Further Musings…
Of course, through the day, there was no talk of this Congressional Power Strain going on, of course not, not here, safe in the Corn Belt with a huge pan of fried chicken, spiraled honey ham — how could anyone even dare think such thoughts?
But I checked in when I got back to the hotel and was completely unsurprised that there had been no resolve. I mean, one, there’s Saturday Morning Cartoons, so nothing gets done till nearly noon, then lunch, and the afternoon was so hot… And a new question occurs:
A debt ceiling implies that there is a debt; a debt implies that we owe someone some money. Who, exactly? Please clarify. Please.
Along this line of thinking was the thought that we give away way too much money. Who are we giving this money to? What are these recipients doing for us? Are they, in taking this money, doing anything that leads to a less dependance on charities and hand-outs?
There is a thought out there that charitable financial givings should be lessened, at least by ten percent. Ten percent? Barely a dink in the bucket. Closer to fifty percent, I think, and at the least a twenty-five percent decrease. This may seriously disrupt the economies of these countries, but it may also be a catalyst needed to get these countries moving on their own? Wow, why would we want that?
Would they argue? “No, hey, that just isn’t enough free money, we need more…” Would the bleeding hearts feel we are being less American if we gave other people less in order to take care of Americans? Are we obligated to save the world, at the expense of ourselves?
This Scrooge thinking led in different paths, as anything in my head tends to. One thought was on the paychecks of these Senators and Congressmen. I would have to do some digging – something I am not set ready to do at the moment – but didn’t they just give themselves a raise within the recent decade? And, yes, this pay raise is not responsible for any deficit, but what was the percentage of that raise? Why would the same percentage not given to the rest of Americans, along with that free medical coverage? Just a thought…
I really think, in this day and age, there should be a better way for the American Public to give input on anything that goes on in those Sacred Halls. You know that no one actually gives honest answers to pollsters, and any news media is only going to focus on the one side of the political spectrum that is paying their bills. There is no clarity.
There was something else I was thinking, but I’m tired now and The Goonies is on, and we have a few hours of peace. Sometimes that’s harder to come by than national financial security…
Tag Archive: government
What the hell happened -
545 people vs. 300 million people
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be – 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 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
EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.
Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.
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 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.
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 hell happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’
In a piece of irresponsible journalism passed off as Op-Ed, Maureen Dowd puts forth the argument that Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst during the Presidential Address Wednesday night, 9/9/09, is nothing but racist-fueled fear that has nothing to do with the Address itself, but a desperate attempt for American Bigots to keep their clenching fists on an America which is growing and spreading beyond the confines of color. Ms. Dowd pooped out her piece Saturday the 12th in the pages of The New York Times.
And she is a good writer. Don’t get me wrong. Unlike me, she is a professional in her field and gets paid for it. She did put in the piece facts on Wilson and the South that, put in the right place, supports her claim that Wilson did not shout out out of emotional frustration to what Obama was mouthing, but only out of his deep-rooted hatred for the idea that a black man is in the White House.
How is this even an issue? How does this line of thinking actually consider the issues on the table? Is it nothing but a clouding of the mind, a distraction put out there to keep people from demanding truth and transparency? How many times has this race issue been pulled out without any follow-through on the facts being questioned?
They are, in fact, two different issues. Whether Joe Wilson puts on clean sheets and burns badly-made crosses, whether the majority of the GOP resents a black man as Commander-in-Chief, these ideas have nothing to do with whether Obama is being entirely truthful in the presentation of his Plan. These ideas have nothing to do whether or not Wilson considered Obama’s words to be blatant lies. No matter how much it is argued, racial tension has nothing to do with the questionable validity of Obama’s health plan. To insist it does is irresponsible and criminaly misleading, especially for a professional journalist. No problem if you want to swear you seen these guys throwing homemade bombs in the basement windows of churchs, that is part of that Free Speech thing. But there needs to be actual responsibility taken by journalists, Right and Left alike, who have the power to influence public thought with their words. Expression of personal opinion is part of our American Life, but it should not be used to detract from actual facts, especially when such an issue is at the forefront of every American’s concern.
As exhaustive as Joe’s two words would seem, it seems important to look at what might prompt him to such an emotional outburst which is completely disrespectful to the Office of the President (though it seems that booing, from either side, has always been permissable).
1. The Democrats did veto a proposed amendment to a plan which would tighten verification processes for citizenship in hospital care. That is a fact. However, it was the Democrats who shot it down, not Obama himself.
a. the same could be said of preventing abortions from being covered under the plan as well, another amendment was put on the table by Republicans and shot down by Democrats.
2. Obama has been in works to quicken citizenship processes, which could give truth to his statement because, by 2013, when the Plan would be in effect, illegal aliens would no longer be illegal aliens.
a. which raises the question as to how wording is so important. Might there be agreement if the term “illegal aliens” is struck from the Plan and replaced with “those who’ve entered the country illegally“?
