Posted on 08/09/2012 10:20:35 AM PDT by neverdem
Immediately following Ted Cruz’s victory in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in Texas last week, a television ad by my organization’s Super PAC, Club for Growth Action, was deemed the “single most important” ad in the race. That ad repeated a single charge over and over again — namely, that Cruz’s opponent, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, was a “moderate.”
We’re glad that people noticed, because Congress needs fewer “moderates” and more people willing to adhere to principle and work to fix our fiscal mess.
No serious observer unclouded by politics can dispute that if Congress does not pass pro-growth tax reform, curb entitlement spending and quickly pay down our crushing debt burden, we will end up like Greece.
A common myth is that if only the right and left could work together, if more moderates (of the kind our organization has vehemently and successfully opposed over the years) were in Congress, America would be saved. What we need is compromise .
This is, quite patently, false. Compromise is what got us into this mess.
First, the premise that Congress is too polarized to get anything done is ridiculous. For years, Republicans and Democrats have collaborated to pass legislation that expands the reach of government with huge bipartisan margins.
Just a few examples that come to mind are the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan, Cash for Clunkers and the No Child Left Behind Act.
And every year, Congress passes legislation authorizing billions upon billions of additional spending on dozens of federal agencies — and they’ve moved us closer to fiscal collapse with Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in the House, despite all the talk about how bipartisanship doesn’t exist.
Indeed, Congress often comes together to pass policies that increase the size and scope of government. Think of the Wall Street bailout, which was supported by a bipartisan majority. The auto bailout drew support from Republicans and Democrats alike when it passed the House.
Republicans and Democrats have constantly joined together in an orgy of spending, earmarks, debt and Bridges to Nowhere. It is both parties that are responsible for a national debt that has reached over $16 trillion.
Worse, neither party seems interested in fiscal responsibility.
Take this year’s farm bill in the U.S. Senate: Legislators on both sides of the aisle will tout savings they’ve made in it, but they’re missing the fundamental flaw of a nearly $1 trillion, five-year piece of legislation.
For years, compromise and bi-partisanship have driven the massive spending increases in this law, with no end in sight. The bill’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (i.e., “food stamps”) and agriculture subsidies are combined to get legislators from a diversity of districts to vote for this massive bill.
Why? Because members of Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — are more interested in keeping their jobs by effectively bribing their constituents with our tax dollars than in curbing spending.
Richard Mourdock, the Indiana Republican who defeated the “moderate” and “bipartisan” Richard Lugar in the May Senate primary with our support, has received criticism for his opposition to compromise.
To be clear, pro-growth conservatives are interested in compromise. We’re interested in any compromise that shrinks the size and scope of government. The problem is that compromise in Washington over the past 20 years usually means more borrowing from our grandchildren and increasing the likelihood that America will end up like just another bankrupt European nation.
Ted Cruz is not a moderate. He holds deep convictions, and we hope he has the opportunity to engage in many compromises that will reduce the size of government — instead of compromising the future of our nation.
Chocola, a former congressman from Indiana, is the president of the Club for Growth.
I got this email from someone this week.
Everyone should consider this when they go to the polls.
Too accurate to ever stop forwarding.....
Charley Reese’s Final column!
A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end.
Charley Reese’s final column for the Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.
Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.
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’s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
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 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? 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!
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 till
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 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD. . . BE AN AMERICAN!!!
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