DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... 545 vs. 300,000,000 People - By Charlie Reese

Got this in an email. Interesting read...



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,
Find other ways
Taxes to pass

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 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, 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 in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'



Found a random site with a link...
web page

OMG..

Excellent find and here in Ohio they tax Unemployment as well.

thats an excellent find! soooo true. crazy how things have become eh?

atleast he tries to put some humor in it though. great article!

I'm really surprised there aren't very many comments on this,

It's a bit oversimplified ....... but accurate.

I do not believe that there has been a budget passed by Congress in the past 2 years? The House has passed one, and it has been tabled in the Senate. The President's last budget proposal was so absurd that the Senate voted against it something like 97-0.

Anyway ..... I don't care anymore. Obama or Romney is not much of a difference to me. I don't have kids, so I won't have anyone to leave the bills to. It's your (everyone who has them) kids and grandkids who will pay the bills that we leave them.

Spend today ... eat drink and be merry .... for tomorrow the credit card may break under its own weight!

A nice, political rocker from The Beatles.

I had to put on Revolver after seein that!

Seriously, it is interesting to see all the taxes that didn't exist then. I don't know a good way to fix everything, but I'd really like to see some sound decisions start to be made. Neither party has it right IMO. It's kinda a catch 22, we have to have taxes in the mid term, to at least pay down the debt. We can't continue to pay off credit cards by applying for a bigger one. I think closing loopholes in the current code, and some sound budgeting by our government would go a long way.

I recently told a friend we live in a very interesting time, and I think things will be VERY different in 20 years for a multitude of reasons. Some controllable (public debt), some aren't (resource availability). I wonder what will happen when the cost of shipping stuff all over the world becomes more expensive than paying labor here vs. cheap foreign labor. It is eventually going to happen, bunker fuel is made from the same $100 oil our gasoline is.

Some of this is seeing the forest rather than the trees but stuff I ponder frequently.

That was sweet and funny at the same time me and the wife went shopping to grab some stuff for the SB I showed her this thread before we left and before you posted that and I was singing that song in the truck on the way to the store.

Well this article is incorrect....its only 544.

Ron Paul has never voted to to any of this. Check it out for yourself. Not from the MSM, you won't get it there.

None of this crap would be possible without the federal reserve. None of this would be possible without the endless printing of money.

None of this would be happening if we followed the constitution.

I've voted republican, and i've voted democrat...but the fact is...neither define me.

I've been reading about Ron Paul for years now, and I just finished reading his book "Revolution: A manifesto" and "End the Fed"

This guy has it right...our founding fathers had it right...both the republicans, and democrats are not what they used to be...

We a country controlled by bankers with fiat money. Fiat money never lasts....it never has in the history of the world.

Two books i read in college: "The nazi seizure of power" and "The rise and fall of the roman empire" couldn't be more true today. I thought they were stupid then, and didn't see the point, now I understand completely.

The first talks about a population controlled by propaganda...the second about how an empire over-expanded and had to debase its currency...thus leading to its ruin.

Both of these books show us our fate if we don't wake up.

So, all we have to do is replace those 545, and everything will get better.... Simplistic? I'd call it uninspired and moronic. The only thing worth reading in this article is the mildly clever title.

Im not sure if not voting is the way to make the county better because we are voting these guys in to vote for what we want to happen. Now of course this leads down much deeper and longer roads but not voting as a member on any issue of importance could be seen as being a part of the system too.
I know they flip flop all over the place so they can say we voted this way or that way always being on the fence but is "not voting at all" any different?
Again perhaps I misunderstood that part.

I have never read either of the books you talked about perhaps I will look for them sounds like good reads from your post.

I'll have to clarify. He's never voted "yes" to do any of those things. He votes "no" to anything that goes against the constitution.

He doesn't vote to raise taxes.
Voted against the bail-outs.
Voted against the Patriot act.

He wants wars declared like the constitution says. The list goes on and on.

A lot of people knock him for his foreign policy, but when you look at what the founding fathers of this country said, he says the same thing.

He wants to defend the country, not watch it go broke policing the world.

He wants stable money...so savers aren't punished.
Basically if you had stable money, then the only way the government gets money is from taxes, or loans.

Tax too much, and the people get mad.
Borrow too much and interest rates would go up, and the people get mad.

This keeps the government small, and forces them to have a balanced budget.

Instead the Fed prints money that leads to speculation, and bubbles like the housing market, higher inflation over the long term, and loss of your standard of living. Fiat money has never worked period.

Our founders...our constitution created a republic...we've turned into an empire.

We used to have Liberty...we don't any more.

Doesn't he also want to do away with the Federal Reserve Bank?

