Why Folks Suffer

For more informative charts like this, see The Daily Kos. 

"The chart shows real GDP in the U.S. and the level of total civilian employment from 2002-2011. The total output of the U.S. economy in Q3 of this year finally increased to a level above the output in the fourth quarter of 2007, when the recession started (blue line). In other words, the U.S. economy has now made a complete recovery from the 2007-2009 recession.  But the labor market is still struggling to recover. We have 6.6 million fewer jobs today in the U.S. than in December 2007 when the recession started (red line in chart), along with a 8.6% unemployment rate, and thus another "jobless recovery."
—Mark J. Perry, Ph.D., visiting fellow, American Enterprise Institute

The recession’s over, what great news!

But lots of folks still have the blues,

there’s no recov’ry yet in sight

for working people and their plight.

The bankers still are making money

For them the outlook’s pretty sunny.

But those who have to earn a wage

Can’t find a job in this new age.

The jobs are gone, they won’t be back

The whole job market’s out of whack.

So if employment’s what you seek,

I’m afraid you’re up shit’s creek. 

Iowa Caucus Sonnet

Michelle’s been having trouble lately

Her campaign chairman’s jumped the ship.

Rick Perry’s polls have fallen greatly -

His chances have begun to slip.

Now Romney’s in the lead position,

Although he looks like a mortician.

Ron Paul is closing, closing fast - 

He’s gaining now, but can it last?

And Rick Santorum’s also surging,

To faith and family he’s been wed.

Newt Gingrich fills them all with dread,

“Don’t vote for Newt!” the party’s urging.

It's been a most amusing fight,

We’ll all be watching Tuesday night. 

Michelle Bachman’s Iowa campaign chairman Kent Sorenson suddenly announced he was switching his support to Ron Paul’s compaign.  At a Paul rally, he declared "I adore Michele Bachmann, but the fact of the matter is I believe we have an opportunity to take Romney out here in Iowa and I believe that person is Ron Paul,"

Michelle had a terrible day

‘Cause her chairman was not going to stay

“I’m deserting my post

Though I love you the most

I’m now for Ron Paul all the way.

We’ve got to take Romney out

But Michelle, you haven’t the clout,

Your weight is too light

To do the job right

And that’s what’s it’s all about."

Michelle says her chairman was bought

It was money that Sorenson sought.

He’s got lots of gall

To go work for Paul

His soul will in hell surely rot.

Pinocchio for President

"President Obama sees American differently.  He believes in an entitlement society... President Obama believes that government should create equal outcomes. In an entitlement society, everyone receives the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort and willingness to take risk. That which is earned by some is redistributed to the others."   Mitt Romney, Dec. 20, Bedford, NH

This statement's false.  It's plain as day
Obama doesn't think this way
But what the hell
It's sure to sell
So Mitt will say it anyway.  

Dr. Paul Regrets

A spokesman for the Paul campaign apologized on Friday for not doing more to prevent racist and homophobic remarks from appearing in a series of newsletters published over several years under Ron Paul's name. 

bloggingblue.com

Ron Paul put out many old newsletters

They were published under his name.

They’re nasty and racist and anti-gay;

His campaign feels remorse and great shame.

While he says he didn’t write any of them,

And didn’t know what they contained,

His name is on each of their covers

So he needs to have them explained

They say that he’s not at all racist

That he’s really OK on the gays,

But the things that you read in those letters

Are repulsive to most folks these days.

Ron Paul says he truly is sorry

That he never was able to read

The things that his writers were writing

That were never a part of his creed.

But the letters were published for years,

And each time they featured his name.

Do you really believe that he never checked in

Just to see what it was they’d proclaim?

There’s something real strange going on here

That’s tarnished Ron Paul’s whole campaign.

His image as stalwart truth-teller

Is about to be flushed down the drain. 

Christmas Break

It’s time to take a little break

For Christmas time is here

The family’s gathering all about

and bringing Christmas cheer

There's food and drink and news to share

And lots of presents everywhere

And most of all there is a child

Who’s still by Santa Claus beguiled.

It’s time for politics to go away

There’s nothing happ'ning anyway

The politocos have naught to say

They’ll all come back another day.

