Honest Loyalty

Mr. Trump, I defy you to show me

An allegiant more loyal than Comey.

So when he testified

And implied that you lied,

It was clear that he’ll not be your homie.

Reconciled to reform

No more wellness dependent on wealth
Or insurance retracted by stealth.
Despite GOP jeers,
The Savant replies, "Cheers!
Here's to Congress and here's to your health."

For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes
By Tara Siegel Bernard, The New York Times, 3/21/10

A 21, [uh] 18,[uh] 15 gun salute!

We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence,
whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
--------– Dwight D. Eisenhower


The Pentagon: Gates tries to nudge it.
His figures don't lie; didn't fudge it.
Will Congress comply?
If they don't, you know why.
Their pork barrel spending: can't budget!

OK so it's "put up or shut up" time for all those fiscal conservatives that have been saying they don't want to burden our children or our childrens' children with with the cost of universal healthcare or alternative energy development or education reform. Let's see how many of them are still eager to ante up for antiquated aircraft carriers, obsolete fighters, and outmoded weapons systems just to fill the pockets of fat cat constituents. Anyone taking bets?

Pentagon chief takes aim at big weapons programs
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates wants to spend
less on elaborate systems and
more on boosting troops and intelligence.
By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times, 4/7/09

School is not out yet on this plan

Don't you think it's time someone learned their lesson?

AIG has a novel invention.
It's the bonus that's paid for retention
Of delinquents, not there.
Do you think that is fair?
Or, instead, should we give them detention?

An Outpouring of Anger From Lawmakers at A.I.G. Hearing
By David Stout, the New York Times, 3/18/09

Snow time like the present

Will Congress stay frozen in ice
Or take the Obamas advice?
To a Midwestern child,
The higher it's piled,
The more we just work and play nice.


As to Ice, Chicago Still Obama's Kind of Town
D.C. Needs 'Toughness,' President Says
By Daniel de Vise and Michael Birnbaum
The Washington Post, 1/28/09

Would you buy a used car business plan from these men?

In Detroit, yes, the outlook's not sunny,
But the Big Three's solution seems funny.
Do they really expect
To survive the car wreck
By filling their airbags with money?

Automakers Take Plea for Bailout to House Committee
Hearing Comes Day After Senate Appearance Fails to Persuade Lawmakers
By Lori Montgomery and Kendra Marr
The Washington Post, 12/5/08

How now down Dow?

We’re wondering what they’ll try now
To halt the decline of the Dow.
The measures they take up
Are likely to make up
As Revlon applied to a sow.

Fear Drives Wild Trading Ahead Of G-7 Meeting
By Dina Temple-Raston, NPR, 10/10/08

Ayatollah you "no!"

"The veto is not based on constitutional or legal objections. He is vetoing it because he says he believes it is immoral. Mr. President, you are not our moral ayatollah, maybe the president, nothing more."
-----Tom Harkin (D) Senator from Iowa

Bush vetoed this bill with a grin
That masked his war-mongering twin.
Invoking morality
Just shows, in reality,
What a hypocrite Dubbaya's been.

In First Veto, Bush Blocks Stem Cell Bill
By David Stout, The New York Times, 7/19/06

Bet it doesn't help

There is no turning craps into heaven
But, for gamblers, could chance tend to leaven
The news of this bill
When, on Capitol Hill,
It passes on 7 - 11?

House Approves Crackdown on Online Gambling
By Kate Phillips, The New York Times, 7/11/06

We don't need no steenkin' veto!

These are true Constitutional zingers
And their use means a nagging doubt lingers;
That, while signing a bill
Sent from Capitol Hill,
Mr. Bush has been crossing his fingers!


Recent use of presidential signing statments

Bush challenges hundreds of laws
President cites powers of his office
By Charlie Savage, Boston Globe, 4/30/06

Reporter Highlights Bush's Executive Decisions
Terry Gross interview with Charlie Savage
of the Boston Globe
Fresh Air, NPR, 5/9/06

Eavesdropping on the Judiciary Committee

Q:
You won't detail wiretapping, now, will you?
We've confronted the lies and, yet, still you
Construct a stone wall.
A:
If I answered, at all,
Mr. Senator, I'd have to kill you!


U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Holds a Hearing on Wartime Executive Power
and the National Security Agency's Surveillance Authority
Transcript in the Washington Post, 2/6/06

Brokeback President

A State of the Union synopsis

Yes, the war isn't o'er and I spy.
Give my right-wing agenda a try.
Despite the brickbats,
I can woo Democrats
If we're partisan, can't we be bi?

Bush Speech to Congress Offers Few New Proposals
NPR, 2/1/06

Another Alito graffito

While our senators spar the devices
Of recusal and stare decisis;
Is Alito v. Roe
How it's destined to go?
We don't know but so far we see crisis.

A Right Cautious Nominee
Measured Replies Paint Picture With a Conservative Tint
By Charles Lane, Washington Post 1/13/06

Merry Fristmas

'Twas the week before Christmas
and all through the House,
the congressmen grumbled
and started to grouse.

"We've carefully crafted
our measures to hide
any hint of goodwill.
Now the Senate's denied

Our attempt to have all
Civil liberties sacked
By renewing a barely
Changed PATRIOT act;

And drilling in ANWR
Was set to commence
Until the damn Senate
Cut that from Defense!

So our stockings are empty
As we're set to recess
But before we go home
We just have to express

Our seasonal greeting
That 'Never you fear,
If we don't get it now,
You just wait 'til next year!'"


Postponing Debate, Congress Extends Terror Law 5 Weeks
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times, 12/23/05

Revival of the poll tax?

It is true where there's fire, there is smoke,
But suggestion of fraud is a joke.
To require an I.D.
Is suppression, you see.
Why fix it, if it isn't broke?

Senate considers voter-ID provision
Julie Carr Smyth, The Plain Dealer, 12/6/05

The bittersweet truth

"Stupid is as stupid does" - F. G.

'Til Roberts becomes the Chief Ump,
His answers are likely to stump.
'Nless we bite, you can bet
We won't know what we get.
He's choc'lates and we're Forrest Gump.

Roberts Resists Specifics in Senate Session
By Nina Totenberg, NPR, 9/13/05