POLITICIANS

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 Co urt 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 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.

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 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? 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 ca n 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 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 Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, wh om they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobb yists, 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 exist 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.

HEALTH UPDATE

Some have inquired about my progress, so an update.

CARDIO-REHAB, there is a lot more to it that I initially understood. BIPASS surgery is so invasive that they don't know what all is going to happen in the post-operation time frame. I felt great, with soreness exceptions, after the surgery. THEN so mysterious symptoms surfaced, DEPRESSION, PANIC ATTACKS and more, took over my life. And, they were out of my control, then controlled me.

How long will they last, I don't know. I take one day at a time, and emotional highs and lows as they come. Some days good, some days bad.

I have tried to stick to a routine, so I know how things are going, and walking seems to be a large part of the equation. My days are more normal if I walk in the morning. I try to do at least 15 minutes, and generally do 20 to 30 minutes per walk.

Could Bob Barr’s Run as Libertarian Doom McCain?
Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr is seen as the Libertarian Party’s most likely presidential candidate — and he could wind up torpedoing John McCain’s White House hopes.
“Given the recent fundraising prowess of a kindred spirit — Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican nomination siphoned up $35 million, mostly off the Internet — libertarians are feeling their oats,” political analyst George F. Will writes in Newsweek.
“Come November, Barr conceivably could be to John McCain what Ralph Nader was to Al Gore in 2000 — ruinous.”
Nader was a weak third-party candidate and won only 2,882,955 popular votes nationwide, but 97,488 of them were in Florida — where, because of Nader, George W. Bush won by 537 votes, Will notes.
Shane Cory, the Libertarian Party's executive director, “thinks his party is upwardly mobile,” Will writes.
“In 2004, its presidential candidate received just 397,265 votes, a mere .32 percent of the national popular vote…
“But in no state was the Libertarian vote larger than the winning candidate's margin of victory. This year, however, Cory thinks the party can far surpass its best national performance — 921,299 votes in 1980.”
Cory and Barr say the party almost certainly will be on the ballot in at least 48 states.
Republican consultant Craig Shirley recently wrote: “This Libertarian thing may be bigger than anyone is foreseeing right now.”
Barr left the GOP in 2006 over what he called bloated spending and civil liberties intrusions by the Bush administration.
A former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, Barr served eight years as a Republican congressman from Georgia before losing his seat in 2002 after a redistricting.
A Barr run for the White House would be handicapped by “John McCain's handiwork,” Will added.
“One wealthy libertarian would give $1 million if the McCain-Feingold law regulating political participation did not ban contributions of more than $28,500 to national parties.
But Will concludes: “If libertarian voters cost McCain the presidency, that will be condign punishment.”