The following was written by Charlie Reese, Orlando Sential News Paper.
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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 a budget, Congress 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. House and Senate 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 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!
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I only want to add - We also have 50 State Governments that do many of the same things the Federal Government has gotten itself into. Do we eliminate the 50 State Governments or Reduce the scope of the Federal Government?

Government takes 54% of your annual income - either directly or indirectly with taxes. Have we actually lost our freedom and are now slaves to the Governments. ? Share-croppers that get to keep a little bit of our own income?

FWIW,
Carl B.

I've never heard of Charlie Reese, but I'd like to buy him a beer.

Or three.

His complaints are valid and his aim is true. He overlooks the point, however, that our Constitution prevents the "wholesale slaughter" of all our government at once, by staggering elections. If you replace all the senators at once, for example, you still have the same congressmen and president doing business as usual.

I think voting-out every individual presently sitting would take you 6 years. Impeachment hearings for all of them would take even longer, and would be heard by their cohorts (who know their hearing is scheduled next). I think we tried to impeach Clinton, but I was very confused by the results.

When do we start?

Frank

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1970 240Z

Hi Frank:
I think we started in the last election. As I recall there were 84 new Representatives and something like 28 of them had never held a political office before. That has had a significant impact on the Republican Party - they know they lost power because of over-spending and over-reaching around the world. Now the Democrat Party needs to understand the same thing.

When Government at all levels takes an average of 54% of your lifetime earnings - and then tells you they need to raise taxes - - - people need to wake up. The Government is now a huge monster sucking the lifes blood not only out of us - but out of the future of our children and grand children.

One thing that all Politicians respond to is "VOTERS". When the voters show up at the polls and vote most of the incumbents out of office - the one's that remain take great note. When that happens in two or three election cycles - the Politicians will respond to the demands of the voters.

You and I are now "the old people" - - will we vote for Politicians that steal our children's and grand children's future - in order to buy our Votes - with every higher and higher Social Security and Medicare payments?

When the Politicians realize that all the Media and Advertising Propaganda isn't keeping them in Office - when all the Millions or Billions of dollars spent to gain a job that pays less than $200K per year isn't working - - - they will start doing what the majority of the voters want, rather than what the campaign contributors want.

There will usually be 25% to 35% of the voters that vote their straight Party Line {they drink the Political Party Kool-Aid} - on either the Left of the Right. That means that there is still 30% remaining as "swing" votes. What is most important is that 30% understand how important it is to actually show up and vote the incumbents out of office every time - until the American People are represented, and the size, scope and COST of the Federal Government is greatly reduced.

Here in Florida - "Independent Voters" now account for 30% of the registered voters. Even so, neither Political Party seems to have gotten the message.

We just need to keep those swing voters mad as hell and not willing to take it any more. They already know that neither Political Party represents them any longer.

FWIW,
Carl B.

I would like to hear Mark Crawford's input on all of this.

The Bible says all man's governments (save 3) shall fail in the Final Days. That's supposed to prove to us that we are incapable of governing ourselves by any type of government we can invent.

Looks like we're well on our way to that deduction.

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1970 240Z

Look over at Europe and you will see many countries that were bombed back into the stone age during WWII, and which now surpass American society and economics. What do they have that we don't have?
Lower crime
Lower abortion rates, lower teenage pregnancy, lower STD's
Lower unemployment
Longer life spans
Higher satisfaction and happiness of citizens
Higher literacy
Universal health care, cradle to grave
Universal child care

Why do they have these things? Because they INSIST that their governments provide them, and vote intelligently. By "intelligently", I mean that political advertisements are limited by law. Money buys elections here. Uneducated, prejudiced, illiterate, gullible people vote here based on whatever misleading "facts" are projected over the television.

I wouldn't mind being taxed if I got the things I want. I want universal health care. If I can't have that, then at least I want affordable health care. Why can't we have that? There are 37 other countries in this world which have universal health care systems that outperform ours, and every single one of them does it for far LESS money. Yet somehow the rich "insurance providers" have managed to pay lobbyists and politicians to block ANY progress along these lines. Why do Americans continue to vote for politicians who block health care reform? Because they don't know any better.
I want lower crime rates. The US imprisons more of its citizens, and has the highest crime rate, of any industrialized country. Why? The three factors that are statistically linked to this are poverty, education, and cultural norms. (In that order) How do we fix it? Education and anti-poverty programs. Indeed, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that the long-term influence of education and state aid has far greater benefits than the cost of maintaining our bloated criminal justice system.So why don't we, as a country, provide universal high quality child care, schools, college or technical training, while simultaneously supporting the impoverished while they improve their lives? Why don't we reap the benefits of an educated, versatile, healthy society? because we don't vote for the politicians who want to supply us with it.
Our society needs education and hard work to survive. Instead we ridicule the educated and reward the greedy, useless , parasitic big businesses that pay billions of dollars to elect politicians that espouse deregulation and corporate tax breaks. Why? Because Americans are stupid. The stupider you are, the more likely you are to vote republican.(Yes, that's a fact) That's part of the reason the republicans don't mind our failure to educate our citizenry.
The production of the American economy is on par with what it was during Clinton's presidency. Back then, the budget was balanced, middle class income was steadily growing, and unemployment was low. So if our economy is actually just as productive, what happened? The amount of wealth produced in this country hasn't changed, but the distribution of that wealth has shifted. A disproportionate share is now going to the ultra-rich and to giant corporations, and they have been directly aided by Republican politicians who deregulate industries and cut taxes to the wealthy. That's right, instead of giving the fruits of our labors back to the Americans who grew or produced them, and who paid taxes on them, we give them to a few ultra-rich greedy parasites who produce nothing, refuse to pay taxes on it, and who don't care if they ruin the economy, as long as their own untaxed million-dollar bonuses keep rolling in.
Marx and Engels statistically proved that unregulated capitalism is the most efficient way for the wealthy to exploit the working population. And a frank look at our economic situation shows it's true. American workers are stripped of the wealth they produce by greedy millionaires and corporations, with the aid of a government that the wealthy pay billions of dollars per year to maintain. And then they pay billions more to dispense propaganda to mislead our uneducated, gullible voters into voting for them.
Look to other countries if you want to see governments that work far better than anything we have here. Then look at who you vote for to see if they are willing to consider these modern lessons of governmental and societal success. If you don't vote for those politicians, then quit complaining, because it's your own fault you're getting screwed.

