The 545 People Responsible for all of America’s Woes

Charley Reese, a syndicated columnist who retired in 2008, once wrote a piece that has stuck in my mind for years. In the article, Reese explains how just a few hundred people, amongst the millions that live in the USA, are responsible for all of the problems that plague our society.

I am so impressed and touched by this piece that I have included it below, along with a link to Reese’s Wiki page. This article was originally written in the early 80′s, yet it’s points remain true to this day.

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF 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 235 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 but 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 legislation’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don’t you see now the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? 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 Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan 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 appropriations and taxes.

O’Neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 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 Lebanon, it’s because they want them in Lebanon.

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 it.

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 they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper

Follow Me on Twitter!

Penn State Sex Scandal & The Disgusting Men Behind It

Originally written for Jockpost.com

Jerry Sandusky, a former Defensive Coordinator at Penn State University, is about to go down as one of the most hated men in the history of sports.

And it has nothing to do with sports.

Sandusky is (allegedly) a child raping pervert who not only raped children, he raped helpless little boys who had come to his program, The Second Mile, seeking help. This psychopath actually formed the foundation to help “at risk” kids and then used it to feed his twisted desire to have sex with pre-teen boys. We are talking about the worst kind of person to ever walk the planet.

This is the kind of man who proves that the United States’ policy of no “cruel and unusual punishment” is far too lenient. This psychopath should be pinned to a wall and sliced with Exacto Blades while being sprayed with vinegar, broadcast live for free on TV & online. Then nursed back to health so it can be done again. And again. And again.

Sandusky is only 67, so I estimate he could be tortured for at least 20 years. And that still wouldn’t be enough to make up for what he has done. Just ask any of the 8 victims detailed in a 40 count indictment against him. However it may discourage other potential or current molesters and rapists from following Sandusky’s sick path. Humans respond to incentives, both positive and negative, and strict (and sometimes painful) punishments are the only way to truly reduce and eliminate crime. Especially this kind of crime where the helpless victims are manipulated and raped.

“This is a case about a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys,” state Attorney General Linda Kelly said Saturday.

Not only should Sandusky go down in flames, but everyone involved in this scandal should fry. Numerous grown men including legendary head football Coach Joe Paterno, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President for Finance & Business Gary Schultz seemingly turned their backs when informed that Sandusky was raping and molesting helpless little boys. Worse off, they conspired to cover up the crimes by not reporting them to the authorities. How in the hell can they sleep at night?

This is one of the saddest, most shocking and most disgusting stories to ever rock the sports world. And it is going to forever tarnish the reputation of the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history. I don’t see how Paterno walks away from this. If it doesn’t get him fired (or force his resignation) it very well may kill him. A graduate student who was nearly 30 years old had personally informed Paterno that Sandusky was showering with and raping a little boy, and Paterno thought he did his duty by informing the Athletic Director, Tim Curley.

How can you sleep at night, Joe? You inform Curley and then go back to thinking about football? It’s not like some bonehead made these accusations… a respectable grown man personally informed you about a first hand witnessing of Sandusky’s wrath, and you didn’t have the brains to question why Sandusky wasn’t in any trouble after you reported it to the Athletic Director? Your hands are dirty and you should be ashamed of yourself. In a statement released by his son Scott, Paterno said “If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers.”

Prayers?! Does that help you sleep at night, Joe? Praying isn’t going to do a thing. You know what would have? Reporting the raping psychopath to the authorities like any decent human being with a sliver of common sense would have. Instead you stayed idle, allowing numerous other innocent boys to fall victim to Sandusky’s sick desires.

Curley and Schultz are just as guilty as Paterno, if not more. Both have since stepped down from their posts at Penn State and both are surely in a hell of a lot of trouble as details continue to emerge.

When the graduate student (and his father) reported seeing Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, Curley and Schultz met with him but did nothing else to follow-up with his accusations.

“Despite a powerful eyewitness statement about the sexual assault of a child, this incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency, as required by Pennsylvania law,”  state Attorney General Linda Kelly said.

