An Absolutely Brilliant Editorial
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sr71plt
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Ah, another "it's somebody else's fault" scapegoat wallow. Sorry. We have deficits because uninformed, self-centered voters want it all and don't want to pay for it. The politicians we have are created by those uninformed, self-centered voters who have set the job requirements for who they will vote into office.
No big secret here. Just more scapegoating.
This, by the way is a copyright violation. You have stolen somebody else's work and republished it without compensation. So, will your next posting be about how your stories posted here are being ripped off and posted elsewhere on the Internet--and you want somebody to do something about it?
No big secret here. Just more scapegoating.
This, by the way is a copyright violation. You have stolen somebody else's work and republished it without compensation. So, will your next posting be about how your stories posted here are being ripped off and posted elsewhere on the Internet--and you want somebody to do something about it?
Last edited:
Bobby_3111
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Republicans and Democrats both come from the Federalist party. So essentially they both are just two idiot siblings fighting over the same bone, US.
TE999
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This, by the way is a copyright violation. You have stolen somebody else's work and republished it without compensation. So, will your next posting be about how your stories posted here are being ripped off and posted elsewhere on the Internet--and you want somebody to do something about it?
Who pissed in your corn flakes, sparky?
voluptuary_manque
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But we have very low taxes and hardly any inflation. National debt, we got, and that will eventually lead to higher taxes. It has to. But half of his gripe is bogus.
sr71plt
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Who pissed in your corn flakes, sparky?
All of you Laz-Y-Boy-chair whiners about how politically astute you are.
Written anything for Literotica lately?
TE999
How 'bout a kiss, baby
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All of you Laz-Y-Boy-chair whiners about how politically astute you are.
Written anything for Literotica lately?
I have a Lane recliner...it's quite comfortable.
Is that a requirement for posting here?
FreshlyDirty
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So if you put 545 new people in office, would that solve the problems or would it be business as usual?
Also it says none of those taxes listed were in place 100 years ago. Is that true? If so, were there any taxes at all and what were they?
Also it says none of those taxes listed were in place 100 years ago. Is that true? If so, were there any taxes at all and what were they?
sr71plt
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I have a Lane recliner...it's quite comfortable.
Is that a requirement for posting here?
Apparently not. Apparently those posting all of this partisan political crap here are impotent whiners who are so powerless and unheeded in the real world that they can't do anything but complain on a writer's porn board.
I'll say it again in response to this thread. The buck stops with the uninformed public that wants it all without paying for it and votes accordingly--and then scapegoat bitches about the result (which they don't half understand to begin with).
G
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This original article has been updated as people see fit throughout the years.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/reese.asp
545 People
Claim: Charley Reese penned an editorial about 545 people being "responsible for the domestic problems that plague" the U.S.
CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED
[Reese, 1995]
Politicians, as I have often said, are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Everything on the Republican contract is a problem created by Congress. Too much bureaucracy? Blame Congress. Too many rules?
Blame Congress. Unjust tax laws? Congress wrote them.
Out-of-control bureaucracy? Congress authorizes everything bureaucracies do. Americans dying in Third World rat holes on stupid U.N. missions? Congress allows it. The annual deficits?
Congress votes for them. The $4 trillion plus debt? Congress created it.
To put it into perspective just remember that 100 percent of the power of the federal government comes from the U.S. Constitution. If it's not in the Constitution, it's not authorized.
Then read your Constitution. All 100 percent of the power of the federal government is invested solely in 545 individual human beings. That's all. Of 260 million Americans, only 545 of them wield 100 percent of the power of the federal government.
That's 435 members of the U.S. House, 100 senators, one president and nine Supreme Court justices. Anything involving government that is wrong is 100 percent their fault.
I exclude the vice president because constitutionally he has no power except to preside over the Senate and to vote only in the case of a tie. I exclude the Federal Reserve because Congress created it and all its power is power Congress delegated to it and could withdraw anytime it chooses to do so. In fact, all the power exercised by the 3 million or so other federal employees is power delegated from the 545.
All bureaucracies are created by Congress or by executive order of the president. All are financed and staffed by Congress. All enforce laws passed by Congress.
All operate under procedures authorized by Congress. That's why all complaints and protests should be properly directed at Congress, not at the individual agencies.
You don't like the IRS? Go see Congress. You think the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency is running amok? Go see Congress.
Congress is the originator of all government problems and is also the only remedy available. That's why, of course, politicians go to such extraordinary lengths and employ world-class sophistry to make you think they are not responsible. Anytime a congressman pretends to be outraged by something a federal bureaucrat does, he is in fact engaging in one big massive con job. No federal employee can act at all except to enforce laws passed by Congress and to employ procedures authorized by Congress either explicitly or implicitly.
Partisans on both sides like to blame presidents for deficits, but all deficits are congressional deficits. The president may, by custom, recommend a budget, but it carries no legal weight. Only Congress is authorized by the Constitution to authorize and appropriate and to levy taxes. That's what the federal budget consists of: expenditures authorized, funds appropriated and taxes levied.