So Rick and Mitt and Rick (there’s two)

And Jon and Ron, Newt and Michelle,

And long departed Hermann too,

Let’s not forget Barack as well -

Take a well-deservéd rest

We’ve had some fun at your expense.

You’ll be back within a day or two

And then the fun will start anew.

There’s just one more thing I’d like to say

My Christmas wish for every day:

“Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men”

How unctuously these words get spoken

I wish they weren't an empty slogan.

Let’s reflect on them again

And pray…

                 That men could really live this way.

A Christmas Story

image from carols.org.uk

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the House

The Republican members were starting to grouse -

The Senate has sent them a bill that’s so bad

They just went beserk it made them so mad.

The Senators wanted the tax cut extended

But couldn’t agree on how to amend it

To pay for the revenue that would be lost

So they said for two months, we’ll cover the cost.

The House said they'd just kicked the can down the road

They told them to get back to work and reload,

Get back to the Senate and come up with a plan

That will last for a year - no more kicking the can.

But the Senate was closed for the holiday,

So Republicans rose up as a body to say

"We won’t let the Senate tell us what to do,

So we shot their bill down, we showed them who's who!'

A lot of folks say that the House has gone mad

That John Boehner's leadership skills are so bad

he can only watch from the sidelines and pray - 

the inmates are running the asylum today.

For the tail wags the dog, it’s abundantly clear

The Tea Party’s running the show this year.

There’s nothing gets done without imprimatur

From the Tea Party priests and desiderata.

The Democrats look at all this with delight

They love to see the Republicans fight.

There's one point that finds the Dems unified:

The GOP’s flirting with mass suicide.

The Democrat’s slogan you’ll see on their posters

“Republicans Raise Taxes on Middle-class Voters!”

The Democrats cackle and cheer in the night,

“Merry Christmas to us from the Republican right”. 

Republicans Refuse to Cut Taxes!

Conservative Republicans in the House voted down a compromise measure from the Senate that would cut the payroll tax, extend unemployment benefits and maintain Medicare reimbursement fees for physicians for a period of two months.  The two-month duration of the measure would have provided time to  negotiate a longer-lasting agreement. 

The House gave a bill the axe

That would cut back the payroll tax

Though folks are in need

The tea party decreed

“It ain’t no skin off our backs”

They said it was time to get tough

Two months just isn’t enough

Why not for a year?

They said with a sneer

And then they flew home in a huff.

The Piñata

There's been an extraordinary barrage of criticism by pundits and other candidates, and negative ads sponsored by various interest groups, directed against Newt Gingrich in Iowa. Meanwhile, Republican officials in Iowa are concerned that a caucus victory by Ron Paul, who is thought not to have a chance of winning the nomination, would lead to the impression that the Iowa caucuses are irrelevant.

source images from squidoo.com, unicornbooty.com

Pundits, spokesmen, super Pacs

all line up to take their whacks.

Getting Gingrich is the game,

he must be stopped, they all proclaim.

If our voters vote him in,

Obama will be set to win.

We’re starting now to get success,

His lead is growing less and less.

He’ll be rejected soon by all

And then who’s next – Ron Paul?

Alone with the Morning Paper

Each morning I read the paper

with my cup of coffee next to me,

where through the window I can see

whether the weather is OK,

or people on their way to work,

or songbirds sometimes on a branch

so close that I can see their little throats
quiver...

                 Well anyway, I peek first
at the headlines in case some news
sneaked in last night after I turned off

CNN to end the day, and sent thoughts

of politics to whatever portions of the brain

imprison thoughts while sleeping. 

But what exactly is the difference

between consciousness and dreams?

Now there's a question that’s not been answered
despite much study....

                                         But as I say,

on most days, after that cursory crack

at the front page, I move on back

through many pages to the Opinion Buffet.

The Opinion/Editorial/Op-Ed page

where left and right contend for me,

the left for my continued approbation,

to nod agreeably or chuckle at some sally

against the right, while right wing forces

rally, intending to rattle my confidence
with inconvenient facts and insidious arguments.

As with walruses eructating on the rocks

with their inflated pharyngeal muscles,
the frothy calls of urgent pundits ride the page,
calling urgently to me...
                                              Now here’s a fact 

that's little known, the walrus penis bone

can be nearly two feet long…the logistics of

carrying that around are boggling.