Curley, obviously not a smart man, is now claiming that the student didn’t report sexual assault, however Curley admits that he barred Sandusky from bringing children onto campus after the report. Why ban Sandusky from anything if the student didn’t report something bad? That’s like saying, “I don’t care if you rape little boys, just don’t do it on campus.” Furthermore, Curley admits to informing university President Graham Spanier of the situation.

Spanier may be the only person who comes off more evil than Paterno, Curley and Schultz, as he has since been quoted as saying “I have known and worked daily with Tim (Curley) and Gary (Schultz) for more than 16 years. I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee.”

University representatives released a statement from Spanier on Saturday calling the allegations against Sandusky “troubling” and adding that Curley and Schultz had his unconditional support.

Spanier predicted that Curley and Schultz will be exonerated.

Exonerated?! Are you kidding me? It’s almost as if Spanier also likes raping kids the way he is so nonchalantly defending the men who covered up Sandusky’s hideous crimes. It’s no surprise that Penn State called an emergency meeting of the board of trustees on Sunday after Spanier’s idiotic comments. Spanier’s hands certainly aren’t clean and hopefully the authorities are able to prove that he is as guilty as Curley & Schultz.

Follow Me on Twitter!

LSU and Alabama are Overrated. A Super Conference is Needed to Prove Me Wrong

Originally written for Jockpost.com.

This weekend’s LSU @ Alabama game is probably the most anticipated regular season NCAA football game in recent history. Undefeated #1 LSU takes to the road to face division foe and undefeated #2 Alabama in a clash of SEC West rivals.

Sure, it’s not #1 11-0 Ohio State vs #2 11-0 Michigan, but it’s still a huge game where the winner might as well book their ticket to the BCS National Championship game. After all, no team from the SEC East is going to contend with the winner of this game. Heck, no team from the SEC East should even be on the same field as ‘Bama or LSU.

That said, both of these teams are overrated. Yeah, I said it. Despite their plethora of future NFL talent, neither team has had the chance to consistently prove how good they are. Beating up a bunch of weaklings that you are supposed to crush doesn’t make you a great team, it just makes you a team that wins the games its supposed to win.

Yet despite their lack of quality wins, the national media cannot get enough of these teams. The media is quick to crown them as the “best college football teams ever.”

Look at it this way: LSU has just 1 quality win all year, over a solid Oregon team that very well may beat Stanford in 2 weeks and go on to win the Pac-12. The rest of LSU’s wins are over bad teams who were either unranked or over-ranked when LSU played them (ex: their win over #17 Florida was a joke—Florida isn’t even ranked anymore!) Wins over Northwestern State (this is a real school?), Kentucky and Tennessee (all unranked) do little to prove how good LSU really is. And their win over then #16 West Virginia looked like a quality win until WVU showed their true colors by getting blown out at Syracuse.

Alabama’s schedule is eerily similar, save one more quality win. They beat a solid Penn State team on the road and a very good Arkansas team at home. Arkansas is the only spoiler left as they play LSU in the season finale, but that game is in Baton Rouge and I highly doubt LSU will lose at home if the SEC Title Game (aka ticket to the BCS Championship game) is on the line. However ‘Bama’s wins over “Can’t read, Can’t write, Kent State”, North Texas (what?!), Vandy, Ole Miss and Tennessee do nothing other than prove ‘Bama can beat up teams who might as well be in Division 2.

LSU and Alabama are very good, and they are most likely the best 2 teams in the NCAA. However at no fault of their own they don’t get the chance to prove their dominance week in and week out. How could we change this? A Super Conference is once place to start! While this author has Florida in over LSU, you get the point. Put the best teams up against each other every week and we will truly see them showcase their talents and emerge as elite teams should.

Until then, we’ll have to be satisfied with this Saturday’s clash of titans in what is assured to be a great game. LSU’s current coach Les Miles vs their former coach Nick Saban in a #1 vs #2 matchup is the kind of story line that you can’t make up. And one thing is certain: there will be no excuses after this game- these teams will be battling to the final seconds and leaving it all out on the field.

Follow Me on Twitter!

Gold… The Most Overrated Substance on Earth?

A good friend recently talked to me about gold and why it’s worth so much money. I hadn’t ever thought about it, but he brings up some very good points and I can’t say I disagree. Below are some of his thoughts. He is much smarter than you, so pay attention.

