545 PEOPLE

545 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? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She 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 can not 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 , it's because they want them in IRAQ . 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 unsolvable 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!
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Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
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Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax I
RS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge
Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax

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 could stay home to raise the kids if she chose. What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'

You can help fix this. Go ahead, fire the politicians who have let us down.

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Hairpinandarrow: Yes, this came to me in an email and no I didn't check all the numbers for accuracy (such as current taxes per gallon of gas). You may or may not see things they way the writer did. But I think the essence of the email is that we must realize where the responsibility for our current situation lies.

It starts with us--We The People--for abdicating our responsibility to watch the way our representatives carry out the job we send them to do and fire them if they do not do that job properly. If we want control of our future, we must assume responsibility for our action or our inaction of the past, and We The People must turn it around.

We are now at the point where we can ignore no longer a few facts: there is next to nothing in Ft Knox backing our currency, and our word has begun to lose its credibility. We create next to nothing, so we have next to nothing to trade. This is no way to return to a strong economy and thereby insure our future freedom.

If our creditors should call due our loans, and every dime of every new bill passed during this administration is borrowed, we will pay them with what???

And since our government makes nothing either--including money--it would depend on our saved dollars to run our entire government: pay all the salaries, fund all the programs, cover all the war expenses.

And while our government could print more bills, those bills will become increasingly worthless the moment we are a known to be unable to repay our debts. At that point, we risk becoming the slaves of those we owe.

Audience Begins Pledge AGAIN

Click on the title to see the video showing that the League of Women Voters say they don't have a problem initiating the Pledge of Allegiance before their meetings, BUT where they want the meeting participants to request doing so ahead of time.

What's up with the League of Women Voters? These are candidate debates. Is there a more appropriate meeting where they could begin the proceedings with the country's Pledge of Allegiance? Good grief!

EPA Funnels Taxpayer Money to Liberal Community Activists

Photo Credit: http://www.blackenterprise.com/blogs/2009/04/17/my-conversation-with-epa-administrator-lisa-jackson/

I'm sorry. I just do not know how "environmental justice grants" are a legal distribution of our tax dollars.

Rather, this seems to be another example of end-running the taxpayers and Congress in order to pay back supporters of the Marxist objectives of Barry and Michelle and their odd compilation of marxists and has-been terrorists with whom they have been dismantling our government's systems and operations.

Jump back, you two. We are tired of your leading us into tons of unnecessary debt while, simultaneously, filling the pockets of your buddies and supporters and tearing down America's traditional value system. By tearing down rather than building real bridges, you have forfeited your rights to complain about the Republicans' past spending, the Bush Administration, and the rights to the support of the people of this great nation!

We are a kind nation and we are a generous nation. We are fortunate to live in the best nation in the world, and we have never liked to think the worst of our leaders--even when it's hard to ignore their sometimes disgraceful embarrassing behavior.

But you two have clearly pushed the American people over the edge and, soon, the party will be over for the Wacko Marxist and Has-Been Terrorist Party.

Minority neighborhoods need the same opportunity for environmental protection as wealthier neighborhoods? There's little industry left to blame for the creation of pollution in low income neighborhoods--only government resource recovery facilities and the like. Is there anyone reading this who believes this 2 million of our tax dollars will make a dent in any low income neighborhood? No one I know thinks that this administration will make any environmental improvement in these neighborhoods--the neighborhoods about which they pretend to care? The answer is no, and that's the sad truth of it all.

More and more, this administration appears to be at least as ineffective as any administration that has gone before it. The people are awakening to the fact that this emperor has no clothes when it comes to the "hope and change" he promised. He seems to care only about the creation of an elite ruling class that would answer to no one and to no founding document. That elite ruling class would control all Americans--without regard to income level.

Witness this week's Fox News Poll results. The people have clearly decided to put an end to your red herring program called the "green movement." We know what laundering money is, and we know it when we see it in action, whether you think you are clever enough to hide it from us or not.

Here's an article that details one of the administration's latest attempts to hide a pay-off to its supporters with 2 million tax dollars. Hopefully this nightmare will end sooner, rather than later.

EPA Funnels Taxpayer Money to Dozens of Liberal Community Activist Groups
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
By Susan Jones

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has made it a priority "to expand the conversation on environmentalism and work for environmental justice," the EPA says. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - The Environmental Protection Agency recently listed 76 community groups and government agencies that will share almost 2 million taxpayer dollars in the form of "environmental justice grants."

