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 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!
Union Thug Yelling, Swearing at 14 Year Old Girl (Tea Party Speaker)
Warning: Foul Language
I Need Your Help – YouTube/Tea Party Protest Videos
If you are (or if you know) any of the anti Tea Party protesters featured in the now infamous YouTube videos taken at the Sarah Palin speech in Madison, WI I want to hear from you! Simply e-mail me at chris@christruitt.com and I’ll be in touch.
If you have YouTube/Tea Party Protest videos, please send me the link!
Miami News Expose on Stealing Tissues from the Dead
I recently had the opportunity to become involved with a news story out of Miami regarding a horrific case of a tissue bank stealing tissue from unwilling and unknowing donors. This tissue, and it’s falsified documentation, was then sold to a Florida tissue processing company where it was machined into parts and sold across the country. The problem is that this tissue is tainted with disease. It has caused nothing but pain and suffering for everyone involved from the family of the stolen donors to the recipients of the tissue. Everyone, that is, except for the the companies that have turned a huge profit from the sale of the tissue.
Part I: Recycled Bodies Cause Horror
“I go to bed at night praying I don’t wake up and think about it. And it’s the first thing I think about,” said a tearful Karen Delre, describing the horror she cannot erase from her mind.
“My nightmares consist of my father calling me, begging for my help,” this heartbroken daughter shared with Chief I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen.
Delre was devoted to her dad. She would have done anything to honor him in life and death. Never would she have imagined this cruelest twist of fate.
“He was just cruelly, with a saw and blades, he was just skinned and everything was ripped from him. Which means everything was ripped from me,” Del Re explained.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/02/04/i-team-recycled-bodies-cause-for-horror/
Part II: Stealing from the Dead
Chris and his wife donated their daughter’s organs and were so moved by meeting the little girl who received Alyssa’s gift of life, they publicly encouraged others to do the same.
He even left his career as an emergency medical technician and went to work for a tissue recovery service in Madison, Wisconsin, from where he spoke with CBS4 Chief I- Team Investigator Michele Gillen.
“I realized I needed to do something more than just promote it, I needed to become involved in the industry to help other folks,” Truitt said.
He had no idea the world he was about to enter; the big business of tissue donation would become, he said, so disturbing that he would eventually speak out against the entire industry.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/02/04/stealing-from-the-dead-part-2/
A Shining Star Among Teachers
Our daughter is currently in high school and while all of this budget and union mess was unfolding the issues became the topic of discussion in her school. Every teacher she had expressed their personal feelings over what was going on…except for one. Her Spanish teacher took a more objective approach. She simply presented the facts of the situation – what the budget repair bill included as it pertained to teachers, what the teachers felt, what others felt, and she answered the questions that the students had – and she let the students create their own opinions and draw their own conclusions. She didn’t project her own thoughts/feelings on the students she taught. This is, in my mind, evidence of a truly remarkable teacher. In my opinion, teachers have been unfairly roped into this quagmire (with the exception of Madison teachers – they choose to continue to be politically involved). This isn’t a ‘Wisconsin vs. Teachers’ issue as WEAC would have you believe. instead, this is a Wisconsin Taxpayer vs. Union ‘Fat Cat’ issue. To throw the teachers into the fray is absolutely unfair and completely unacceptable.
Teachers, it is not your job to sway your students one way or the other on any political or social issue. It is your job to teach your students how to analyze situations and form their own opinions.
To my daughter’s Spanish teacher, Muy Bien!
WI Boycotters are out for blood…at the expense of their friends & neighbors.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of months, you’ve heard about the hardcore union thug, liberal wing nuts in Madison calling for a boycott of all businesses that employ Walker contributors. Let me say that again – they’re not boycotting businesses that supported Walker, they’re boycotting ANY business that has ANY employee that contributed to Scott Walker’s campaign regardless of how many employees did NOT donate to Walker. Here’s a replay of a recent Facebook conversation I had:
ME: So let me get this straight. Private citizens donate to political campaigns. Union members find out who those private citizens work for and then call for a boycott of those employers, hoping to punish ALL of the employees at that employer, not just the donors. How is this a good thing?
