What If?

BY Charley Reese

(Date of publication unknown)– — –  Politicians 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 the
Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you
ever wondered why, if all the 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 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 – 545 human beings out of the 235 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 but 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 legislation’s
responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don’t you see how 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.

O’neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the
majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president,
can approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it,
they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot
replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts – of
incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax
code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to
those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise
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 Marines are in Lebanon, it’s because they want them in
Lebanon.

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 it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there
exist 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 they
have the gumption to manage their own employees.