That make you happy frank?

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

Ummm......

Well, I asked for it!

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1970 240Z

Not exactly a fact, that's an interpretation of a statistic. I've known plenty of absolute morons with Bachelor's or other advanced degrees. There are also plenty of people that are absolute geniuses who never formally finished high school. A completed education does not always correlate with intelligence, it's a matter of what the person does with it. Any brainless person can vote for either party, depending on the rhetoric they've allowed to guide their thinking.

To me, thinking that humanity is physically and mentally unable to govern itself is a negative, defeatist line of thought. Keep thinking that way, and it perpetuates and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not that we're innately incapable of governing ourselves, its that we keep voting to office those that are! I WISH someone that I could vote for with confidence would come along...

Both political parties can die in a fire as much as I'm concerned. Both often get so blinded by their own rhetoric and doctrine that they make monumentally stupid decisions.

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-Chris

Hi Mark:
Well it made me happy.

Thanks - that is simply an amazing piece of writing.

With your permission, I'll print it out and use it as a perfect example. I've been ask to give a half hour to 45 minute lecture to my Daughters High School "Theory Of Knowledge" class {she is a Junior this year at a private High School enrolled in an International Bachelorette Program}

In a brief and might I say, a brilliant fashion, you have covered most of the elements of effective political propaganda. This will allow me to cover paragraph by paragraph, what knowledgeable students should be thinking as they take in what is presented. In my opinion one of the most important things we can teach our children during their formative years is critical thinking. Starting with how to recognize Political Propaganda. {something that doesn't seem to be taught in Public Schools any longer, since the State Governments have taken them over in most States}.

There are several good references on the Internet for the students, that outline for them the seven to ten most effective, and therefore the most common elements or techniques used in effective political propaganda.
http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/404.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/proptech.htm

However I was having a hard time finding examples, that contained so many of them in one relatively brief essay. I must say that I was impressed that you were able to through that all together with such a brief turnaround.

After reviewing and discussing your essay - I'll challenge them to find at least 2 statements that can be supported as Factual. It's always important to throw in at least a couple true or factually correct statements, so that false credibility can be assigned to the main body { I'm sure you knew that and appreciate your inclusion}.

This is an excellent example of what we are taking about when we say "Don't Drink The Kool-Aid".

FWIW,
Carl B.

"Back in the day" this was taught in high schools as "Debate". Today it's being taught as "Rhetorical Fallacies". The texts are the same (thank goodness) and remain one of the (few) worthwhile subjects I studied as a kid.

Early-on, I developed an ear to listen for these tactics in arguments (especially ones I wanted to win). I can "hear" these techniques in nearly every political exchange on modern TV (EXCEPT in George "W" Bush's speeches. I just couldn't follow much of what he was talking about. He was SUCH a powerful speaker! ).

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1970 240Z

Hi Frank:
Hard as it is to believe today - "back in the day" at one point I seriously considered a career in Politics. That was during my undergraduate years, as I was of Draft Age during the "unpleasantness" in South East Asia. I was politically active at the time and indeed I wound up with a minor in Political Science and Journalism. In the 60's we actually still had a few "Statesmen" in the House and Senate; sadly today we have nothing but Politicians in D.C.

Thought you'd get a kick out of some of these...

Ah those were great times. As someone said - "If you were young and had a heart you were Liberal, if you are older and have a brain you are Conservative.

FWIW,
Carl B.
Past President, Ohio Collegiate Association of World Affairs.
Honorary Lt. Governor of the Great State Of Ohio
Intern for U.S. Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska
Neighbors For Nixon Neighborhood Chairman
Editor of The Student Voice {1966-1968)
Personal friend of George Meany
Past Member International Brotherhood of Teamsters
and on and on....

A trip down memory lane..

Glad you like it Carl...and Frank...yeah I was on my high school debate team as well, and of course you know I used to be a lawyer.And your students are welcome to analyze my writing, both for technique and factual content, although you should remind them that I dashed it off in just a couple minutes without any proofing, so there are some grammatical errors. Also, while I do believe in the content of my "essay", I deliberately framed it in particularly vehement terms because I didn't want Frank to be disappointed.
As for the "challenge" of finding two supportable statements of fact, I will assert that EVERY statement of fact in that essay is entirely and overwhelmingly supportable, and every conclusion that I draw is supportable by many more facts and statistics, which I can readily provide in great detail.If you want to challenge your students, ask them to find just one example of an untrue statement. There is nothing remarkable about this; the skill of gathering, sorting, and arranging facts to support an opinion (even a highly biased and exaggerated opinion such as mine) is very important to students, and is necessary in all walks of life, not just writing propaganda. When I was in high school it was given the moniker of "persuasive writing". It doesn't work on Republicans though, they just get confused by facts.

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

Yeah Mark, we all know you were an attorney, but we're glad you recovered.....

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1970 240Z