Every four years the U.S. holds a presidential election and you’d think that nothing in this country was more important. We endure the intrusions of 24/7 news coverage and the seemingly endless stream of political ads. I’m agreed that electing a president is serious stuff, but does one elected office deserve this much focus? Did the decisions of just one person get our country to where we are today?
A columnist named Charley Reese back in 1984 penned a great column for the Orlando Sentinel entitled, “545 people are responsible for the mess, but they unite in a common con.” The whole column is well worth the reading, but one quote is particularly appropriate.
Reese wrote, “You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the constitutional authority to vote n appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code. The Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. the 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 238 million- are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.”
Thank you Charley, that is utterly profound. And think about this. Congress is apparently so arrogant and so full of itself that they insulate their own selves and families from the laws that they pass and foist on you and me. Really? Folks wake up!
America, don’t you think that it makes a lot more sense for us to be spending at least the same amount of time or even more time scrutinizing the candidates for the House or Senate than we do on the president? I think it does and it’s time to start some serious “House” cleaning.