Charley Reese's Final column!
 A very interesting column... COMPLETELY NEUTRAL...

Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.
Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel... He has been a journalist for 49 years. He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN. 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. The speaker of the house 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. [The House has
passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three
years. The President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous
rejections in the Senate in that time. ] 

 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.

  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

>> 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 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?'

>> I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it

get there!!!

>> GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!