Opinion

Due to popular demand, we are posting this editorial from the March 15 Chronicle here for public consumption:

Last week, a business associate sent me the letter below, which really explains what’s wrong with government leadership. As we proceed through this year’s election, be aware of how many times candidates blame the problems we face on the opposing party, rather than taking responsibility for the system in which they play a role. I’ve always expected government to be a problem-solver rather than the problem that it has become.
Think about it. — Fred Jacobs, Vice president J-Ad Graphics, Inc. (publishers, Chronicle/Advisor)


The 545 people responsible for America's woes

by Charley Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, 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—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 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 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 or she votes.
A confidence conspiracy. 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 G.W. Bush alone for creating deficits.
The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force 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? She is the leader of the majority party.
She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.
Replace the scoundrels. 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, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow what exists is what they want to
exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it be unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Iraq, it's because those 545 people want them in Iraq.
No government problems are insoluble. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; or 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 such as "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 voters have the gumption to manage their own
employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

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Reese’s letter makes a lot of sense. If we want to solve problems, we must first take some of the blame for this mess in which we find ourselves.
A few years ago in Michigan, we added term limits to our election process.
The problem with getting a more responsive government wasn't the length of terms of office, it was finding the best people to fill the positions. If we expect responsive leadership, then we must keep up on the news, read and try to understand the issues, so we will be able identify the con when we see it, rather than wonder what happened long after it becomes ‘business as usual.’
As we get closer to this year's elections it's imperative we take a more proactive position. Don't get caught up in politics as usual.
Don't let the national media control what the candidate stands for; get as much information as you can so you will be able to make a better decision. And don't make selections based solely on political choices; try to find the candidate who has convictions similar to yours.
I return to a quote by Margaret Mead I've used many times before because it
really says what we have to do if we want to make the necessary changes:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."


Fred Jacobs, vice president, J-Ad Graphics, Inc.