Thursday, October 21, 2010

545 vs 300,000,000

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be - please read it!! The article below is completely neutral ...not 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 analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth remembering!



Joint Session of Congress

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 hey 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.
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 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 darned 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.

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
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
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

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 hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!

Friday, November 7, 2008

>> Letter to my Daughter

Letter to my Daughter


Dear C,

On June 3, 2008, this country witnessed Barack Obama become the first African American to be the presidential nominee for a major political party. To many of us, this long awaited historical moment has yet to sink in. Just think about it, here we are approaching the end of the first decade of the 21 century and a person of color stands on the brink of becoming the president of the United States of America.

When Barack Obama was born in 1966, blacks were still fighting for the right to vote; to sit at the front of the bus; to eat at a lunch counter; to attend a college of our choice; to fight for decent housing and equality in housing, employment and economic opportunities, etc. In many places in America, blacks could not use facilities, like public drinking fountains, restrooms, swimming pools, or parks. Blacks had to sit in the balcony at movie theaters, and in a number of southern towns, if the movie provoked laughter; blacks had to wait until whites laughed first. Sound ridiculous? It was.

In Wheeling, WV where I grew up, I can remember a sign at the entrance of the neighboring town of McMechen which read:

“Niggers, Don’t Let the Sun Set on Your Ass.”

This event is truly one of the most profound and significant I’ve witnessed. And, even if Barack Obama doesn’t become president, the ramification of his nomination speaks volumes. It says that we as a nation, as a society, has begun to practice the challenge put to us by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to: …judge people by the content of their character, instead of the color of their skin. This event gives real meaning to that shop-worn phrase… You can be anything you want to be in this country.”

On June 19th you’ll turn 12, and I’m bringing this event to your attention because you are not too young to embrace the historical significance of what this will mean. I want you to bookmark this in your minds memory as one the many historical moments that are sure to take place in your lifetime. I want you to think about how this event, and the ones that are going to unfold this summer and fall, can/will change your outlook on life, attitude and aspirations.

I have seen many historical events in my 58 year, and they all, in their own way, has impacted my life and shaped my thoughts. For example, nationally, there was:

the school desegregation case in Brown vs. The Board of Education 1954,
the March on Washington,
the Detroit Riots,
the 1968 Democratic Convention Riots,
the passage of the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Bill,
the assassinations of JFK, MLK, Malcolm X and RFK,
the landing on the moon,
the beginning and end of the Vietnam War,
the Million Man March,

and many more that allowed me to witness, and be part of the gains and losses we as a people, and a country have struggled through.

Locally, in Wheeling:

the first black Ohio County Board of Education member Phillip Reed,
the first black firemen, Clarke Gordon,
the first black city police officer, Edward Smith,
the first black city councilman, Clyde Thomas, and myself, establishing ...
the Afro-Set, the first Black Nationalist group in WV.

Barack Obama’s nomination puts us as people of color, and as a nation, on the verge of political and social history. Politically, Mr. Obama could become the president of the United States. The ramifications of this are enormous. Socially, after 300 years of being invisible people, treated no better than beasts of burden, recognized only as three-fifths of a human being, through this event, we are announcing to the world that color blindness is a real possibility in these United States of America.

I see this color blindness in the way you young people choose your posses. Your peeps consist of Asians’, Hispanics, Arabs, blacks, whites, Chinese, and any other ethnic group member that share your interests. For your generation, and the one before yours, the pigmentation of ones skin, nor ones ethnic background, is no more a factor in whether to strike up a relationship, than who your favorite American Idol winner is.
This is a milestone in your life, and will be even more meaningful when Barack Obama becomes president. It’ll be a moment that will live among those other great moments when people ask; “Where were you and, what were you doing when….”

Love you, Dad