Both Democrats and Republicans mislead the public. For 40 years Democrats had majorities and could have at any time balanced the budget if they had chosen to do so. Republicans now have majorities and could, if they choose, pass a balanced budget this year. Every president, Democrat or Republican, could have vetoed appropriations bills that did not make up a balanced budget. Every president could have recommended a balanced budget. None has done either.
We have annual deficits and a huge federal debt because that's what majorities in Congress and presidents in the White House wanted. We have troops in various Third World rat holes because Congress and the president want them there.
Don't be conned. Don't let them escape responsibility. We simply have to sort through 260 million people until we find 545 who will act responsibly.
Origins: Journalist Charley Reese (now retired) was part of the Orlando Sentinel's staff for three decades between 1971-2001, during which time he (among other duties) penned a thrice-weekly column which was distributed to other newspapers nationwide by King Features Syndicate. During the 1980s Reese wrote the first version of an editorial opining that 545 people (i.e., the President of the United States, plus all the members of Congress and the Supreme Court) "are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country," and he has amended, updated, and republished that piece several times since then. The version cited above is taken from the 7 March 1995 edition of the Orlando Sentinel, where it ran under the title "Looking for Someone to Blame? Congress Is a Good Place to Start."
By way of comparison, here is another version of Reese's piece, as it appeared in 1985:
Politician 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 Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why if all 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 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 235 million — are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excused 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 by private central bank.
I exclude all of 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 legislators' responsibility to determine how he votes.
Don't you see 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.
Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. 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.
In 2008, Reese's editorial was updated with some topical political references (e.g., Nancy Pelosi's name in place of Tip O'Neill's; the Army and Marines listed as being in Iraq rather than on "U.N. Missions") and circulated via e-mail under the title "The 545 People Responsible for America's Woes" (or just "545 People), often with additional material not written by Reese himself tacked onto the beginning or end of the article.
Last updated: 18 August 2009
But ami says he wrote this twenty-six years ago? Hokay.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/reese.asp
545 People
Claim: Charley Reese penned an editorial about 545 people being "responsible for the domestic problems that plague" the U.S.
CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED
[Reese, 1995]
Politicians, as I have often said, are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Everything on the Republican contract is a problem created by Congress. Too much bureaucracy? Blame Congress. Too many rules?
Blame Congress. Unjust tax laws? Congress wrote them.
Out-of-control bureaucracy? Congress authorizes everything bureaucracies do. Americans dying in Third World rat holes on stupid U.N. missions? Congress allows it. The annual deficits?
Congress votes for them. The $4 trillion plus debt? Congress created it.
To put it into perspective just remember that 100 percent of the power of the federal government comes from the U.S. Constitution. If it's not in the Constitution, it's not authorized.
Then read your Constitution. All 100 percent of the power of the federal government is invested solely in 545 individual human beings. That's all. Of 260 million Americans, only 545 of them wield 100 percent of the power of the federal government.
That's 435 members of the U.S. House, 100 senators, one president and nine Supreme Court justices. Anything involving government that is wrong is 100 percent their fault.
I exclude the vice president because constitutionally he has no power except to preside over the Senate and to vote only in the case of a tie. I exclude the Federal Reserve because Congress created it and all its power is power Congress delegated to it and could withdraw anytime it chooses to do so. In fact, all the power exercised by the 3 million or so other federal employees is power delegated from the 545.
All bureaucracies are created by Congress or by executive order of the president. All are financed and staffed by Congress. All enforce laws passed by Congress.
All operate under procedures authorized by Congress. That's why all complaints and protests should be properly directed at Congress, not at the individual agencies.
You don't like the IRS? Go see Congress. You think the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency is running amok? Go see Congress.
Congress is the originator of all government problems and is also the only remedy available. That's why, of course, politicians go to such extraordinary lengths and employ world-class sophistry to make you think they are not responsible. Anytime a congressman pretends to be outraged by something a federal bureaucrat does, he is in fact engaging in one big massive con job. No federal employee can act at all except to enforce laws passed by Congress and to employ procedures authorized by Congress either explicitly or implicitly.
Partisans on both sides like to blame presidents for deficits, but all deficits are congressional deficits. The president may, by custom, recommend a budget, but it carries no legal weight. Only Congress is authorized by the Constitution to authorize and appropriate and to levy taxes. That's what the federal budget consists of: expenditures authorized, funds appropriated and taxes levied.
Both Democrats and Republicans mislead the public. For 40 years Democrats had majorities and could have at any time balanced the budget if they had chosen to do so. Republicans now have majorities and could, if they choose, pass a balanced budget this year. Every president, Democrat or Republican, could have vetoed appropriations bills that did not make up a balanced budget. Every president could have recommended a balanced budget. None has done either.
We have annual deficits and a huge federal debt because that's what majorities in Congress and presidents in the White House wanted. We have troops in various Third World rat holes because Congress and the president want them there.
Don't be conned. Don't let them escape responsibility. We simply have to sort through 260 million people until we find 545 who will act responsibly.
