Columnists, Congress and Carhartt's
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
When the latest batch of Doc Terrell¹s e-mails arrived this past Monday
morning, one in particular caught my attention. Doc had no way of knowing
this, but I¹ve been a fan of newspaper columnist Charley Reese for many
years.
In fact, in 1994 Charley Reese and I shared spots on The Portsmouth Daily
Times Op-Ed Page, after the all-too-soon death of columnist Lewis Grizzard,
who died in March of that year at the age of 47.
After Grizzard¹s death, Thomson Newspapers (by the way, in 2010, ³Thomson
Newspapers² is a bit of an oxymoron, since they gave up on the printed word
years ago) decided Reese would be offered to its newspapers. Thus, the Reese
and Ryan columns appeared on Saturdays at the watchful discretion of Jay
Brushart. (Reese and I also share the notable distinction of having worked
as janitors at one or two points in our respective careers. Nothing wrong
with that.)
The column that Doc sent to me was a modified version of Reese¹s ³The 545
People Responsible for America¹s Woes,² which was first published more than
20 years ago. The modified version seems to be making its way through the
e-mail channels lately. That¹s good. It¹s definitely worth reading. In case
you aren¹t familiar with it, here are a few excerpts from the column.
€ Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and
then campaign against them.
€ Too much bureaucracy? Blame Congress. Too many rules? Blame Congress.
Unjust tax laws? Congress wrote them.
€ The annual deficits? Congress votes for them. The debt? Congress
created it.
€ To put it into perspective, just remember that 100 percent of the power
of the federal government comes from the U.S. Constitution. If it¹s not in
the Constitution, it¹s not authorized. All 100 percent of the power of the
federal government is invested solely in 545 individual human beings. That¹s
all. Of (300 million) Americans, only 545 of them wield 100 percent of the
power of the federal government. That¹s 435 members of the U.S. House, 100
senators, one president and nine Supreme Court justices. Anything involving
government that is wrong is 100 percent their fault.
€ All bureaucracies are created by Congress or by executive order of the
president. All operate under procedures authorized by Congress. That¹s why
all complaints and protests should be properly directed at Congress, not at
the individual agencies.
€ Congress is the originator of all government problems and is also the
only remedy available. That¹s why, of course, politicians go to such
extraordinary lengths and employ world-class sophistry to make you think
they are not responsible. Anytime a congressman pretends to be outraged by
something a federal bureaucrat does, he is in fact engaging in one big
massive con job. No federal employee can act at all except to enforce laws
passed by Congress and to employ procedures authorized by Congress either
explicitly or implicitly.
€ Partisans on both sides like to blame presidents for deficits, but all
deficits are congressional deficits. The president may, by custom, recommend
a budget, but it carries no legal weight. Only Congress is authorized by the
Constitution to authorize and appropriate and to levy taxes. That¹s what the
federal budget consists of: expenditures authorized, funds appropriated and
taxes levied.
€ Both Democrats and Republicans mislead the public. Every president,
Democrat or Republican, could have vetoed appropriations bills that did not
make up a balanced budget. Every president could have recommended a balanced
budget. None has done either.
€ We have annual deficits and a huge federal debt because that¹s what
majorities in Congress and presidents in the White House wanted. We have
troops in various rat holes because Congress and the president want them
there.
I seriously doubt I¹ve met as many members of Congress as Mr. Reese has
known, but of those I have gotten to know, few give me cause to believe Mr.
Reese is anything but steel on target in this column.
Too many members of Congress send out news releases calling themselves
³Members² of Congress as if we ought to bow down to their self-anointed
nobility. Baloney.
One exception to this widespread mindset would be former Ohio Second
District Congressman Rob Portman.
Portman is now running for the U.S. Senate. I hope Ohio voters support
him. He¹s one of the good ones.
I could write as many good things about Portman alone, as I could write
less-than-flattering things about many other congressional representatives.
And the fact that his opposition has sent out a number of highly critical
e-mails lately to media outlets across the state simply reinforces the
point. They must be worried.
Now let¹s borrow a closing comment from the aforementioned Lewis Grizzard
who said: ³If you ain¹t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.² It¹s time
voters changed the scenery in Washington. We¹ll have that opportunity in
November.
Good ol¹ Lewis also said ³The only way that they could improve upon
Coca-Cola, one of life¹s most delightful elixirs which studies prove will
heal the sick and occasionally raise the dead is to put rum or bourbon in
it.² True that. And perhaps the only way we can improve Congress is to put
someone else in it.
It¹s not very often that I¹ll bore readers with too many political
endorsements, but I will tell you with all sincerity that Rob Portman is
worthy of your vote. He served Ohio¹s Second District very well from
1993-2005.
And as even The New York Times noted this week, ... ³colleagues from both
parties have called (Portman) a practical politician first and a fiscal
conservative second. Portman developed a reputation as a pragmatist who
could work across the aisle. ...Mr. Portman is seen as a team player who,
even when breaking with the party as he did when he quietly scuttled a
Bush proposal to create a new class of tax-advantaged individual retirement
accounts eschewed an iconoclastic image.²
I don¹t know anything about his ³iconoclastic image,² but I do know he
could walk into a newspaper office in Adams County without the typical
congressional entourage at his side. I always appreciated that. Ted
Strickland was much the same when he was a southern Ohio congressman. He
didn¹t need a paid posse with him to visit the small towns in his district.