OK, back to what I was saying

about contending forces braying

in the nation’s papers ..well, yes

like donkeys.  Did you know that a donkey,
with its great ears, can hear another donkey bray

from as far as seven miles away?

Look it up in “Caring for your Donkey”

at Lazy-Lranch.com. Donkeys don't like
dogs or coyotes very much and so they're
very popular for guarding cows
and sheep and such.  I believe that we
can all agree that pundits can be jackasses....

                                       

On the Opinion page the high-flying

opinionators screech about the nation's state
like a cartload of chimpanzees. I've seen
wild chimps on TV swinging through the trees -
technically it's called brachiation,
a process that enables chimp translation
through the arboreal canopy with little cost in energy....

But wait, do you see that cardinal

hanging out there in the tree?

I think he sings for me.
I'll just put away the paper for today,
and listen to that cardinal's song - congenial, guileless,
without a point of view.  

Nikki's Deal

Mitt Romney agreed to grant South Carolina a waiver to opt out of Obama's health care plan as the price for Governor Nikki Haley's much sought-after endorsement of him for President. Neither of them apparently realized that he could not possibly deliver on that promise for both legal and temporal reasons. 

Governor Haley talked with Mitt

About what it’d take for him to git

Her full support for his campaign.

She said that she’d be glad to name

Him as her choice, but only if

He’d meet demands that were quite stiff:

He had to promise that he’d favor

Granting her a presidential waiver

From Obama’s health plan if elected.

And that’s why Mitt’s the one selected.

But the joke’s on both of them it seems -

The law forbids such crazy schemes. 

Austerity, Inc.

In Europe the problem is sovereign debt

The nations all owe too much and yet

There’s always a need to borrow more,

A situation banks deplore.

The folks at Merkel and Sarkozy say

Austerity’s the only way:

Increase your taxes and cut your spending

The markets’ll see the message you’re sending

And buy up your bonds quite willingly

If you stick to the path of austerity.

But any hopes for this plan sank

As all economies began to tank

And any gains were soon offset

By a further increase in the debt. 

The Elephant's Graveyard

source image from natgeotv.com

They lumber off without a word

They’ve been rejected by the herd.

Though once they held the reins of power

Now is not their hour.

They were the voice of moderation,

They served both party and the nation.

But now the party's rearranged -

Everything has changed

Today the party speaks as one;

They trumpet loud in unison.

The moderates are all despised,

Group-think now is prized.

The moderates have gone away.

Where they've gone no one can say.

The herd is happy if they split,

They don't give a shit. 

So they wander off alone to die

Beneath an unforgiving sky.

Their hopes for a more genial land

Buried in the sand. 

Tax Cuts and Pipelines

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill that, despite threats of a Presidential veto, ties extending the payroll tax cut to accelerating the construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.  

The GOP leader John Boehner

Says things just couldn’t be plainer

Your tax cut we’ll extend

But we’ll add an amend-

Ment for a very long oil container.

Null and Void

The GOP blocked the nomination of Richard Cordray, seen by all sides as eminently qualified, to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, citing defects in the organization and oversight of the agency.  But since the organization of the agency is already written into law, the GOP's action amounts to  nullifying an existing law by a minority in the Senate.  

The GOP rose to the occasion

And blocked Mr. Cordray’s nomination

Though it’s already a law

They don't like it at all

So they decided on nullification.

Capitol Carol

To be sung to the tune of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

source images from dc.about.com, fanpop.com

God rest ye right-wing Congressmen

You’ve done enough today

You’ve forestalled any tax increase

That might the debt allay

You've stopped Obama in his tracks

His power's slipped away

    O obstruction’s your comfort and joy

    Comfort and joy

    O obstruction is your comfort and joy

In Washington our Senators

Have lost all their goodwill                 

The filibuster once was rare -

It’s now used for each bill

The vote for cloture’s ne’er approved

So they accomplish nil

    O obstruction’s the right wing’s strategy

    Strategy

    O obstruction is the right wing’s strategy

God help our weary President

Beset from left and right

He called for peace and compromise

And tried to be polite

But Mitch McConnell and his friends

Were spoiling for a fight

    O obstruction’s their comfort and joy

    Comfort and joy

    O obstruction is their comfort and joy

Gunning for Gingrich

The GOP's establishment intellectuals have launched an all-out assault on Newt Gingrich, in an effort to derail his candidacy.  

