Charley Reese Got It Right In 1984

As predicted, President Obama’s State of the Union address last night was all about more taxes, more spending, more borrowing, and more government. You, dear friends, are right to  be disgusted. But, don’t put all the blame for America’s woes on President Obama.  America didn’t get in this mess in just the last four years. Obama may be the worst excuse for a president we have ever had, but America has had a lot of bad politicians in Washington over the years. Charley Reese, a journalist for the Orlando Sentinel, got it right in his  February 3, 1984 article, 545 people are responsible for the mess, but they unite in common con.

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

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Don’t you see now the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? 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 Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan 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 appropriations and taxes. O’Neill is speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

Just 545 Americans have fouled up this great nation.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted – by present facts – of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise complete power over the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

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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 they have the gumption to manage their own employees. (Bold added)

That last bit hurts, doesn’t it? If American’s want to know why the country is in the mess that it is in, Americans need to look in the mirror. It is the 70% or 80% or 90% irresponsible American voters who keep giving power to the same kind of con artists , time and time again, who are responsible. The concept of “One man-One vote” can only work if the voters take their responsiblity seriously. The majority of American voters do not take their responsibility seriously. And so, we get the government that the majority deserve.

Well, now you know what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?

22 thoughts on “Charley Reese Got It Right In 1984

  1. A good point. Perhaps a bit more complicated than just blaming ourselves. We have an interest in government because we have an interest and time to involve ourselves. Others are victims of a terribled educational system, put in place by others to have it so. Have neither the time nor capability for critical thinking. It is only the last hundred years that we developed a political class, self serving, corrupt, amoral- many of them. It was never meant to be a full time job. We cab only hope someone will come along who can bring enlightenment to the masses. Until then, the ignorant perhaps deserve some pity.

    1. I am fresh out of pity, my friend. One doesn’t need to be as informed as we are to recognize that reelecting the same D’s and R’s is not working. They can be forgiven once or twice. After that, they deserve our disgust. Sorry, but that is how I am feeling these days.

      1. Don’t misunderstand me. I just believe that enlightenment is hell. The world is and has always been survival of the fittest. I am not so sure our DNA has evolved enough to live differently.

  2. The fault lies with us. We elect the politicians because they tell us what we want to hear: Everything will be okay. We’ll just spend more so you get more free stuff. It’s the fatal flaw in human nature that has destroyed all Republics.

  3. As one of many samples of how scary and utterly dumb is the practice of “one-man-one-vote” is that all those people in various blogs and internet news outlets that are cheering for the LA police killer also have a vote.
    Imagine, these people have the same level of power to elect our leaders as you do – one vote. Scary!

  4. Who is responsible, the con man or the conned? We heard the ultimate con man last night (or maybe you did, I cannot listen to the man, but I’ve read what he said). We’re going to spend a ton more money, but it won’t increase the deficit one dime. SWEET! Today I’m going to run out and buy myself that Lamborghini I’ve had my eye on using the same math. I wonder if my creditors will believe me when I say the payment won’t increase the deficit between my paycheck and my bills… What I’ll do is promise not to spend any money five years from now. Yeah… that’s the ticket.

    I love the big con of increasing the minimum wage. In this one, money actually flows into businesses magically in order to increase the pay of people at the bottom rung of the employment ladder. No business will think of cutting employees because they can’t afford the higher wage. No businesses will refrain from hiring school kids in the summer because they can’t afford it. The money will magically appear in the cash registers. What’s that you say? Every increase in the minimum wage results in more unemployment for young people, minorities, and others trying to enter the work force and gain experience so they don’t have to settle for minimum wage jobs in the future? Naw. Believe me… The money magically appears in the cash registers.

    The ultimate con man was speaking to a room full of con men. They all do Washington math, which is a con game. (see my post yesterday at http://www.freemktproject.com). Does the responsibility lie with us? It’s tough to say, because politicians lie to us when getting elected. What we vote for is not necessarily what we get. People believed Obama was a moderate in 2008. People believe that when politicians say they can pass a comprehensive health care overhaul that will reduce costs, and then jigger the numbers to “prove” that it does, they are voting for something good. Is it our fault they lie? I guess gullibility is a defect. But, ultimately, who do you believe? How many have turned? How many get to Washington DC and their best intentions are thwarted, or they get sucked into the Washington way? It’s a problem that seems to have no good solution at the moment. We get left with the same possibility we’ve always had: educate people to see through the BS so we’re not so gullible. That is a hard and time consuming job.

    1. “Who is responsible, the con man or the conned?”

      I can forgive them for not being well informed. I can not forgive them for not doing anything about it. Being forever lazy or apathetic or not caring are not things I am willing to forgive anymore.

  5. Thanks Jim. As a libertarian, I do not vote for any of these bastards. In fact, I often say-vote well or not at all.

  6. He nailed it didn’t he?! These politicians need these issues in order to convince us to vote for them and if these issues are off the table they will have nothing to run against therefor they talk a good game but nothing ever changes and we are the ones to blame because we keep falling for it.

  7. The take-over of the public school system was the lynchpin of the entire scene you are witnessing, Jim. I can’t do anything about Woodrow Wilson, or Lyndon Johnson, or any of the dead or living Presidents who have perpetrated this nightmare upon our nation. You would have to go back and redo the entire last 100+ years to erase the straight jacket created around us. As far as the current crop of dangerous politicians…agencies, and judges and bureaucrats..we are surrounded by FORCE. Other than speaking out and re-educating our fellow Americans, there is little else we can do. Pat, above, is so right on the lying we are subjected to during campaigns. Meanwhile, Rome burns. A nation standing on liars won’t survive..so …be careful who you are blaming. It is the liars to blame more than the populace. Granting to you that there are products of the public school system and universities who have no idea how to critically think as well as just ignorant masses. We have a long slog ahead, and that is assuming we can actually do something against this FORCE.

  8. Pingback: Charley Reese, RIP

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