Ron Paul on the floor of the house in 2002 with some thought on what might happen in 5-10 years. It is worth a watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z69fYyoMlVk

Saw this over to the right while watching the above link

Quote:

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I'm really surprised there aren't very many comments on this,

---

Been meaning to..just been busy paying taxes....

well I suppose you could look at it that way...i think it would more correct to say that "we" would actually render it useless.

I've watched a lot of videos of ron paul, and have been reading all that i can to try and understand more of what he's saying.

Supposedly the "end the fed" chants started at a college campus when he was campaigning in 07-08, so it inspired him to write the book "end the fed"

He certainly believes that a central bank is not authorized in the constitution. The founders were specific about "gold and silver" being used as currency. Back then we had the "continentals" that ended with inflation and all sorts of problems between states...

so without me looking everything up the federal government coined money, set the values or denominations, and the states used gold and silver coins as money.

they wanted stable money that held its value.

Ron paul has advocated for "competing currency" and for laws that tax gold to be removed.

There is also a minority report out there called "a case for gold" that is available for free download. This report was the result of President Reagan's gold commission back in the '80's. Ron Paul co-wrote it, i'm only part way thru, but it explains the history of money...the differences between currency backed by gold or a commodity, as apposed to fiat money, that is backed by nothing but the "full faith and credit" of the US government.

We couldn't just go back on a gold standard, gold would shoot up to ridiculous levels compared to the "dollars" in circulation today. He outlines two ways to do it, depending on the situation, I just haven't got that far yet.

To understand the way money used to work, is probably around my ability to explain. the long and short of it is that stable money rewards savers.

People put money in the bank, and collect interest.
Banks would then lend this money out to people and businesses. As a banks money supply to lend dwindled, they would raise interest rates to attract more savings...as savings increased interest rates would go down because the banks had enough money to lend.

In a free market economy this accomplished two things...it rewarded savers. The only inflation occurred as new gold was found and turned into coins. So if you saved money for 30 years in the bank those dollars would have approximately the same spending power as they did 30 years earlier. Price decreases from innovation, and increases of coins in circulation were minimal. iirc at one point there was around 10% inflation over 50 years. Some of this was offset by interest earned by saving.

With todays money they say inflation averages 3% per year, but they exclude things that most people don't need like food, heat, and gasoline. Supposedly if you use the old inflation calculators (that included those luxuries) inflation is running more around 9% year year.

Even if you use 3% per year that same person would lose 90% of there spending power after 30 years on that same money.

To add insult to injury unless your pay is increasing with inflation your spending power is going down now too....I don't know many people that are getting 3-9% raises yearly.

It also sent a signal to the market when it was a good time to invest in growing your business, or putting out a new product....more savings meant low interest rates for borrowing...AND it meant that people had money saved and could buy your product if they so chose.


The other thing that stable money did was keep the government small and honest. They got their money from taxes or borrowing it. Both meant fiscal conservatism.

War was the thing that always screwed it up. People don't like to be taxed, the government could only borrow so much, so they did things like the "greenbacks" in the civil war....by the end they were worthless.


What do you think the American people would have said if the president had said, "How do you feel about a war with Iraq? It will cost each and every American 3% of your money per year in taxes to a max over ten years of 30% of your spending power?

Wanna bet how that vote would go?

If you could get paid in money that was worth the same a year later, or money that lost 3-9% of its value which would you chose?

Pashos does the same

What I got out of the article is something I have been asking myself for quite some time. Why did these people think "I have to do something" when elected? Why not just watch the door (boarders and national security) and let things that work, work?

We have more regulations, stupid laws and taxes and it is just getting worse. They all bring a hatchet when all they need is a pair of dull scissors and somehow its always the minority (not in a racial sense) that dictates to the majority.

Also the legislators can't think two moves ahead.

They tell us to drive less, car pool, over inflate the tires and mandate better mileage to save on fuel and then complain that they don't have the tax revenue to fix the infrastructure. Result? Higher gas taxes and prices.

They tell smokers to quit smoking and make laws against smokers. Then they complain about not having the tax revenue from tobacco. Also smokers become non-smokers and live longer, drain Social Security and other financial resources (medicare and medicaid). Hey if they want to smoke and take 10 minutes off their lives with each butt, let them live the way they want. Who is anyone to tell them otherwise? Don't tell me lung cancer knocking someone off at 55 costs the population more than someone living until 90.

(off my soapbox)

what I get is that we are not truly represented by our elected officals. They dont care about us they only care about getting re-elected. If there are not problems that need fixing then we dont need them do we? So they make sure there are always problems.
I want a job where Im not subject ot the same tax laws that we are subject to they are on a whole different level of retirement fund the we are on and they are paid for life foir working 4-6-8 years.

Can I change any laws in the this country? Can I set the budget of this country? Can I not fund every 3rd world country out there in the name of democacy?
No they do this and I agree.