Adapted from photo
by unicornbooty.com

They’re going all out to bring down Newt Gingrich,

To stop him before it’s too late

He’d be a walking disaster, they say,

About that there’s just no debate.

He’s unstable, crazy, reckless and vain,

And morally witless to boot.

As our leader, he’d be an embarrassment -

Even Romney’d be better than Newt.

Ron Paul - An Appreciation

Adapted from image by
photobucket.com/Fort Oven's Album

The GOP candidate Paul

Has been largely ignored by all

But he’s the real deal

He’s got balls of steel

And he can’t stand Newt Gingrich’s gall.

Ron Paul says that Newt is a hypocrite

Whereas Ron is himself just the opposite

He says what he means

He’s so full of beans

He scares us all more than a little bit.

Ron Paul's a bit loopey for sure

But his ideas are decidedly pure

So give him some credit

He won’t deign to edit

His views for the pollster du jour.

Gingrich Proposes John Bolton as Secretary of State

Newt Gingrich, speaking at the  Republican Jewish Coalition meeting yesterday, promised to appoint the controversial former UN ambassador John Bolton as Secretary of State if he were elected president.

source image by juancole.com

For Secretary of State

John Bolton’d be put on the plate.

He’d soon bomb Iran,

He don’t give a damn
If a major world crisis he’d detonate.

A Colloquy

We need some jobs, cried ninety-nine.

We're the ones that create them, said the one.

Why don’t you then? asked ninety-nine.

The time’s not right, replied the one.

Why are you waiting? asked ninety-nine.

We need more certainty, declared the one.

And tax breaks, too?  asked ninety-nine.

Well that’d be nice, replied the one.

How ‘bout demand? asked ninety-nine.

Yeah - go out and buy stuff, said the one.

Don’t have the money, said ninety-nine.

Well, we’re doing our part, declared the one.

It’s just not fair, said ninety-nine,

That you’re so rich and we’re so poor.

Some can’t find work anymore.

Some can’t buy food, some’ve lost their home

Some poor kids’ll be skin and bone

While you sit purring like a cat.

Where’s the justice in all that?

That’s just how it is, replied the one

The game of life is zero sum

There’s winners and there’s losers, mate

You might as well accept your fate.

There’s more of us than you, said ninety-nine.

Let's raise taxes on the rich!

We’ve got the vote, let’s use it now

To redistribute wealth somehow.

Good luck with that, declared the one

We’ve bought congress, you see.

They work for us and won’t agree

To endanger the funds that they need.

When all's said and done, it's simply their greed

That makes them so pliable-

They’re deferential, so reliable.

You haven’t got a chance, my friend,

The system’s gamed from start to end.

Romney's Soliloquy

adapted from images from
telegraph.co.uk and
samcritt.tumblr.com

To flip or not to flip – that is the question.

Whether ‘tis nobler to maintain conviction

Or take polls amidst a sea of voters

And by flipping, send a message that

I’m on their side. Thus pollsters do make

Cowards of us all. And thus the native

Hue of resolution is sicklied o’er

With blind amibition’s yellow cast and fear

Doth make us but whinging, bloodless things.   

For what would it profit a man if, by ever holding

To conviction’s  core, it bringeth only slings

And arrows of outraged pundits, opprobrium

Of voters and contumely from the rich,
Who'd send their money elsewhere?  'Tis not a path

For one who wants to win. Ah, sweet victory!

Perchance a dream, but of such dreams are noble

Actions made that change the world. The need

Is great and I am ready. The nation hath borne

Too long the foul Obama’s brazen wrongs

And insolence of office. For he would

Of our fair land a Europe make and spurn

The patient merit of our enterprise

To grant boons undue to those who lose

The economic race. O voters wise

And true, what doth it matter what I really

Think if by supporting me we grasp the chance

To free us all from socialism’s threat?

