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.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Guns or Butter?


Congressional Republicans are desperately seeking a way out of the budget agreement they made last summer, in which military expenditures will automatically be cut by $600 billion over 10 years.  According to the Budget Control Act, these cuts will be triggered automatically because the Super Committee (remember them?) were unable to agree on a plan to cut federal expenditures by $1.2 trillion.  The new Republican budget plan salvages the military budget by cutting funds for federal workers, health care, and the Food Stamp program.  The latter has grown rapidly during the last few years because of increased unemployment.

Our military mustn’t cut
Its customary funding glut.
Its savior is the GOP
Guns or butter?  Which will it be?

The GOP has made its choice
They speak in this case with one voice
We know that they will all agree -
Guns or butter?  Which will it be?

Why guns of course, that is the way
Our right-wing Congress works today.
The poor don’t vote for them, you see.
Guns or butter?  Which will it be?

Obama must stand up to them
Their martial views he should condemn
And heed our poor’s impassioned plea
Guns or butter?  Which will it be?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Take all of the other countries in the world, add up what each one spends on defense, and depending on your data source, the U.S. alone is responsible for @45-50% of the total. We spend six times more than China alone, eleven times more than Russia alone. Our defense spending to GDP ratio is twice the amount of the other super powers. Yet Republicans can not reduce spending, in fact, Mitt Romney wants to increase it relative to GDP. Unbelievable.

-Nessie