The debate on this issue has been running full-force now for months. Obama is right: the status quo is not acceptable. But he is wrong in forcing his sole plan down on top of the American people. His plan is not the only idea on the table, a fact that he ignores to mention. And he does not consider the ideas and how they might be implemented into his own ideas. Instead, he makes his plan and himself indivisible. Those who oppose his plan oppose him, not exactly the way Democracy works. He declares that his door is always open and he will listen to “a serious set of proposals” but, it seems, that means very little in the concept of consideration.
Like all Americans – Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, black, white, or any other label that is needed – I am concerned with how health care reform is going to affect me and how health care is in dire need for actual reform. But I don’t see much getting accomplished. Obama shoots down those that don’t agree with his plan and those who look towards its realistic flaws as points that need ironed out as opponents that are only trying to undermine him. What consideration has he given to the ideas which have contrasted with his ideas? How can he bemoan the attitudes of his opposition if he portrays those same attitudes?
He has advertised his plan without giving clear, understandable explanations of its workings. He’s used quotes and numbers out of context as scare tactics to overwhelm those that depend on health coverage. He touts his “no time to accept the status quo” as though that is the only alternative to his plan, a very misleading implication. He wants his Plan passed this fall without clear understanding, but it doesn’t take effect for four years; if it is so wonderful, why wait so long? Trying to get a clear view of what his plan is is not an easy thing; the rhetoric put out on numerous websites make it all sound very attractive, but this is the government: how is the fine print going to bend us over? where is that fine print? He claims that already-established health insurance coverage will not suffer in competition with a government insurance program (or, if it does suffer, it deservedly does so because of a better plan running it out of business), but does he consider how current health insurance will be negatively affected while doling out benefits? Is his plan going to step up to plate halfway through chemotherapy treatment because the initial insurance had no choice but to fold? He claims “cutting waste in Medicare” will help fund the Plan with hundreds of millions of dollars while at the same time saying Medicare recipients will not lose any benefits. If there is so much waste there, why wait to deal with that? Why have they waited this long? Obama claims that no additional taxes will be charged to fund his Plan and it will not raise our deficit one iota, but that is also untrue, as shown by numerous agencies which actually deal with the sort of thing.
Is it a terrible thing, government-run health insurance? I don’t know. The present model is a poor thing, for sure, but why hasn’t there been stricter reigns put on health insurance companies which do not act in the interests of the paying American people? Again, why wait four years to do something about that? Why has such abuse, both in the private sector and in government-run programs such as Medicare, been allowed to continue for so long if their acts are criminal? Is the government program going to be accepted everywhere, unlike present insurance companies, which are accepted only at certain providers, decisions made outside of the insurance and within state government agencies? Why is the health insurance market, already controlled by government in who gets to sell what where, so restrictive if Obama thinks an open market would be a great idea? Again, why wait?
What was my point here?
Ah, yes, Ms. Dowd’s irresponsibility in her article. While vehement in calling Joe a racist, she does nothing to show that Joe was wrong in calling Barry a liar. She does nothing to defend Obama’s truthfullness, pushing forth her idea of racism as a blanket to cover the real issue. She may be a hot-looking mamma, but her journalistic irresponsibility only serves to take attention away from actual issues and the pursuit of truth, thereby harming those Americans who need to know facts more than they need to listen to racial opinion. Whether Joe is a card-carrying Brother of the Klan and stores pre-made noose knots in his briefcase, does that clearly prove Obama is presenting the whole truth, and the whole Plan, to the American People? Or is the presentation of Wilson’s racial handicap necessary to pull attention away from actual facts and the misreprestation of those facts?
I stand behind Op-Ed presentations. It represents various ways to look at issues, it represents different views on topics that might have been overlooked. But it should not be used in place of real journalism, nor should it be touted as truth. The inclusion of facts does not displace the danger of Ms. Dowd’s opinions, but only strengthens it in the minds of readers who are not given any indication as to what are hard facts and what are ideas out of her pretty, little head. That is more damaging than any outburst in an already-stained public setting.
Ongoing coverage for the day’s March on Washington, depending on what news station you turn on, as tens of thousands (reportedly a hundred thousand) have made their way to the Capitol to protest, or speak out, or just wave really big signs, the Government’s intended direction on Health Reform (health care? health insurance?).
Health reform, in whatever phrasing is most effective, is the big showboat right now. Debates all over, name-calling and incomplete facts being repeated by every newscaster with a crooked mouth, and I hear they will be casting for a mascot later this week. Is the “Help! I’ve Fallen and Can’t Get Up!” lady still working?