There is no other one that can this task

Accomplish.   Newt Gingrich wouldst make me laugh,

Were not his spectral rise so maddening - 

And they calleth me a flip-flopper!  He hath

On every issue set his standard square

On every side and hath received for this

No single punishment.  His tongue hath not

The discipline to keep a message straight -

He giveth cause to fear his unhinged words

Would turn away those independent minds

Who are the key to our success.  But soft –

The press doth now approach with pointed questions

And from this place I must myself away

To photo ops where I control the day. 

Donald Trump to Moderate GOP Debate

Donald Trump, the high-profile real estate mogul and former presidential candidate, will moderate a Republican presidential debate, sponsored by Newsmax, a conservative magazine, on Dec. 27. 

Adapted from images from
cbsnews.com and 3.bp.blogspot.com

The ratings will bump when a showman like Trump

    is put in charge of the questions.

But the problem will be, it’s easy to see,

    that he can’t help making suggestions.

He’s got opinions of course and he’ll talk himself hoarse.

                With one question he’s liable to score:

"At the birth of Obama, just where was his mama,

                in the US or somewhere offshore?"

To Newt Gingrich he’ll say, “I do like the way

                that you sneer at the men of the press.

They wrote you off once, and they called me a dunce,

                but they’ll stop it all now, I would guess.”

To Mitt he’ll declare, “By God, that’s nice hair,

                it’s almost as pretty as mine.”

Cain's loss is a blow, "Why did he go??

                I sure liked his plan 9-9-9.”

As for Michelle, he likes her as well - 

                they had pizza one day in New York,

But to Jon Stewart's chagrin, he committed a sin:

                he ate his pie with a fork!

To Rick Perry, the Texan, he’ll ask if the Mex’can

                migrants can really be stopped

And Rick’ll say “Sure, that’s no problem anymore,

                on Mitt’s lawn I’ll have them all dropped."

Regarding Santorum - Don thinks he's borin',

                "But at least you mean what you say.

and I've got to admit, you don't ever quit

                  though you haven't a chance in this play."

Ron Paul’s a bit strange, and out of the range

                of the normal Republican vision

Trump doesn't abhor him, "I’ll just ignore him -

                that’s been everyone else’s decision."

To Jon Huntsman he’ll say,”You’ve got a nice way

                of making your views very clear.

You’re so classy and elegant, very intelligent.

                What the hell are you doing here?”

Citizen Gingrich Refers to Himself in the Third Person

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Faux News the other day, Newt Gingrich repeatedly referred to himself in the third person.  Statements in quotation marks are taken directly from the interview, with minor alterations for purposes of rhyme and rhythm.  

“Gosh, now why would a Newt Gingrich do that?”

Adapted from photo
by unicornbooty.com

He asked of himself on the air.

He was talking ‘bout how he and Hillary

Came together one time to share

Their efforts in promoting a cause

That’d be a great boon to health care.

“The answer is simple”, said he.

“Put Gingrich and Hillary together

And huge would the press coverage be.”

Now Newt had his business clients

Who’d make lots of money if they

Could sell their wares to officials

that they’d meet with that very same day.

But Newt says this wasn’t lobbying,

Contradicting  the media’s minions.

“No, it's called being a citizen”, he said

“I’m allowed to have my opinions.” 

“If Newt Gingrich believes that,

And the companies I work with just

Happen to believe that as well,

There’s nothing that’s wrong, I trust,

If I talk with some friends of mine

About the issues we’ve just discussed.”

“They’re responding to what

Newt Gingrich believes, and I

Don’t go out and say ‘Tell me

What you believe in’” and then try

To fit my views to their wishes,
My views are my own - nothing amiss is.

To Newt, it appears, a thought that is his is

Pretty damn good for business.  

Sheriff Joe Endorses Rick Perry

Joe Arpaio, the controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ, endorsed Gov. Rick Perry's candidacy for President.  The two appeared together in New Hampshire on Tuesday where Governor Perry mispronounced his last name.   
  

rightwingnews.com

There once was a sheriff named Joe

He’s endorsing Rick Perry you know.

Despite the man’s fame

Rick messed up his name.

Hey Rick, it’s pronounced ARE-PIE-OH.