The poet William Stafford set himself the task of writing a poem a day. When someone asked him what he would do when his poem-of-the-day wasn't very good, he replied "I simply lower my standards." In order to increase output, the bar here is set at a low level - the point of this is to have some fun with current events and politics. I welcome contributions and comments. Now you can also follow Doggerelo on Twitter (@doggerelo). Because of continuing medical problems, I'm no longer able to post a poem-a-day. I'll continue to post poems, but at a reduced frequency, so please stay tuned.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Breakthrough on the Super Committee (Not)

With time running out on the Super Committee, which is charged with finding $1.2 trillion in budgetary savings by November 24, attention's been focused on a plan put forth by Republican committee member Pat Toomey, which reflects the first instance of Committee Republicans proposing increases in tax revenue.   

     The GOP’s put forth a plan
That they believe is better than
The Dem’s idea to tax the rich.
Some tax breaks they’ll be glad to ditch
But in exchange, they’ve built in healthy
Rate reductions for the wealthy.
Their plan, they say, will “bring in billions
And help reduce our debt of trillions.
We’re showing flexibility
So here’s an opportunity
To come together and agree -
Both Democrats and GOP."

     The Democrats aren’t buying it.
They think it’s just a load of shit –
The numbers don’t add up, they say,
Their plan is just another way
To sneak in tax cuts for the rich,
A simple case of bait-and-switch.
"We compromised and called their bluff
But then they told us just to stuff
It, ‘cause we put in tax increases
And that just frightens the bejesus
Out of them.  So it's a scam,
It's not a breakthrough but a sham.
Their plan for us would just engender
Our complete abject surrender."

     So once again it's deja vu.
How many times can we go through
This gambling with the nation's welfare
Staked on tax cuts or our healthcare?
It's not unlike a live grenade
That's passed along a fire brigade
That can't extinguish any blazes -
And then it blows up in our faces!




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is so unreasonable. Our tax to GDP ratio has not been this low since the 1950's (at which time we did not have Medicare or Medicaid to support). All that Obama wants to do is to bring the tax rates back to where they were when Bubba Bush was in office, which was the last time we had a balanced budget. What a concept!

Sigh, I think I need to take a nap and sleep on this for awhile.

-Nessie