Origins: Journalist Charley Reese (now retired) was part of the Orlando Sentinel's staff for three decades between 1971-2001, during which time he (among other duties) penned a thrice-weekly column which was distributed to other newspapers nationwide by King Features Syndicate. During the 1980s Reese wrote the first version of an editorial opining that 545 people (i.e., the President of the United States, plus all the members of Congress and the Supreme Court) "are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country," and he has amended, updated, and republished that piece several times since then. The version cited above is taken from the 7 March 1995 edition of the Orlando Sentinel, where it ran under the title "Looking for Someone to Blame? Congress Is a Good Place to Start."
By way of comparison, here is another version of Reese's piece, as it appeared in 1985:
Politician 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 Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why if all 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 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 235 million — are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excused 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 by private central bank.
I exclude all of 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 legislators' responsibility to determine how he votes.
Don't you see 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.
Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. 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.
In 2008, Reese's editorial was updated with some topical political references (e.g., Nancy Pelosi's name in place of Tip O'Neill's; the Army and Marines listed as being in Iraq rather than on "U.N. Missions") and circulated via e-mail under the title "The 545 People Responsible for America's Woes" (or just "545 People), often with additional material not written by Reese himself tacked onto the beginning or end of the article.
Last updated: 18 August 2009
But ami says he wrote this twenty-six years ago? Hokay.
TE999
How 'bout a kiss, baby
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Apparently not. Apparently those posting all of this partisan political crap here are impotent whiners who are so powerless and unheeded in the real world that they can't do anything but complain on a writer's porn board.
I'll say it again in response to this thread. The buck stops with the uninformed public that wants it all without paying for it and votes accordingly--and then scapegoat bitches about the result (which they don't half understand to begin with).
Hah! For someone who's so disdainful of folks posting 'all of this partisan political crap' you never miss a chance to put in your $0.02.
Are you channeling H.L. Mencken or what?
Adoolf_Hilter
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Gain a brain plz
Im smarter than you
Im smarter than you
sr71plt
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Hah! For someone who's so disdainful of folks posting 'all of this partisan political crap' you never miss a chance to put in your $0.02.
Yeah, I figured that you didn't actually read what I posted when I was putting in my 2 cents.
Katyusha
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This, by the way is a copyright violation. You have stolen somebody else's work and republished it without compensation. So, will your next posting be about how your stories posted here are being ripped off and posted elsewhere on the Internet--and you want somebody to do something about it?
Fuck off. I'm so sick of personal attacks on people because they post something that's politically, religiously, or otherwise charged and pissed someone off. So I deleted the entire original post, although SSS quoted it. Happy now? Attack the post, not the person. I've had it, and I'm so fucking done.
G
Guest
Guest
Actually, I posted from snopes. So I'm bad, too, I guess, even though the site is set up to be quoted as proof of things.
But there's that whole icky copyright stuff.
Try not to let the assholes get you down.
FreshlyDirty
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Ditto.
Someone steps into a thread you created to complain about you creating it, don't let that get to you. That same person keeps coming back, reading, and posting in the very thread containing content their sick and tired of, don't let that get to you either. It's not like you took their finger and forced them to keep clicking on the thread. If they didn't like it so much, they could just ignore it. Instead they keep clicking it, keep reading it, and keep posting in it which keeps it at the top of the forum. Seems like they would just let it drop to the bottom, but no. Like sweesubsarahh said, don't let assholes get you down. I wouldn't in a thread in which an asshole kept telling me my thread was pointless while at the same time repeatedly bumping the thread to the top over and over again.
By the way, I attempted to engage you in convo about the actual content of the article. I'd still like to talk about that. Don't let the jerk push you away. I asked earlier:
"So if you put 545 new people in office, would that solve the problems or would it be business as usual?
Also it says none of those taxes listed were in place 100 years ago. Is that true? If so, were there any taxes at all and what were they?"
Last edited:
Adoolf_Hilter
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So you don't respect fucking copyright laws? That's what the United states was founded on.
TE999
How 'bout a kiss, baby
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Yeah, I figured that you didn't actually read what I posted when I was putting in my 2 cents.
Huh? Of course I have. I seldom agree with what you post but I read it. I read what everyone posts with the exception of some here who rather insult and vilify other posters than stick to the topic under discussion...they're on iggy.
FreshlyDirty
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How many message board threads address articles and have the articles posted in the thread. The author of the article was listed at the very top. Well at least the author was given credit before the post was deleted. What is the difference here?
voluptuary_manque
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Prior to the Constitutional Amendment allowing income taxes, most of the government's income came from excise taxes and import duties. So yeah, there were taxes a hundred years ago and people spent a lot of time trying to avoid them, too.
Adoolf_Hilter
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I would reccomend you get educated on current copyright laws.
FreshlyDirty
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Until that time, we'd like to discuss the content of this article. Do you mind?
Adoolf_Hilter
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Well you can't just totally dismiss copyright laws. They are the foundation of our tantastic glorious nation
TE999
How 'bout a kiss, baby
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Don't go away mad, Katy.
That's part of the game around here. Sticks and stones and all that sort of rot.