BOYCOTT SCOTT WALKER CONTRIBUTORS: Uh Chris, you mean like Johnsonville where only 5 out of more than 1000 employees gave money to Walker? And four of those were members of the Stayer Family of (founders and owners of Johnsonville who gave greater than $30,000 (’09/’10)). You mean those private citizens who gave to Walker?
ME: That’s exactly what I mean. Using your numbers, 5 out of 1000 (less than 1/2 of 1 percent) are contributors. If I’m not mistaken, your boycott aims to punish the whole company…including the other 99.5% of non Walker donors.
BOYCOTT SCOTT WALKER CONTRIBUTORS: Or you mean these 4 private citizens that drove an excellent bank into ruins requiring 1.7 billion dollars of TARP funds? http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=110222415725450 You mean like Mark Furlong who will get to stay in charge and get a 24 million dollar golden parachute? You mean those private citizens? Chris – Are you saying that people should not buy sausages from Klements, Usingers and other small sausage makers?
ME: Let me say this again (and I’m typing slower to help you understand) – I mean THE OTHER 99.5% OF THE EMPLOYEES that you are punishing. Are you really that vindictive that you are willing to punish 99.5% of the people just to get at .5% of them?
BOYCOTT SCOTT WALKER CONTRIBUTORS: We’re punishing the people that supported Walker, Chris. Those people pull MILLIONS from company profits. You need to have a sense of balance here, the people that benefit MOST from revenue are the owners. We’re giving them a response by moving our business to owners that support our cause. That’s what we’re doing and we’ll keep doing it until those Walker supporters back down on supporting the destruction of Wisconsin’s middle class (which includes, by the way, their own employees).
So there you have it! The boycotters are willing to punish 99.5% of the employees just to get at the .5% that are Walker contributors. They don’t care about the collateral damage. Their aim is to drive 99.5% of the workforce out of a job and into the unemployment line just so they can punish the handful of Walker contributors. There is simply no logic to this.
I’m reminded of two quotes I’ve heard over the years. The first is “I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” The second, which is more appropriate, is quite simply this: “You can’t fix stupid.”
“The Dark Side of Tissue Donation” is Now Available
Told from the perspective of an industry insider and donor father, The Dark Side of Tissue Donation provides a unique, emotional, and disturbing perspective on tissue donation. Chris shares what the tissue banks don’t want you know; information that has for too long been too taboo to speak of, but information that every donor family must know before the choice to donate is made. You’ll learn what it’s like to be a donor father procuring tissues from other donors. You’ll find out what it takes to make it through a day in the life of a procurement technician. You’ll also be exposed to information that only those within the industry have been allowed to know; what really goes on behind the closed doors of operating rooms and corporate board rooms. Profiteering, a body’s worth, industry abuses, informed consent, organs and tissues for illegal immigrants, minorities and donation – nothing is too controversial and Chris covers it all. Get ready to find out what really happens in The Dark Side of Tissue Donation.
Just head to http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3781930
eBook: $1.99
Paperback: $9.99
It’s Not About the Teachers (But Since You Brought It Up…)
To the casual observer of the situation unfolding here in Wisconsin it would seem that evil Republican Governor Scott Walker is stealing money right out of the pockets of teachers. The reason behind this perception? The union propaganda being crammed down our throats through TV ads, news interviews, and press releases tells us so.
I’m not surprised that this is the case – the unions have sunk to new lows in order to preserve themselves throughout this debacle. What many people seem to not realize is that the State of Wisconsin doesn’t actually pay teachers and has no control over their salaries or benefits – that is all handled by the local school districts. Contrary to what the union thugs would have us believe, Governor Walker has no control over what teachers are paid and he has no control over what their benefits package includes.