This won’t heat your house, start your car or feed your belly. But it makes a great paperweight!

Have you ever stopped to think about why gold is worth so much money? According to GoldPrice.org, one ounce of gold is currently selling for around $1,700 USD.

SEVENTEEN-HUNDRED-DOLLARS for what basically amounts to a rock. A rock that has less of a practical use than other rocks. When shit hits the fan, do people think that having a couple of gold bricks is going to be worth anything? I for one am certainly not trading canned goods for rock bricks.

Here is a list of things that are worth more than gold in a practical sense:

1. Compostable Trash – you can use this to grow food.  You ever grow food in a chunk of gold?
2. Trees – you can use them for heat, cooking, and shelter.  You ever try to burn a chunk of gold while sitting under some more chunks of gold?
3. Water – duh.
4. Plastic Grocery Bags – you can carry stuff with it, they are easily packable, and can be used to triage a sucking chest puncture wound.  You ever try to carry some stuff in your gold bag?  Or stuff a piece of gold in the chest wound you just got?
5. My dogs – you ever run off a bunch of Jehovah’s witness or whiny kids selling candy bars for their little league team by holding back your chunk of gold?  Me neither.

Gold is only as valuable as the market drives it.  The sheeple think that it has value when really in a practical sense it has none.  Not to get too survivalist or apocalyptic about it all, but it is ridiculous.  So is your TV, your fancy car & 95% of what we have, value, and invest our hard-earned time and resources in.

I probably have done more for my family recently by caulking my windows and cutting firewood than investing in a rock.  Because ultimately I am not dependant on anyone else in order to receive the true value from my efforts.  No one has to be willing to share my perception of value of my work.  The house will be warmer because of my efforts.  No dispute.  Having your chunk of gold and it having value is dependant on the market and other people’s desire for the gold and their desire to buy your gold.  What happens when gold goes kaput too?

I guess Nixon had the right idea when he took us off of the gold standard and tied the value of the dollar to oil instead.  Oil at least has a practical value (for the time being).

I'm going to melt down a few gold bars and cover my MacBook with them!

 

Follow Me on Twitter!

The Business of Baseball

Original piece written for Jockpost.com

Major League Baseball is a capitalistic, for-profit enterprise in which private owners try to do two things: 1) make money off their ballclub and 2) win world championships. The order of importance of these two items depends on which owners and teams you are talking about.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Major League Baseball seems to be that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Dodgers “buy their players” in an effort to win world championships. That alone isn’t the misconception, it’s the fact that the ignorant water-cooler-chatter-type fans who complain about this do not realize that all clubs “buy their players!”

When you take into account the fact that most fans are grossly ignorant about how the business of baseball works, this misconception becomes extremely widespread.

Unlike other professional sports, Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap. This means that owners are free to spend as much as they would like to build their business (the team) and/or to try to win a title. I say “and/or” because there is an important distinction: some owners purposely avoid paying top dollar to recruit or keep the best players so as to ensure their investment remains profitable, knowing that their team will not have a very good chance to win a championship.

One of the most common complaints heard is from Cleveland Indians fans, who often whine about how the Yankees “buy their players” and how the Indians cannot afford to pay the same salaries as New York. What these fans, and many others, do not realize is that nearly every major league club (including the Indians) is owned by a billionaire who can afford to spend as much or as little as he chooses on player salaries in an effort to field the best team possible.

The Indians, for example, are owned by billionaire Larry Dolan. Besides owning the Indians, which he bought for $323 million, Dolan also owns SportsTime Ohio, the cable network home of the Indians and Cleveland Browns. The Dolan Family is estimated to be worth around $2.6 billion. Arguing that Dolan doesn’t have the resources to pay players as much as the Yankees is ignorant and laughable. After all, he found $323 million to buy the team and as you’ll see below, he makes around $20m/year from it.

I believe fans are confused because they cannot get over the “small market vs. big market” thought in which they believe that because teams like the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Angels, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers & Phillies are from larger metro areas, they make more money and can afford to spend more than other teams. The fact of the matter is that it is up to the owner of the team to determine how much he is willing to invest into his asset. If you’ve ever hear the cliché “you have to spend money to make money” you should understand that just like any other business, investing in your asset is crucial and a Major League Baseball team is no different.

