

{"id":20247,"date":"2019-01-11T15:20:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T15:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=20247"},"modified":"2019-01-11T15:25:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T15:25:17","slug":"a-must-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=20247","title":{"rendered":"A Must Read&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-20244\" src=\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-960x598.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-960x598.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-150x93.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-270x168.jpeg 270w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-768x478.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-600x374.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-880x548.jpeg 880w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-580x361.jpeg 580w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-350x218.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-400x249.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-370x230.jpeg 370w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-500x311.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545-750x467.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/545.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In my days as a Nikon NPS rep I called on the Orlando Sentinel and met a great columnist named Charley Reese. \u00a0This was his last column as he retired recently. \u00a0This is a must read!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"\">READ, WEEP, PRINT AND KEEP!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This should be on the front page of every newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><br class=\"\" \/>Charley Reese&#8217;s Final column!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A very interesting column. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL.<br class=\"\" \/>Be sure to Read the Poem at the end..<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Charley Reese&#8217;s final column for the Orlando Sentinel&#8230; He has been a journalist for 49 years. He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">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&#8217;s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>545 vs. 300,000,000 People<\/strong><\/span><br class=\"\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>-By Charlie Reese<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>You and I don&#8217;t propose a federal budget. The President does.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>You and I don&#8217;t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>You and I don&#8217;t write the tax code, Congress does.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>You and I don&#8217;t set fiscal policy, Congress does.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>You and I don&#8217;t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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&#8217;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&#8217;s responsibility to determine how he votes.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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. 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. [The House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The President&#8217;s proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time. ]<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted &#8212; by present facts &#8212; of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can&#8217;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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>If the tax code is unfair, it&#8217;s because they want it unfair.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>If the budget is in the red, it&#8217;s because they want it in the red.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>If the Army &amp; Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it&#8217;s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>..<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it&#8217;s because they want it that way.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>There are no insoluble government problems.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><br class=\"\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like &#8220;the economy,&#8221; &#8220;inflation,&#8221; or &#8220;politics&#8221; that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>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&#8230; We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>What you do with this article now that you have read it&#8230; is up to you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><br class=\"\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><strong>This might be funny if it weren&#8217;t so true.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>We, the 300,000,000, are responsible for fixing this, please start the process and spread the word!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8230;..and happy retirement Charley, you left us with a real gift in this one!!!!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blessings,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>the pilgrim<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>PS I was alerted to this by my dear buddy Richard Small! \u00a0Thanks Richard always enjoy your great emails!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; In my days as a Nikon NPS rep I called on the Orlando Sentinel and met a great columnist named Charley Reese. \u00a0This was his last column as he retired recently. \u00a0This is a must read! &nbsp; READ, WEEP, PRINT AND KEEP! &nbsp; This should be on the front page of every newspaper. &nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20247"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20252,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20247\/revisions\/20252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}