Teacher salaries and benefits are decided by the local school district (and formerly by the teachers’ unions) at the district level. Madison teachers may have completely different compensation and benefit packages than Milwaukee or Monroe teachers. To over simplify it, school districts receive a lump sum of money from the State every year. It’s up to the individual districts to decide how to divvy up the funds. Some may pay teachers less and spend more on facilities, others may pay teachers more and spend less on maintenance and innovation. All districts are (or were) subject to the demands of the local teachers’ unions. If any pay cuts are deemed necessary, they are done so by the local district and the local union – not the State.
S0 why, then, are the headlines all about cutting the pay of teachers? It’s all about public relations. Let me ask you this – do you really care if the janitors at the Capitol have to start contributing part of their salary to their retirement plan? Does it really matter to you if the clerks in the various offices have to start contributing towards their health care premiums? I’m guessing that it really doesn’t matter to you. I know it doesn’t matter to me – I have to fund my own retirement plan (although my employer is kind enough to provide a limited match) and I have to pay for a good chunk of my health insurance premium too. Why should my hard-earned money go to pay a government worker that earns more than I do and why should even more of my heard-earned money go to pay 100% of that worker’s benefits package when I have to pay for my own?
But – replace ‘janitor’ or ‘clerk’ with ‘teacher’ and suddenly it’s an absolutely huge deal. Everybody loves teachers. Everybody also loves firefighters, cops, and EMTs (but the current repair bill exempted the latter three from the cuts). The unions know that by spinning the budget repair bill to be an attack on teachers they are able to create public outcry even though there really is nothing in the repair bill that cuts teachers’ pay.
Unions exist for two reasons – the first is self preservation and the second is squeezing every last cent out of their members’ employers for the benefit of their members. If the unions loose the ability to negotiate key things such as benefits, they will have no ‘bite’, they will no longer be able to put the same ‘squeeze’ on their members’ employer (the State of Wisconsin), and there will be no reason for members to pay the dues that pay the salaries of union leadership. The unions will cease to be relevant and might as well close up shop and go away.
The budget repair bill recently passed and signed into law takes away the government employees’ unions ability to negotiate anything other than wage increases and even those are strictly limited. It also makes paying union dues voluntary. In short, it takes away the unions ability to do much of anything and also takes away their funding source. The unions are fighting for their lives.
The big picture is that the State has to cut costs but the unions don’t really care. They’d rather see the State go even further into debt or see taxes raised than take a pay cut for their members (and see a cut in dues payments). Remember – they’re only in the game for the interest of themselves and their members, not for the greater good of the State. This simply doesn’t work when hard decisions need to be made.
By eliminating the unions, the State of Wisconsin now has the very same cost cutting options that have always been available to private companies. Employees now have the choice of agreeing to an increase in the amount they pay for their benefits or they can find a new job. This choice has never been available under the overbearing rule of the unions.
Now here is where all of this comes to into focus for teachers. The State will have to decrease payments to local school districts due to decreased tax revenues attributed to the slumping economy. Until now, the local unions would have fought to have absolutely no decrease in pay or benefits for teachers which would have meant that the school districts would have had to cut services or staff. By eliminating the power of the unions, school districts now have the ability to offer teachers modified pay and benefits packages in order to avoid any cuts in staffing. The power is back in the hands of the employer.
It’s a beautiful thing!
Welcome to ChrisTruitt.com
Welcome to my site! I’m neither a professional journalist nor a professional web guru – I am is a husband, a parent, and a small business owner with LOTS of opinions on everything from education to organ donation to politics. My posts and this site are designed to open minds, raise awareness of issues, and start conversations. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’ve also included links to many resource web sites regarding or state and federal governments. The links also include some of our nation’s most important documents. It’s a quick and easy way to research much about the founding of , guiding principles for, and operation of our country.
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