BEGGING POLITICIANS OUT IN FORCE.

It is that time of year when politicians are out in force begging for money to keep themselves elected. That money keeps the television and radio stations richer than rich, our elected officials remain greedy, powerful and corrupt, and nothing much changes in government. What a sham. Read columnist Charlie Reese's take on the situation from a few years back. As true today as then.

545 vs. 300,000,000 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?
John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass 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!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

If everyone of us printed this article out and sent it to every senator and representative in our districts, it might wake them up. But, don't bet the rent.

AN EAGLE SCOUT

Everyone speaks well of the Boy Scouts.  One in four boys  joins the Boy Scouts. Of every hundred who join, thirty drop out. But even those who drop out claim they learn something enjoyable or valuable from scouts.

Only four percent of scouts per year go on to attain the highest ranking in scouting,  Eagle Scout. I am proud to present my grandson, as one of those honored few.
An Eagle Scout must earn 21 meritorious service badges to attain Eagle ranking. The skills are demanding, and challenging.
An Eagle earns badges from a surprising array of  personal services such as Orienteering, Camping, Lifesaving, Swimming, Public  Speaking, Canoeing, Swimming, Environmental Studies, Art, Emergency Preparedness, Soil and Water Conservation, Community, National and World Citizenship.  He pledges to conduct himself  with honesty, clean living, useful citizenship and honest work.
Scouting is changing, the challenges are different, but the total development from boyhood to manhood depends
upon physical, mental, and moral growth expressed in the Scout Oath.  Add to that the many activities and interests clamoring for young people’s attention, computers, gaming,  the demands of school and sports, band and music, discovering girls and driving. Preparing for college and jobs. It isn’t surprising that so many drop out and so few tread the road to complete the course from Cub Scout to Eagle. The Eagle Scout badge stands for strength of character. The Eagle Scout badge is a symbol of what a boy has done, but, more important, it represents what the boy
will be in the future as he grows to manhood.
An Eagle Scout is a marked man, he has earned the right to call himself a quality citizen. He pledges not to exploit his fellow man, but dedicate his skills and abilities to the common good. I can’t say strongly enough how proud our collective family is of this young man. And, he has stellar company among some famous Eagles Scouts:
Thirty-three astronauts, President Gerald Ford, Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, Pulitzer Prize winning authors, Wallace Stegner and Harrison Salisberg. Five members of the House of Representatives, Three Senators, Two Governors. Journalist Walter Cronkite, film maker Steven Spielberg, Generals, Heroic Soldiers, Great Sportsmen…the list goes on and on. Scouting gives us faith in the future of this country.