Dying May 10, 2013 DO NOT MISS THE LAST THREE MINUTES So the Republicans yesterday blocked appointment of an EPA Administrator. This 4-minute clip from last night’s “All In With Chris Hayes” notes, at 1:16, where we are with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — back to where we were 800,000 years ago, when the sea level was dramatically higher — and includes compelling clips from Senator Whitehouse’s remarks on the floor, which, if we are to have any hope of sparing future generations untold misery, you must send to your climate-change-denying uncle. As a species, we are good at a lot of things. But taking action now to avoid dire consequences fairly off in the future is not one of them. Which is why the cockroaches may get the last laugh. LAUGHING AT BREAST CANCER In a good way. Four very funny minutes — here. DYING Donald: “I am dying so I have only taken to reading stuff that really matters to me. Please tell me what is wrong with this thinking and why you aren’t an enabler?” READ, WEEP, PRINT AND KEEP! This should be on the front page of every newspaper . . . Charley Reese’s final column for the Orlando Sentinel. He has been a journalist for 49 years. He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN. Be sure to read the Tax List at the end. This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It’s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering! 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 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! Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper. What you do with this article now that you have read it… is up to you. This might be funny if it weren’t so true. Be sure to read all the way to the end: Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table, At which he’s fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway! Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax his ass. Tax all he has Then let him know That you won’t be done Till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till He’s good and sore. Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he’s laid… Put these words Upon his tomb, ‘Taxes drove me to my doom…’ When he’s gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax. Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon) Gross Receipts Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Personal Property Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service Charge Tax Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax Sales Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the heck happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’ I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!! GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!! ☞ I am distressed to learn that you are dying, Donald. For what it’s worth, don’t let this stuff add to your burdens. Try to focus on the couple of GOOD things that have somehow happened over the last 100 years since all these politicians were elected, all this debt accumulated, all these taxes imposed. Most of the things we use and enjoy today didn’t exist back then, so back then there was no need for taxes to fund things like the FCC or FDA or FAA. Medicare and Medicaid weren’t needed because healthcare consisted of aspirin and leaches (or, well, not much more). Social Security payments weren’t needed because old folks lived with their children. Those items alone — social security and Medicare and Medicaid — are a huge part of the budget we fund with taxes. We didn’t need to tax ourselves much for defense in peacetime because the oceans pretty much defended us (and because we paid our soldiers, when we did draft them, bupkus). There were few taxes to support transportation — because there were few highways. And so on. Yes, we have huge problems, not least the climate change problem Republicans refuse to acknowledge or confront (watch that clip!) . . . and glaring problems in our political system I’d love to see fixed: We went exactly backwards with Citizens United . . . we need to redraw electoral districts in a way that allows moderates and centrists to win . . . we need to bring back, at the very least, the “talking filibuster” so if someone wants to do it, at least they have to do it . . . and more. But getting rid of taxes (and thus all that those taxes pay for) and getting rid of debt (and thus all of the investment it funds) and getting rid of 545 people (only to replace them with 545 new ones selected in the same way) makes no sense to me. Charlie Reese is probably a lovely man, but this is a really simple-minded column that only serves to feed cynicism and disaffection without proposing a single constructive, viable solution. I’d welcome your thoughts — and hope you wind up with many more years than you expect to formulate them.