One little word to right America

Longtime newspaper columnist Charley Reese raised millions of eyebrows and 545 tempers in 1985. With power and plenty of persuasion, he concluded that politicians really are the source of all that ails domestic America.

"Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them," he penned back then. "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."

Reese went on to condemn the 545 - 100 senators, 435 congressmen, the president and nine Supreme Court justices - as being "directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country."

And an addendum.

In an editorial board meeting last week with U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, we shared the Reese column with him and the congressman steadfastly agreed with everything Charley wrote. Why, then, we asked him, has nothing changed?

His explanation: Because 320 million or so Americans have not changed.

Rep. Labrador wasn't excusing members of Congress by a long shot. He said most lack the integrity to do what's right, which is this: Say no. When your constituents come to you asking not just for the continued funding of the program or programs they favor, but for even more funding, members of Congress should have the guts to look them in the eye and say no. Because with every little yes (and some very big ones), another log of debt is tossed atop the giant debt heap in our nation's backyard.

Reese, who died in 2013, urged voters to throw out the bums. That's not a bad idea, but it won't fix the problem by itself. We need members of Congress with the courage and determination to say no, but even more than that, we need Americans who won't ask to ruin their country in the first place.