We really have no power what so ever but to wake up and make these politicians acountable but that will never happen. Every day they take away our rights and we do nothing about it. It seems no one cares anymore about their rights and some day when we dont have any they will finally take away our right to vote and be done with us totally.

This has already happened when they try to not accept millitary absenty votes so dont be so sure that day isnt coming. They the 535 are in complete control and we let them have that control or they have taken it from us slowly but surely.

Be it by judges creating law from the bench which is illegal or congress creating laws to take away our rights. Lets take some basics You have the Right to bear arms to protect life an proporty. Well not anymore, why because Judges let murder's loose to scare the population using firearms laws as a way to keep the criminals in check, Of course they dont care about laws.

The law says you and I are the Militia of this country? Do you honestly believe that now? No they have changed the game disarming the country and creating a control that we cant stop.


Did you know that a 1040 form is for aliens working in this cournty and as was never intended for Citizians? Did you know that you can opt out of SS and thus all taxes relating to it? Thats why they (the gov) have ingrained SS into everything, we are a number, its a matter of control

You have the right to own property as long as you keep that property in complince with what some city inspector deems acceptable. A person that is paid to find problems or else he has no job.
You have the right to Bear Arms as long as you pay for the permits regester the firearm and can only us it in contolled situations under our supervision.
You have the right to defend yourself as long as it meets our standards of self defense other wise your TRUE life in prison so we can scare all the rest of the law abiding citizens into not defending themselves. Why dont more people help each other now?
You have the right to be free. As long as you do it under our rules. You wont smoke outside withing x amount of feet of public buildings. You will wear your seat belt. You will drive cars that we can tell you when to fix. You will pay taxes at a rate that we will create and maintain and you will have no say what so ever in what they are. You will pay for what ever we say you will pay for because we said your going to pay for it. We will tell you what to eat we will tell you what to watch we will tell you what to drive. Get the picture?

Oh by the way we will spend what we what do what we want.

I could go on but I wont.

Just another tax we hear little about

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/02/cleveland_music_clubs_rally_ag.html

I'm not suggesting that if the tax is enacted that clubs aren't liable for it. I'm saying it's just another tax.

I own a Temp service.. Did you know that if you use temporary workers in Ohio (and several other states) there is a "sales tax" on the invoice amount..

Meaning, If I pay a person 10 an hour and charge 14 an hour, the custmer is liable for sales tax on the 14.. times each hour a person works. By doing it that way, they are essentially taxing income taxs. they are also taxing my contibution to Workers Comp costs..

(some states like, PA for instance, don't tax the entire invoice. They tax only the spread between the invoice amount and Pay + mandatory payroll taxes and insurance) Example: 10.00 pay + Payroll taxes + Workers comp insurance subtracted from the billiable amount.

So for Ohio, in addition to income tax from the Employer (me), the employee and a tax on the profit of my business (and there are several others) they get a Sales Tax.

Did I mention that any profits that trickle down to me are taxed as personal income..

Essentially.. We are getting it up the waazoo.. (I'm having a Waazooectomy so they can't tax me anymore)

Taxation without representation... Catchy phrase.. as Appropriate today as it ever was.

Heres the thing,, the sales tax was imposed during George Voinovitchs Governorship. He's a republican isn't he?

Doesn't matter what party,, the politicians just love to stick it to us and give us a bunch of lip service in return..

I admit to being a little more angry today than normal, I just sent out my RITA payment so I'm feeling beat upon.

institution?

I would think the politicians not following the spirit of the Constitution is the problem.

Our Constitution was designed to protect our liberties. We have strayed far from that.

Used to be that you had a right to your life, your property, and to do what you wanted...as long as you didn't hurt anyone else, or there property.

That is what the government was designed to protect.

Now we have nothing more than a bloated, broke, corrupt government that...

Can take your life without a trial.
Tells you how to live, what you can do, what you can't do.
And could care less about your property.

The Federal reserve is printing money like mad.
Our spending power goes down every day.
The debt is totally out of control.

And all anybody does is talk about stupid things that we have no business talking about.

We just need more regulations...then some regulations on the regulations...then some people to oversee those regulations...and more people to ensure that the initial regulations are carried out by the people that are enforcing the other regulations.

How about this....kill me...hurt me....you go to jail
Quit telling me how to live if i'm hurting nobody else.
You damage or steal my property you pay, or go to jail.

How about if people were held accountable for there actions?

If a rich company owner does something stupid and loses it all guess what....now he's poor. Don't need a regulation for that. That's an example. People will heed it if they don't want to suffer the same fate.

You steal...you go to jail...people will get that rich or poor.

How much money you think the government spends telling every person and business how to act? I'll bet its a ton.