The grants – around $25,000 each -- will fund projects that help people living in poor, minority communities increase recycling, avoid heat stroke, improve indoor air quality, "reduce carbon emissions through weatherization," and participate in "green jobs" training programs.

But beyond the EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment, the grant money will boost the coffers, and perhaps the influence, of some far-left groups.

The EPA defines “environmental justice” as the notion that minority, low income and indigenous communities deserve the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, equal access to the decision-making process and a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work as wealthier communities do.

Below are just a few of the 76 groups getting taxpayer money for various “environmental justice” projects.

-- The Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice will use some of the grant money to train eight housing authority residents, who will then teach 900 people living in multi-family housing in Hartford how to recycle.

-- The West Harlem Environmental Action group will use its environmental justice grant to "identify and address the problems posed by climate change in Northern Manhattan" and to "develop a community-based climate change readiness plan."

-- The Women’s Health & Environmental Network in Philadelphia plans to educate senior citizens on climate change and how to lessen their carbon footprint. "Many seniors do not understand climate change and how they affect it or how to protect the environment," the project summary says.

-- The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization in Chicago will conduct a grassroots campaign to address coal power plant emissions. According to the group's Web site, "We seek clean power for Chicago, and want the two largest polluters (Crawford and Fisk Power Plants) in our backyard removed."

-- A St. Louis community group will receive an environmental justice grant to "protect Branch Street, the only remaining street in North St. Louis that connects to the Mississippi River, from being closed off from recreational use." The project description says Branch Street "serves to facilitate healthy activities, ecological education, and helps improve public health." As part of the project, the group will organize community bike rides "to build awareness about the value of the street."

-- A grant recipient in Appalachia -- the heart of coal country -- will teach households in Franklin County, Ky., how to reduce household greenhouse gas emissions. The project called "Lighten Up, Frankfort!" will use the book “The Low Carbon Diet” to guide households through a series of actions to reduce their household energy use. The actions include "empowering" people to "lose unwanted pounds."

-- A migrant farm workers’ group in Lafayette County, Mo., will use its grant to "increase awareness about the dangers of sun and heat exposure" and to explain the "key words and symbols related to weather advisories broadcast via television, telephone, or in person." The money also will be used to explain "the dangers of lead poisoning and poisoning prevention strategies, including how to evaluate toys and find out about toy recalls."

-- Lazos America Unida, Inc. of New Brunswick, N.J. – an advocacy group for the Mexican immigrant community -- will use its grant money to create a “lead-safe backyard gardening” program. The goal is to protect community members form the risks associated with gardening in lead contaminated soil, and reduce solid waste to local area landfills.

-- A Denver group, the Front Range Earth Force, will use its grant to "identify and mitigate air pollution and solid waste disposal issues" at a middle school that has a "disparate economic and racial/ethnic composition." According to the project summary, "Skinner Middle and elementary school students will investigate the environmental impact of practices such as idling automobiles and buses at school entrances and raise awareness about chemical and particulate pollutants and their link to respiratory diseases and eye/nose irritation. They'll also "reach across cultural and economic barriers" to develop and test ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

-- A group called DEPAVE in Portland, Oregon, will address the "social and environmental impacts of heavily paved public spaces." It aims to "re-green" two North Portland schools, by replacing paved areas with "playfields and native plantings." According to the project description, "the proposed de-paving projects will not only restore native soils, allow for on-site rainwater infiltration and beautify urban spaces, but will also serve as a method for community building and provide educational outreach opportunities."

Since 1994, the EPA’s Environmental Justice Small Grants program has provided more than $21 million in funding to community-based nonprofit organizations and local governments in more than 1,200 communities. The $1.9 million in fiscal 2010 grant funding announced on Oct. 5 is the largest amount awarded for environmental justice grants in more than a decade.
On Oct. 6, one day after the EPA announced the $1.9 million in environmental justice grants, Document efforts.

These grants will go to 14 organizations in 11 states and the District of Columbia to “inform the public of environmental issues and help them make educated choices on actions they can take to reduce negative environmental impacts.”

This year, some of the grant money went toward helping tribal communities set up leadership programs, letting students step outside the classroom to learn about the environment, and teaching students the importance of water quality, among other projects.

Source: CNS News