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FF

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Perhaps you have seen this before , but the question is good enough to be repeated.

Why should we suffer so much government , considering its coat and loss of freedom.

Charley Reese's Final column! A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.

Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day.
It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!


545 vs. 300,000,000 People -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? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He 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 cannot 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 and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...


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.


What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:


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, 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,
It?s 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 Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales 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 Nonrecurring 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


STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & 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 in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
 
A few things that occur to me...


1) We really should have about 10,000 members of the House of Representatives at this point. (1 representative per 30,000 citizens as per Article I, Section 2, Paragraph 3) I realize that the limitation enumerated there was that there should be no MORE than 1/30k, but the point was that there is a limit to the number of people and the size of an area that a single person can represent.


2) The 16th Amendment was a terrible idea. Nothing centralizes and concentrates power faster than a tax code that takes from the people and sends it to a central government. A better idea would have been to have the STATES pay taxes to the general government, but that ship has sailed.


3) Eliminating the Senate via the 17th Amendment placed another barrier between the people and their government. The 100 people that we call Senators are nothing more than long-term representatives now that they are elected directly by the people. Why does it matter? Try an experiment... See if you can get an appointment to see your congress-critter in person and then try the same thing with your State level reps.


4) I've dealt with a lot of politicians over the years. it is my opinion that the vast majority of them are idiots whose main skill is getting elected and who would require a spiritual epiphany and years of growth to rise to the ethical level we expect of a used car salesman.


5) I was testifying in front of a legislative committee recently and in order to make my point I began by saying the following:

Constituents are a pain in the neck. They always WANT something and it's generally easier to give them what they want than it is to explain to them why what they want is a bad idea. Plus, if you don't give it to them they'll just elect someone who will, right?

There's a story, possibly apocryphal, about how Ben Franklin answered a query from a certain doctor's wife after the Philadelphia convention. He is supposed to have said; "A Republic, if you can keep it."

When I was a child I thought he was referring to foreign invaders. Now I know better. As Pogo said; "We have met the enemy and he is us!"




One last thing...

I offer you a Math Word Problem:

Our current level of revenue is sufficient to support a central government that is approximately 75% smaller than the one we have now.

To support a central government the size of the one we have currently would require an increase in revenues of approximately 135%.


Solve for "WTF?"
 

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