Heh. In a contracting local housing market - especially on pre-existing homes, the county *still* asserts that the Old Castle and New Castle *increased* in value by 4% last year... ah, government.
In a comment yesterday, Jim B said:
"Recently, the Rothenberg Report, a top Washington, DC publication that ranks Congressional races, named 2nd District Democrat Nancy Boyda the most vulnerable incumbent in the entire country. Finally, people in Washington are starting to take notice—Boyda cannot be trusted to stand up for the Nation or the people of Kansas.""Over in the 3rd District there is also exciting news. Dennis Moore’s own internal polling shows that 78.69% of his constituents think that Dennis Moore and Congress are failing to address the country’s issues. His constituents are clear—Dennis Moore is part of the broken system in Washington, and he needs to be replaced."
That caused this admittedly 'rita-fueled train of thought.
So, who's at fault if Congress is screwed up? Simple enough. We are. Collectively, however much your personal efforts might not quite fit the rap sheet, it's a representative democracy, and the compact is we all agree (admittedly, our choices *are* limited) to "obey the rules of the pack," to channel some old Cub Scouting memories.
So, how does that get expressed? Easy - in the 545 people we've collectively sent to D.C. to manage the affairs of governance.
Which brings up something that I've bloviated about before - and wherein, I hope, the value of the Internet and blogs, of both Left and Right, and the few who occupy the mushy muddle - keeping their feet to the fire, each in our own myopic way, ignoring the faults of our side to point out the faults of the other.
If you think about it, politicians are the only people in the world who blithely create problems and then campaign against them - or demand more money to fix them. Money that they can just - take from you. Unlike any business, which really does have to convince you the trade is worth it. All of this launched me into a rant... which seemed vaguely familiar. Then I realized it *was* familiar. It was Charley Reese (oddly enough, I can't find a source for the column per se, except for people who've posted it on blogs and boards - not at King Features, not at Lew Rockwell... and it's not in Snopes, either) I've edited some passages - not because they aren't supportive, but because... they're superfluous to the point - anyway, for those that are interested, the discussion continues in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry.
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 - 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.
A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY: 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.
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.
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.
Hint: it ain't all their fault. *We*, collectively, buy the bullshit - and are happy to have them rob Peter and Paul to pay... us. Too many of us are willing to let others do our thinking for us. When companies can't manage their workforce sufficiently to week out the incompetents, and promotes them instead - that company fails. Unless it can just stop people on the street and shake 'em down.
We've created the monster. Only we can fix it. But enough of us have to care to fix it - and quit buying the bullshit.
Of *both* sides.
Not that I have any high hopes of same. But I think that a large amount of "churn" in that 545 people is a *good* thing.
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