Another plus for Mr. Portman, in my book, is that I once saw him wearing
a genuine Carhartt jacket at the old Ripley burley tobacco warehouse. You
just can beat a congressman or senator in Carhartt¹s.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.
When the latest batch of Doc Terrell's e-mails arrived this past Monday morning, one in particular caught my attention. Doc had no way of knowing this, but I've been a fan of newspaper columnist Charley Reese for many years.
In fact, in 1994 Charley Reese and I shared spots on The Portsmouth Daily Times Op-Ed Page, after the all-too-soon death of columnist Lewis Grizzard, who died in March of that year at the age of 47.
After Grizzard's death, Thomson Newspapers (by the way, in 2010, "Thomson Newspapers" is a bit of an oxymoron, since they gave up on the printed word years ago) decided Reese would be offered to its newspapers. Thus, the Reese and Ryan columns appeared on Saturdays at the watchful discretion of Jay Brushart. (Reese and I also share the notable distinction of having worked as janitors at one or two points in our respective careers. Nothing wrong with that.)
The column that Doc sent to me was a modified version of Reese's "The 545 People Responsible for America's Woes," which was first published more than 20 years ago. The modified version seems to be making its way through the e-mail channels lately. That's good. It's definitely worth reading. In case you aren't familiar with it, here are a few excerpts from the column.
• Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
• Too much bureaucracy? Blame Congress. Too many rules? Blame Congress. Unjust tax laws? Congress wrote them.
• The annual deficits? Congress votes for them. The debt? Congress created it.
• To put it into perspective, just remember that 100 percent of the power of the federal government comes from the U.S. Constitution. If it's not in the Constitution, it¹s not authorized. All 100 percent of the power of the federal government is invested solely in 545 individual human beings. That's all. Of (300 million) Americans, only 545 of them wield 100 percent of the power of the federal government. That's 435 members of the U.S. House, 100 senators, one president and nine Supreme Court justices. Anything involving government that is wrong is 100 percent their fault.
• All bureaucracies are created by Congress or by executive order of the president. All operate under procedures authorized by Congress. That's why all complaints and protests should be properly directed at Congress, not at the individual agencies.
• Congress is the originator of all government problems and is also the only remedy available. That's why, of course, politicians go to such extraordinary lengths and employ world-class sophistry to make you think they are not responsible. Anytime a congressman pretends to be outraged by something a federal bureaucrat does, he is in fact engaging in one big massive con job. No federal employee can act at all except to enforce laws passed by Congress and to employ procedures authorized by Congress either explicitly or implicitly.
• Partisans on both sides like to blame presidents for deficits, but all deficits are congressional deficits. The president may, by custom, recommend a budget, but it carries no legal weight. Only Congress is authorized by the Constitution to authorize and appropriate and to levy taxes. That¹s what the federal budget consists of: expenditures authorized, funds appropriated and taxes levied.
• Both Democrats and Republicans mislead the public. Every president, Democrat or Republican, could have vetoed appropriations bills that did not make up a balanced budget. Every president could have recommended a balanced budget. None has done either.
• We have annual deficits and a huge federal debt because that's what majorities in Congress and presidents in the White House wanted. We have troops in various rat holes because Congress and the president want them there.
I seriously doubt I¹ve met as many members of Congress as Mr. Reese has known, but of those I have gotten to know, few give me cause to believe Mr. Reese is anything but steel on target in this column.
Too many members of Congress send out news releases calling themselves "Members" of Congress as if we ought to bow down to their self-anointed nobility. Baloney.
One exception to this widespread mindset would be former Ohio Second District Congressman Rob Portman.
Portman is now running for the U.S. Senate. I hope Ohio voters support him. He¹s one of the good ones.
I could write as many good things about Portman alone, as I could write less-than-flattering things about many other congressional representatives. And the fact that his opposition has sent out a number of highly critical e-mails lately to media outlets across the state simply reinforces the point. They must be worried.
Now let's borrow a closing comment from the aforementioned Lewis Grizzard who said: "If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes." It's time voters changed the scenery in Washington. We'll have that opportunity in November.
Good ol' Lewis also said "The only way that they could improve upon Coca-Cola, one of life's most delightful elixirs which studies prove will heal the sick and occasionally raise the dead is to put rum or bourbon in it." True that. And perhaps the only way we can improve Congress is to put someone else in it.
It's not very often that I¹ll bore readers with too many political endorsements, but I will tell you with all sincerity that Rob Portman is worthy of your vote. He served Ohio's Second District very well from 1993-2005.
And as even The New York Times noted this week, ... "colleagues from both parties have called (Portman) a practical politician first and a fiscal conservative second. Portman developed a reputation as a pragmatist who could work across the aisle. ...Mr. Portman is seen as a team player who, even when breaking with the party as he did when he quietly scuttled a Bush proposal to create a new class of tax-advantaged individual retirement accounts eschewed an iconoclastic image."
I don't know anything about his "iconoclastic image," but I do know he could walk into a newspaper office in Adams County without the typical congressional entourage at his side. I always appreciated that. Ted Strickland was much the same when he was a southern Ohio congressman. He didn't need a paid posse with him to visit the small towns in his district.
Another plus for Mr. Portman, in my book, is that I once saw him wearing a genuine Carhartt jacket at the old Ripley burley tobacco warehouse. You just can beat a congressman or senator in Carhartt's.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.
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