For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

[Larry Lyons]

So often we think we have got to make a difference and be a big dog. Let us just try to be little fleas biting. Enough fleas biting strategically can make a big dog very uncomfortable."
--Marian Wright Edelman,
founder of the Children's Defense Fund

[flyguy]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

Ah, what the heck, I'll bite. (Pun intended.)

I wish that left, right, center, upside down, whatever, would all realize that we need to get on the same side; that the ruling elite, the huge corporations, and the politicians that they control, all running this country, are doing it to our detriment, and we all need to work together to give control back to the citizens

Just now I do not see any way of doing that. The system has been so bastardized and perverted that I cannot see any reasonable/legal actions that we the public can take that will seriously change things.

Yelling and screaming that it is all the other guy's fault, either left, right or center may make one feel better for the moment, but it isn't going to do much good in the end.

Somehow we must find a way to change the status quo. Surely there must be a way. If we have involvement by everyone the sacrifice by any individual should not be unreasonable.

The communication allowed by the Internet has incredible possibilities as a powerful tool for organization that has never existed before.

Let's quit fighting and bickering and try to solve the problem working together.

There must be at least one great idea out there that will work to restore our country to control by the people for the people.

Darryl Crain

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

Anybody here ever heard of Charlie Reese? He wrote this and it sums up the source of our problem better than anyone I have ever heard, no matter what your political leaning is.

545 vs. 300,000,000

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. I think I like him.

Hank

[flyguy]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

I had to delete the post I did here a few minutes ago; it started off the wrong way and I will rewrite at least that part.
DC

[lfries]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

The big problem is that the takers are starting to out number the givers.

[flyguy]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

There is always more to say on this subject:

I left out mentioning specifically two things, doable within the system as it exists, that would help correct the problem, because I don't think they will ever happen.
Everyone is probably familiar with them anyway:

Term limits for members of Congress.

Government provided campaign funds only; no more private funds of any kind.

We might want to do away with lobbyist too, but that one has some problems.

[flyguy]

Re: For the hi-jacked thread that needs to be here

Let me put this real simple:

You elect any human into the system as it exists and they are going to behave the same way (especially people who are prone to the characteristic faults of those who run for public office.)



All the pages of "they ought to do this" and "vote them out" talk is just naive populist jargon because IT IS THE SYSTEM THAT IS BROKEN.

There are legal, constitutional fixes that would correct the problem but it isn't going to be done by any politicians elected into the system in it's present perverted state.

I would ask if there is any difference between a Monarchy and a corporate/ruling elite Plutocracy when it comes to being abused? Personally, I think there isn't.

I hate to say it, but one of the founding fathers was right when he said that a little revolution, once in a while, is not a bad thing.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it will be a long time coming, but keep a watch on the horizon, because it is out there.

DC