If a bank gets greedy and gives stupid loans, then it fails. Period. One could argue that it would suck for the innocent people involved. But guess what...in the future banks would be smarter, and potential depositors would be asking "why should I trust you"

The good banks would get the business. People would start taking it upon themselves to choose wisely.

How about if we actually declared war?

Instead we gave the president the right to fight a war on a "feeling" When does that end?

maybe they should declare war on being "stupid"

Right now they are crying about automatic cuts to the military....end of the world...we won't be safe.

They are actually just planning on increasing the budget less than they wanted to. They call it "cuts", when they are actually just increasing the budget by less....

That's like saying "I can only afford a $100,000 dollar house....but I really like this house for $150,000 and i think i'm gonna buy it anyway, but after thinking about it i'm gonna cut back a little and buy this other one for $125,000 instead" Look how responsible i am right? Oh the sacrifice.

This country is broke..economically and morally.

I don't disagree with anything you have to say here about government. And just because that's what you "got" from the article, doesn't mean that is what the argument actually is. No doubt an article like this is fantastic for people to attach all kinds of interpretations to it. My original point is the solution offered by the author is moronic. Clearly, by predicating the article on the 545 vs. 300 million concept, he thinks there is something different about those 545 and everyone else. And I think he is right about that. But the crucial question is what accounts for that difference. He doesn't say directly. He implies the difference is personal for those 545 and therefore the solution is to replace them. I think this is a naive perspective on what makes the 545 do what they do. I think this problem begins with a universal tendency among humans toward unvirtuous behavior and then the structural nature of democracy and government allows for the exacerbation of this tendency. What this means is that it doesn't matter who you put in office - the result will be the same.

The correct title for this article is "300 million vs. 300 million" and it is a total rewrite.

Ok I get your point on that. I didnt get the feeling he saw it as personal for the 545 but they are the only ones that have the power to create or fix the problems, thus they are the problem.
I still feel though that we do indeed have the ability to do as he has mentioned. Thats what I think alot of people do when they vote. Problem is there are some who just vote party line and others who vote names.

Just going with the conversation, look at our Governor here in Ohio. He was voted in because he was going to run this states gov like a buisness. Its alot of why I voted for him. He has done alot to try to achive that and failed in other regards.

He deep 6'ed the train from Cleveland to Cincinnati because it would take longer then if you just drove and the cost was excessive. If it would have been profitable then fine lets do it but if its a drain on the states resources we dont need it.

When he tried to level the playing field of avg joe workers against gov workers the Unions came out full force. Not sure if it was the same in Wisconson or not but seemed to be closely related.
So yes we the 300 million put someone in power to make changes however to many people are on the Gov payroll for effective real change to take place until we actually make them do it. (your 300mil vs 300mil comment)

When Kasich was starting I think it was Jobs Ohio (dont quote me on this its off the top my head) the guy that was going to run it was only going to make $1 a year to run it. The other politicians and again government and union's stepped in and said no we cant have that.

He even milked the casinos and racinos out of some more money after the fact (not sure if that was all him) and although I wasnt sure that was a good idea at the time he got it done got the state some more money.

On the other hand Im against privitising profitable programs like the Turnpike and the Lottery. So Im not saying the guy is perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

I (opinion alert) think that if we elected more people like him into office going up and down the chain yes we would have to endure some sacrifices but in the end things would get fixed. Things would return closer to how this country was supposed to be build. Then we wouldnt have to worry about things like spanish being on everything because its to hard for them to learn a new language.
Brail I understand that is must but some of the other stuff (ok getting off topic sorry).

The list does go on where as you said even if we voted for effectual change it probably will never happen because we the votes dont have the ability to make sweeping changes only replace 1 peice here and there while the other peices continue to fight any change and rally the gov worker troops when needing a vote in their favor.

Quote:

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The latter.

The institution is the problem, not necessarily the politicians. Simply removing the politicians does little to address the problems of the institution.

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That was pretty much my point, but you just stated it more clearly.

I don't even think it's feasible to have a total change over from top to bottom, because it would be like trying to field a football team with nothing but rookies and experience is I think prudent in sub committee leadership roles and such.

That brings us back to the question ... How do we change the institution?

Most will agree that, that is where the problems lies.

I think it has to start by changing their attitude towards are current state and the path we are on.

They can all read that their approval rating is at a all time low of 10%.

It's a 64,000 dollar question and a vicious circle.

Quote:

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Yup,, change the system first, But does anyone think that any elected official will want it changed.

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I scoff at the notion that a politicians vote is his own.

In a perfect world yes, but votes are bought all the time, because what most politicians care about the most is their job security and the power that comes with tenure in their seat.

It might only be a part of the problem, but if it's part of the problem, then it might also be in part a solution if we change the way that business is done.