Including the fact we the people don't see the source of the problems for what they are.

peaceably

I pass this on as raw food for thought:

545 PERSONS, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROBLEMS IN AMERICA, BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them thinking the public doesn’t know the difference. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, then why do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, then why do we have inflation and high taxes? They really don’t want you to know the truth!

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president proposes the budget. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. Only 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. Note: the President is not in this circle.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million of our population are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. One of those cannot do it alone! 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 to do anything. 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. That 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 and he alone will cast his vote. A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault when in reality it is and they know it. 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 G.W. BUSH for creating deficits when in fact its the House under the leadership of that Speaker who originates spending bills. 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? In the current case Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS 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 to the people of this great country. I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise 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 Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in Iraq. 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 exist 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 each one of them out of office if they do not return to a Government of the People and By the People. That would clean up their mess.