Archive for the ‘Legislation Humor’ Category

Republican Gamesmanship (Limerick)

Friday, December 20th, 2024

The Republicans’ game is a mess.
Think they know what they’re doing? (God bless!)
At best, they are wreckers.
They’re NOT playing checkers.
And they’re certainly NOT playing chess!

Musk Throws His Weight Around (Limerick)

Thursday, December 19th, 2024

Upon Elon’s command, Johnson’s bill
Was withdrawn. Seems it gives Musk a thrill
To rob Trump of his job.
And so (yessiree Bob!)
Trump and Johnson must swallow this pill.

Limerick Ode To Solidarity

Monday, May 1st, 2023

We the Dems must show full solidarity
To counter the loathsome barbarity
Of Republican stances,
Whose fright’ning advances
Account for this lack of hilarity.

Pence Ain’t A Saint (Limerick)

Wednesday, June 29th, 2022

Headline: “Pence: ‘We must not rest’ until abortion is outlawed in every state”

On One/Six, Pence behaved like a man;
He helped scuttle Trump’s scurrilous plan.
But enough with the praise!
Re abortion, he’d raze
Women’s rights with a nationwide ban.

Joe To The Rescue? (Limerick)

Thursday, September 23rd, 2021

Headline: “Democrats Look to Biden to Resolve Impasse”

Dem pols are all counting on Biden
To fix deadlocks which mount and then widen.
Watch the Mods v the Squad;
Their divisions are broad!
So if I were Prez Joe, I’d be hidin’.

Dickish Sen. Wicker

Wednesday, March 10th, 2021

Headline: “Wicker Already Seeks Credit for Bill He Voted Against”

Dear Sen. Wicker, your vote was a “Nay”
On the Covid Relief Plan today.
So no credit to you
Is plausibly due,
And your bragging’s a two-faced display.

Petulant President (Limerick)

Monday, December 28th, 2020

Donald Trump threw a tantrum and then,
He brandished his President-Pen
And belatedly signed
The same bill he’d maligned,
Having caused extra pain yet again.

Non-Deal-Maker-In-Chief (2-Verse Limerick)

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020

Headline: “President Trump throws wrench into COVID-19 relief by saying he won’t sign bill”

When a bill is a fait accompli,
Trump the “deal-maker” bitches with glee.
He won’t help something pass;
He’d much rather harass
Other pols, in a bill-griping spree.

Donald COULD have helped carve out a deal
For Covid Relief. But that heel
Sent Mnuchin to rep him,
And now would sidestep him;
A bit late for such “squeaky wheel” zeal!

Don’t Be Duped By Health Bill “Hold-Outs” (Limerick)

Friday, June 23rd, 2017

“I can’t vote for that bill in the form
That it’s in at this time.” That’s the norm
From a devious pol
Who’s just trying to stall;
Though lukewarm, he’ll conform to the swarm.

Mitch’s Secret Health Bill (Limerick)

Friday, June 16th, 2017

A health care vote’s scheduled for June,
But the bill’s in an air-tight cocoon;
It’s been hidden by Mitch
Cuz its terms are a bitch
Which, if known, we’d impugn and lampoon.

Donald Disses Turnbull Again (2-Verse Limerick)

Thursday, May 4th, 2017

It seems Donald isn’t done dissing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Not only did he shorten (and push back by several hours) today’s meeting (which was meant to help repair their relationship.) But he did it for the most callow of reasons: An AHCA House passage victory dance.

Donald’s meeting with Trumball today
Was intended to make things okay
’Tween Australia and Trump,
Yet he opted to bump
Their confab for a callow display.

What took precedence over their meeting,
Postponing and short’ning their greeting?
A public hooray
That the AHCA
Passed the House … and some swagg’rin’ chest beating.

Undoing Undue Optimism (4-Verse Limerick)

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

Most press coverage about the “cleaning the barn” two-year “budget deal,” negotiated by Boehner as he was handing off his Speaker gig to Paul Ryan, is unduly optimistic. It tends to lull us into thinking that the opportunity for House wingnuts to wreak havoc has been largely eliminated for a substantial period of time.

But that really isn’t true. Why not? Because, generally speaking, there are three broad opportunities for Tea Party types to threaten or cause shutdowns.

1: Budget bills.

2: Debt ceiling crises.

3: Appropriation bills.

And, alas, only the first two items on that list were resolved, leaving ample opportunities for essential appropriation bills to be saddled with unacceptable riders. For instance, riders eliminating Obamacare or defunding Planned Parenthood, to name just two. In other words:

Right-wing Republicans can still pursue their goals through riders on appropriations bills—and, if they don’t get their way, shut down the government.

