivolous items; how is all this going to translate to government tax collections? Sales tax revenue is down. Only a matter of time before property taxes are raised?

boneman said...

Auntie....can you say, snopes.com?