Furthermore, spending money doesn’t guarantee a winner or a profitable investment, it simply increases the odds. If money spent equaled titles won, why don’t the Yankees and Red Sox and other big spenders win the World Series every year?

In the past 10 years, the Yankees have spent around $2 billion on players salaries, with one world championship to show for it. They have spent this money in an effort to field the best team possible every year, which in turn gives them the best possible chance to win a title. This makes their fans very happy because despite the on-the-field results, the Yankees at least contend nearly every year, whether the club is profitable or not. In other words, the owners are willing to invest as much as they need to put a winning product on the field, even at the risk of losing money.

Some teams, like the Indians for example, stop short of paying top-tier players because they care more about making money.

Below you’ll find charts from Forbes.com showing a list of teams from most profitable to least profitable from 2007-2010. You may be surprised to see that both the Yankees and Red Sox actually lost money in 2007 while chasing a world championship ($47 million and $19 million), while the two most profitable teams were the Washington Nationals and the Florida Marlins.

Major League Baseball teams in order of 2007 Operating Income

Source

The Red Sox returned to profitability in 2008, although they still didn’t make as much money as “small market” teams like the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays or Florida Marlins. As for the Yankees, they cut their losses to $3.7 million, finishing ahead of only the Detroit Tigers for least profitable club in the league.

Major League Baseball teams in order of 2008 Operating Income

Source

In 2009, the Yankees finally got back in the black, posting a $25m profit, yet still not making as much money as the Twins, Cubs, Mets, White Sox, Padres, Dodgers, Nationals, Red Sox or Marlins. Note: The 2009 profit still had the Yanks far from making up the losses from the prior 2 years.

Major League Baseball teams in order of 2009 Operating Income

Source

2010 was another solid year for most teams, including the Yankees who finally made up their losses from 2007 and 2008 to finish the 4 year period at a break-even. Over that same 4 year period, every other team in baseball other than the Detroit Tigers posted a profit. The Cleveland Indians made nearly $72 million between 2007-2010. Plenty of Indians fans complain that their club doesn’t have the money to compete, but I guarantee Larry Dolan and company aren’t complaining about the $72 million dollars the Tribe put in their pocket… at the expense of putting the best product possible on the field.

Major League Baseball teams in order of 2010 Operating Income

Source

Some people will read everything above, look at the charts and still dismiss everything they see because they will dwell on the Yankees being the most valuable franchise in baseball. This too is ignorant and has nothing to do with how much ownership of the Yankees, or any other ballclub, chooses to pay their players.

Another way to look at this might be through real estate. Real estate investors typically purchase real estate for one of two reasons: cash flow or appreciation. In places like the mid-west, real estate can be bought at a price that allows the owner to cash flow. In other places like California and New York, however, investors often lose money on their investment, hoping that it will appreciate during their holding and that they will be able to sell it for a profit. The same can be said of the Yankees. Their owners have created a brand that makes them the most valuable franchise in the MLB, regardless of if they are cash-flow positive from year to year. The Yankees certainly weren’t the most valuable franchise in baseball in the 80s and early 90s while they were competing with the Indians for “worst team in the American League.” Their brand needed built, and their owners, specifically the late George Steinbrenner, built it. (In a cruel and ironic twist, it is commonly know that Steinbrenner, an Ohio native, originally intended to buy the Cleveland Indians!)

George "The Boss" Steinbrenner

The owners of teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers are willing to spend whatever it takes to put the best team on the field, while the owners of teams like the Marlins, Nationals and Indians are more concerned with staying profitable, often at the expense of their fans.

Often times these fans will call for a salary cap, and honestly, I don’t know if I’m for one or against one. However, I can tell you who’s certainly against a salary cap: the players! This little irony makes me laugh… your typical disgruntled Indians fan who believes a salary cap will level the playing field doesn’t realize that the players he is “arguing for” would not have his back! The last thing the players want is a restriction on how much money they are allowed to earn. Can you blame them?

Follow Me on Twitter!

