545 People

545 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? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She 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 til 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, & 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 a million times!!! YOU can help it get there!!! GO AHEAD - - - BE A GREAT AMERICAN!!! Forward it to YOUR list!

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What Are Your Big Rocks?

from First Things First by Stephen Covey...(I will give you the abridged version).

In the middle of a class on time management, the teacher said, "Time for a quiz." He pulled out a jar and set it on the table. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked the audience.

He put one rock after another, until no more rocks would fit. Then he asked, "Is the jar full?"

Everybody said, "Yes."

"Wrong" he said. He pulled out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel slid all around in between the big rocks. He asked once more, "Is the jar full?"

The students said, "Probably not."

Then he reached under the table to bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar. He looked at the class and said, "Now, is the jar full?"

"No," everyone shouted back.

He then grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it into the jar.

Then he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the jar is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this? What's my point?"

One of the students spoke up: "If you try, you can always fit more into your life."

"No," the teacher said. "That's not the point. The point is this: if I hadn't put those big rocks in first, I would never have gotten them in."

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The More I Learn, The Less I Know

When it comes to the business of being in business, you've got to stay on top of your game.

I try to keep tabs on the latest and greatest tools on the market. If there is something that will improve my efficiency, I can complete the project faster and get paid faster.

I try to keep up with relevant blogs and articles that come my way about business in general, as well as the industries of my client base, because it pays to know what your clients know - and assorted other topics like social media, search engine optimization, HTML for websites, etc.

And in addition to reading articles and books, I try to attend as many networking events and seminars that my already overly full schedule will allow.

But it seems that the more information that I gather from these sources, the more I realize how much more there is out there to learn.

I've only just barely started to scuff the surface - not even scratch the surface yet - of SEO (search engine optimization) for the company website.

Every day I figure out a more appropriate way to handle a situation in the operation of the business.

Almost hourly, I will see where someone has "tweeted" about a blog article that I need to read about something that might be unnecessary or trivial to someone else, but it's something that I've been meaning to investigate anyway. For instance, just today, I saw a link to an article that showed me how to create and configure a custom icon for our website.

So I encourage you, if you are a business owner, or want to go into business for yourself. Be prepared, you may have to lose some sleep in order to keep up with all the research and study that will be required because as a business owner, you are officially enrolled in the School of Ongoing Education.

A real close friend of mine, you might even call him a mentor, told me that the human brain is like a body of water, if it doesn't continue to progress, it stagnates. And the stagnant mind or a stagnant business - STINKS!

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Do You Suffer From ASD?

I am not doctor and I don't play one on TV. And to my knowledge ASD is not officially a diagnosable medical issue. Although after you read my explanation of what it is, you may realize that you too have contracted it.

I have it, I think my wife has it, and my daughters will probably end up with it.

ASD is Acronym Stress Disorder.

Symptoms include becoming agitated whenever you receive phone calls or mail from any organization that uses acronyms. Extreme stress usually occurs when the organization only has 3 initials.

For example:

C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) - "intelligence?!?!?!? really?!?!?!? ever hear of something called 9-11... somebody really dropped the ball here... either the analysts in the field missed it or the suits in the corner offices didn't believe the analysts.

I.R.S. (Infernal... er, I mean... Internal Revenue Service) - they are always trying to tell you how much money you have to send them

I.N.S. (Immigration & Naturalization Service) - they want to tell you who can come into the country... not that anybody is listening... HEY ARIZONA! Keep fighting the good fight.

F.D.A. (Food & Drug Administration) - they want to tell you what you can eat and how much of it....

A.T.F. (Alcohol, Tobbaco & Firearms) - um, yeah.... somebody got bored and decided to see how bizarre of an organization they could come up with.

D.M.V. (Department of Motor Vehicles) - in my opinion, every location of the DMV has a time-dilation device installed because as soon as you walk in the front door, time in the building moves much slower than time outside the building. One day, I saw someone get dropped off and when their ride came back to pick them up, the driver's hair had turned gray and he had grown a beard.

B.o.A. (Bank Of America) - "Bank Of Opportunity" my big toe! The only opportunity you have with them is the opportunity to give them half your checking account balance each month due to fees and surcharges. And it's not just them, it's almost every bank in the country these days. (They just have a 3-letter acronym)

So what can be done? How do you treat A.S.D.?

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for A.S.D. But if you can help me convince the H.o.R and the U.S.S. (House of Reprentatives and United States Senate) to give me a large financial grant, I will research this problem because no one should have to live with A.S.D.

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Beer And Taxes

I "borrowed" this from a post on the Facebook profile of a friend of mine.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3...
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.

But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Author Unknown

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