The March on Washington is the culmination of “Tea Parties” across the Nation in opposition of the Democratic and Presidential Health Reform ideas. The “Tea Parties” stem from the idea of town hall meetings, which have been used in the debate on Health Reform but only so much that the President controlled the proceedings and any opposition was made to look like half-crazed, backhill trash. The March on Washington is Glenn Beck’s puppy, something he’s promoted and advertised through his television and radio shows.
Glenn Beck is a scary man. Not because he speaks up on ideas that frighten me, not because he has become is influential in the opinions of thousands of people, not because he has no political or legal background or training, not because of his past with drug and alcohol recovery and the Church of Latter-Day Saints. No, what scares me is his large, pasty-white face and pudgy fingers as he gets all het up. He is like a sweaty preacher yelling down fire and brimstone. And, honestly, he is only yelling out opinions and second-hand facts. He is not educated in government or politics, he admits as much, but he still wants to point fingers.
If anyone could use a March on Washington, it is Glenn Beck…
Bad humor aside, the march is not just in protest of the current Health Reform, but also in protest of Big Government getting any bigger, in protest of corrupt government, and in protest of unchecked government spending of Americans’ tax dollars.
Unfortunately, I can’t see the whole sha-bang becoming an effective medium. There is no strong political leader behind the event, and many political figures are staying as far away from the event. Mainstream media will poke their fun and concentrate on angles that make everyone present look like LSD-swilling Bible thumpers. The reality that these are thousands upon thousands of American citizens, of American voters, won’t matter a whit.
Unrelated to the March, but significant, Obama is in Minneapolis this day. Like that isn’t planned out. “Hey, I’m the President and there are thousands and thousands of American voters heading towards my house today… I better get the plane ready…” He is saying that he will accept responsibility for the success or failure of his Health Bill. Very noble of him; is that why the Bill is not slated go actually go in effect until 2013, after the next Presidential Election? In fact, negative repercussions will not be prominent for at least two years after the placement of the Bill. What responsibility is he actually accepting? What is he going to do to make it better? Retract the Bill and make things the way they used to be, back in 2009? Resign?
Why, if his Bill is such a good idea, why is it to be voted on this year and then left in the closet for four years? Why wait? Why not fix the problem now? Maybe because implememntation of the Bill’s laws will severely hurt his re-election chances?
Some states are pushing for legislation that will try to counter Barry’s Bill in one way or another, but it is said that such state actions is useless because the Bill is the trump card and will renege State laws which counter its directive. That is a very interesting fact. The country was set up to be local government to state government to federal government. In fact, there are instances where the federal government has told state and local governments “deal with it, it’s your problem.” But this issue is to be commanded solely by federal government. What’s next in the aspects that federal government wishes to control?
Barry’s numbers still do not add up. In his comments on taking responsibility for the effectiveness of the Bill (and, from what I’ve seen, any time any politician says they will “take responsibility,” the smartest thing to do is vote the other way…), he is saying nearly 50 million Americans are without health insurance. Nearly 50 million, while other reports say that it is closer to 30 million actual American Citizens which don’t have health insurance. And these numbers are not a constant. How many are without health insurance but will have health insurance next month? How many don’t have health insurance but are under Medicare/Medicaid? How many don’t have health insurance because they chose not to? How many Americans lost their health insurance because they lost their jobs under Barry’s Presidency? “Nearly half of all Americans will lose their health coverage over the next ten years” is a quote from his Minneapolis rally. A new Treasury report, but based on old numbers, spread out over the last ten years, for “a month or longer”? A complete scare tactic? How many of these Americans will lose their insurance because of his own Bill? He is putting out these phrases and numbers in public addresses which do not delve into the complete facts of what is completely true, only using the phrases and numbers which have the most impact. He will not set down and go into the complete facts.
Why, if health insurance companies are the problem, does the government just lift the ban on an open market for health insurance? Barry’s pointed out that there are states where three or four health insurance companies are doing the majority of the business, and Alabama (is that the right state? I think so) has only one predominant health insurance provider. But is is a government control which prevents multiple health insurance companies from servicing the market, which would lower costs and raise benefits through competition. If the government is disallowing open competition now, when their baby isn’t even in the race, how fair will it be once they have a stake in it?
I am surprised that Barry decided to leave Washington today. He knew the March was on its way, it’s been in the works since sometime in April. Aren’t these the people he wants to persuade? Aren’t these people American enough for him to address? Or is it only okay to talk to those people that already agree with him? The trip to Minneapolis seems a bit formulated. Why go halfway across the country to talk about health insurance reform when tens of thousands of people are coming to your front lawn?
I am not against any reform which benefits the people. It is needed. But government control has led to how many pains for the American people? The saying “you can’t please all the people all the time” is certainly true, but is it crooked if you are only trying to please the people that will vote for you?
You ever wonder maybe the attention given to health reform is to cover something else up?
