Charley Reese's Final column! The Reality of being an American.

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. 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. [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
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
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
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

Long i know but worth the read!!

Most of this is no secret, but there are plenty who still think that we must be taxed so that we're forced to "share." And when we are taxed too much it's still not enough because those other guys over there still have too much and they have to be punished for it.

And big business controls those people mentioned.

So this guy, as smart as he is, knows nothing.

Of course, that's not true. We're all responsible for our own actions, but for some reason plenty of folks don't get it.

a reply to: TheJesuit

He was right.

Politics and politicians have destroyed the foundation of this country and neither will ever give it back to us.

And here we are: two generations removed from this cry in the wilderness and most of us are still slaves to a system of puppet shows and crayons.

"Oh, the puppet on the right best supports my views!"

"NO! For me, it's the puppet on the left!"

Idiots.

They are both playing for the same team, using your "fears" of "gun control" or the repeal of "abortion rights" to stick their arms up our asses to manipulate our mouths (and minds). They are united, and we are their puppets.

We have become the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest human dream and THIS is the government we deserve.

How many loopholes do the "rich" find or are given for example:

The Super-Rich Are Stockpiling Wealth in Black-Box Charities
Critics say these funds can create “warehouses of wealth”

Donor-advised funds — money that grows tax-free in individual accounts — are reshaping the landscape of U.S. philanthropy. After creating their account, donors choose how it’s invested, and the money compounds until they decide where to dole it out. DAF assets mushroomed to more than $85 billion at the end of 2016 from $30 billion in 2010.

www.bloomberg.com...

Worth a read and with elections coming up will show where a lot of this money is going to......

a reply to: TheJesuit

I asked our local township why there is a dog license tax.

She said so that people would vaccinate their dogs.
Does this make any sense to anyone?
My guess if that type of people that don't vaccinate their dogs, are also the type of people that aren't going to pay for a license.
So where do these tax funds go? I can tell you where they don't go, Animal control, because we don't have animal control in our county!!!

We also have a sketchy fire permit fee for having fires in your backyard.
They don't enforce it unless you actually cause a fire, but again, having a permit does not cause or not cause a fire accident.

Pretty soon they will be taxing the air and how many breaths you take per day.

a reply to: TheJesuit

He’s right. I think I’ve been putting too much blame on the lobbyists. If these politicians weren’t as crooked as they are lobbying wouldn’t exist at the level it does today.

What’s the solution? How can you remove this level of cancer without killing the patient?

Fantastic read man, that poem hit me right in soul bone. The sheer amount of tax I pay each year In property tax is just gut wrenching , don’t get me started on my income tax. Reading the poem almost brought a tear to my eye in how it’s directly related to my own life.

At least most food items arnt taxed in Canada if they arnt considered junk food. But we still pay about 13% tax between gst and pst on every single other item.

Gas is $1.40 A LITRE! With around 40 cents of that tax slightly more perhaps .

They are pricing the working man right off this planet.
a reply to: TheJesuit

Tax the lobbyist require bills be read before their voted on require house and senate not financially benefit in any way while in office, crooks out patriots in type deal ?

Would that work or am i dreaming?

a reply to: TheJesuit

Good article, but he wrote it in 1985. And then rereleased it over the years with some edits here and there. His final column was in 2008, and he died in 2013.

Like I said, good information but not current, but it wasn't even written with todays world in context. The fact that it still applies shows nothing has really changed... regardless of who's been in office.

Charley Reeses Final Column