Posts Tagged ‘Deficit Hawks’

Limerick Ode To Paul Ryan

Wednesday, December 19th, 2018

Headline: “Paul Ryan sure wishes we could have fixed the deficit he helped explode

Good riddance, Paul Ryan. Buh-bye,
To a craven and faux-wonkish guy.
“Budget hawk?” What a joke!
You’re a tax-cutting bloke,
And your life’s a big deficit lie!

Rand Paul’s Deficit Hypocrisy (Limerick)

Thursday, February 8th, 2018

Paul is feigning a “principled stand”
Against deficits, bolst’ring his brand.
But his vote to cut tax
Helped the deficits wax;
His is really a “Don’t Spend” demand.

Remember Deficit Hawks? (Limericks)

Thursday, September 28th, 2017

Dear Republican Deficit Hawks:
We’re awaiting your screams and your squawks.
Never mind my verse preface; it’s
Clear only deficits
Grown under Dems are a pox.

Limerick Ode To The GOP’s War On The IRS

Friday, January 13th, 2012

Crooks and Liars calls our attention to the huge cost of the GOP’s war on the IRS.

Now, the annual report to Congress from the National Taxpayer Advocate shows, “IRS is not adequately funded to serve taxpayers or collect revenue.”

C & L quotes the AP:

The Internal Revenue Service can’t keep up with surging tax cheating and isn’t sufficiently collecting revenue or helping confused taxpayers because Congress isn’t giving it enough money to do its job, a government watchdog said Wednesday…

Congress cut the IRS budget to $11.8 billion this year. That is $300 million less than last year and $1.5 billion below the request by President Barack Obama, who argued that boosting the agency’s spending would fatten tax collections and provide better service to taxpayers.

Limerick Ode To The GOP’s War On The IRS
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The GOP’s often applauded
For IRS cuts, even lauded.
But those savings ain’t real:
The records reveal
A big loss, when you slash those who audit.

Broken Priorities (Limerick)

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Steve Benen has some great comments about Republicans and their hypocritical “we’re broke” weaponry:

In December, when Republicans wanted an $858 billion tax-cut package, we weren’t broke. How much of that package did the GOP suggest we pay for? None of it. Not one penny. The costs were simply added to the deficit, and are the driving force behind the rising deficit estimates for this year, which have sent the right into such hysteria.

But now we’re so broke, we’re told, that we have no choice but to make brutal cuts to education, medical research, infrastructure, job training, and national security, all of which is projected to cost the economy hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Broken Priorities (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Republicans claim that we’re broke,
But you know that they’re just blowing smoke.
Help Big Oil and the rich?
Then they pull a big switch,
And our budget’s no longer a yoke.

Tax Cut Tomfoolery

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Steve Benen reminds us of a forgotten detail: Bush’s tax policy was a failure. And that’s a handy thing to remember in the battle over the soon-to-expire tax cuts.

While we’re busily recalling important facts, here’s another: These tax cuts were set to end automatically by the very Republicans who are now complaining about their expiration.

And now, my latest three-verse limerick:

Tax Cut Tomfoolery
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Bush’s tax cuts are due to expire.
Their effects were quite bad — even dire.
The deficit climbed,
The economy slimed.
So why are the Dems under fire?

These cuts were a GOP plan
By the millionaire’s tax-cutting clan.
They promised a boost,
But the tax cuts produced
A big mess. Why should Dems be a fan?

Yet Republicans push and cajole —
More cuts for the rich is their goal.
They make stale, hollow claims
To bolster their aims —
No remorse for the good times they stole.

The GOP’s Honesty Deficit

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Republicans have a cute little “deficit hawk” scam going: They “block extended aid to the unemployed, while simultaneously pushing for massive tax cuts for the wealthy.”

How do they justify this? According to Republican leaders like Mike Pence and Jon Kyl, the former has to be offset by spending cuts, but the latter, due to some mysterious mix of magic and voodoo, doesn’t.

It’s time for a new limerick:

The GOP’s Honesty Deficit
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Though the GOP deficit hawks
Are famed for “must pay for it” squawks,
They nix plugging the hole
Caused by tax cuts. How droll!
Yes, that’s how hypocrisy talks.