With Ryan as Speaker, don’t think
That we aren’t stuck right on the brink
Of Tea Party trouble.
It still can cause rubble
Through spending bills yet to gain ink.

The fact that the budget’s resolved
And the ceiling on debt ain’t involved,
Should not make you relieved.
If you are, you’re deceived,
Cuz the poison pill risk isn’t solved.

The House must appropriate cash,
Via bills which the wingnuts can trash
Through riders from guys
With Tea Party ties,
Turning programs we need into ash.

If that happens, then what can be done?
Only vetoes, and those aren’t fun.
But the blackmailing Hill
Can’t prevail on such bill!
Are there any good choices? Nay! None.

Weep For The Wealthy (Limerick)

Monday, April 7th, 2014

Weep For The Wealthy (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Though the wealthy will publicly cheer
As campaign regs get knocked on their rear,
Some privately groan:
“No limits?” they moan.
“Buying pols is becoming too dear!”

Note from Mad Kane: Although I concocted that quote, it may be closer to the truth than you think. Here’s The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol, who argued on ABC’s This Week “that not every wealthy donor will embrace the outcome of the McCutcheon case, because they may now be obliged to give more:”

“All the donors I know hate this decision, of course,” he said. “This used to be a very good excuse to say to a candidate, ooh, I’m maxing out, I just can’t help your campaign.”

Free Speech Gets Pricey (Limerick)

Thursday, April 3rd, 2014

Free Speech Gets Pricey (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Remember “one person, one vote?”
Now “one dollar, one vote’s” what they wrote;
Yes, the U.S. Supremes
Favor money — in reams,
As the rich grab free speech by the throat.

Thanks to the New Yorker’s John Cassidy, for inspiring this limerick with his acerbic comment about McCutcheon v. FEC:

But Wednesday’s decision, once again a five-to-four ruling, represented another significant step away from the antiquated principle of “one person, one vote” toward the more modern, and utilitarian, notion of “one dollar, one vote.”

Supreme Priorities (Limerick)

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

If you thought the Citizens United ruling undermined democracy, brace yourself: The Roberts court has made things even worse with yet another controversial 5-4 decision in McCutcheon v. FEC. Assaulting campaign finance reform once again, the Supreme Court struck down the aggregate limits on how much an individual can contribute to candidates, parties and political action committees.

As Ari Berman astutely observes:

The Court’s conservative majority believes that the First Amendment gives wealthy donors and powerful corporations the carte blanche right to buy an election but that the Fifteenth Amendment does not give Americans the right to vote free of racial discrimination.

Supreme Priorities
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The Supremes freed the wealthy to buy
Politicians — an endless supply.
Seems “free speech” means “free spending,”
While “voting rights rending”
Isn’t something they care to decry.

Mike’s Oklahoma “Solution” (Limerick)

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

As the fight over Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage heads to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado, Oklahoma Rep. Mike Turner (R-Edmond) is worried that gay marriage might prevail. And being desperate to combat the scourge of same-sex marriage, Turner has drafted a shell bill to use in case the case doesn’t go his way:

Mike’s Oklahoma “Solution” (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Mike Turner’s prevailed in his hunt
For an anti-same-sex marriage stunt.
If you’re gay or you’re straight
You can’t wed in his state,
Says his bill; Equal rights — Mike’s out front.

The “Overrun” Speaker (Limerick)

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

How does John Boehner explain away and excuse his role in the government shutdown?

“I got overrun, that’s what happened.”

The “Overrun” Speaker (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

What is Boehner’s excuse? He’s got none,
Meekly claiming he “got overrun.”
He could scarcely be weaker;
His job as the Speaker
Is leading — he’s left it undone.

Doomed Limerick

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

The federal government’s reopened and the debt ceiling crisis was averted at the last minute. So the question now is, will this happen again? Alas, many experts believe we’re doomed to have yet another shutdown.

Doomed Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

This crisis is over for now,
But for those who are wiping their brow,
Please keep this in mind:
The very same bind
May in merely three months take a bow.

Clean Messaging (Limerick)

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013

In President Obama’s October 8 news conference about the current budget and debt ceiling stalemate with Republicans, Obama said: “We can’t make extortion routine as part of our democracy.”

Clean Messaging (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

We can’t make extortion routine,
Said Obama, and that’s why a clean
Bill for spending and debt
Is a requisite get,
Else democracy’s sure to careen.

Limerick Ode To The Government Shutdown

Monday, September 30th, 2013

Limerick Ode To The Government Shutdown
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A government shutdown’s arrived–
An avoidable crisis contrived
By the wingnutty House,
Who blackmail and grouse
Over battles they’ve lost and revived.