Major League Baseball and Their Stupid 5 Game Series

Best of 5 = crapshoot

(check out the original piece written for JOCKpost.com)

Major league baseball needs to seriously reevaluate their ridiculous best-of-5 playoff format in the Division Series. Teams play a grueling 162 game schedule (which is probably too-long but that’s for another rant) to determine playoff match-ups and home field advantage, and their reward is a playoff series in a best-of-5 format in which the better team loses home field advantage if they lose 1 of the first 2 games.

For those of you who aren’t math geniuses, that means the team who had the worse regular season record only needs to win 50% of the games in their opponents ballpark to gain home field advantage for themselves. (The format is 2-2-1, meaning 2 games in the ballpark of the favorite, followed by 2 in the ballpark of the underdog, and the decisive 5th game goes back to the favorite’s park if needed.) Had the underdog won 50% of their games during the regular season, they surely wouldn’t even be in the playoffs, yet in the Division Series splitting the opening 2 games gives them a decided advantage!

How this seems like a good idea to anyone is beyond me. Sure, I am overly bitter about it in the moment as my New York Yankees are about to lose the Division Series to the lowly Detroit Tigers, however I’d be making the same argument if the Yankees weren’t even in the playoffs.

You can search all of professional sports and the only place you’ll find a playoff series determined in the best-of-5 format is in Major League Baseball. That alone should set off alarms in the minds of MLB execs.

In its current format, the Division Series is nothing more than a “who has the best pitcher” contest. One solid ace (read: Justin Verlander) can pitch twice and practically lock up the series. To lower variance and truly give determine the better team, the Division Series should be a best-of-7 series, like every other playoff series on the planet.

Follow Me on Twitter!

Boston Red Sox Give Terry Francona The Shaft – Good Thing For Yankees Fans!

Since the Boston Red Sox blew a 9 game lead in the race for the AL Wild-Card (not to mention they were competing for the AL East title after the All-Star Break) rumors have been swirling that they will be parting ways with Manager Terry Francona. The club holds options to keep Francona around for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but last week they announced they would not be exercising those options. In short, Francona has been fired.

Our Front Office is Losing Our Minds!

The owners of the Red Sox must be out of their minds. We are talking about a guy who won two World Series Championships in just 8 seasons… for a club and a town that had desperately been seeking World Series bling for the previous EIGHTY-SIX years!

To pour salt down the wound, Francona won his first title in 2004 in his first season as manager of the Red Sox, and he did it in as historic and dramatic a fashion one could hope. Even to me, a die-hard New York Yankees fan, I must admit that seeing the Sox come back from a three games to zero deficit in the ALCS and then go on to sweep the helpless St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series was one of the craziest things I’ve ever witnessed in sports. (Prior to this, no MLB team had ever come back from such a deficit.)

Just two years later, the Red Sox again dispatched of the Yankees in the playoffs, only to find themselves down 3 games to 1 and facing elimination versus the Cleveland Indians. To the dismay of every Indians fan on the planet, Francona somehow guided his team through 3 straight wins to another World Series appearance. Just like in 2004, the Sox swept their foe, bringing Francona’s record in the World Series to 8-0.

Yet just 5 short years later, Francona found himself on the hot seat, specifically for missing the playoffs 2 straight years and blowing a 9 game Wild Card lead in September. Sure, blowing a lead like that is bad, but you know whats worse… 94 years without a title, which is exactly what Boston would have if it weren’t for Francona.

Are you kidding me, ump… I got fired after winning 2 titles?!

Some people are speculating that Francona quit, and even Francona gave some lame excuse about “not being able to reach the players.” Sounds like a bullshit cop-out to me. If he quit, more power to him—after all, who would want to work in an environment where your historically good work is unappreciated and your ass is put on the hot-seat just a few years after delivering what your owners (and fans) would have killed for prior to your arrival?!

Everyone knows that Boston’s owners & fans have high expectations, but apparently they are higher than anyone realized. It would appear that constantly competing with the Yankees (one of the greatest franchises in all of sports), winning 2 titles in 8 years and ending the worst drought in the history of professional sports only buys you 5 years of good grace. I feel sorry for Francona’s replacement but I certainly don’t feel sorry for the Red Sox… firing Francona is doing the Yankees a huge favor!

Follow Me on Twitter!