Republican Shame

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Republican Shame

“Huge sums for war, tax breaks for the rich, while wanting deep 

cuts to programs working people need--that is the Republican

budget plan.” --Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Dearest Republican Senators:

How do you pull it off? 

Targeting the rednecked, ill-educated, low-income

                     John Bircher, KKK, racist, & sexist citizens, 

                             who consistently support you at their own peril,

                     somehow you have wrested away control of the majority in 

             the U.S. Senate, continued to sugar-coat & spin the 

vast majority of facts that confront you, & have led the most 

shameful attack of a sitting President 

             in the entire history of our country.

You deny responsibility masterfully, 

as hard data is revealed concerning 

your misdeeds; facts like--

When Bill Clinton left office in 2001,

                America had a 230 billion dollar surplus.

                              After two terms, when George W. Bush left office

                        in 2009, this country was left with a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit. 

                  Continuing to point the blame at the Democrats,

          the Republicans, who had taken us into wars in Iraq

& Afghanistan, running up the cost to trillions of dollars,

          now, it seems, that in order to deal with this deficit,            

                    they want to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security

                                education & nutritional programs.

Nobody who works a 40-hour week,              should be living  below

                      the poverty line. In the last two years,

                      the 14 wealthiest Americans earned

                      a 157 billion dollar increase in their net worth,

                                         which exceeds the combined income 

                                         of the lowest 40% of our population.

              In addition another study revealed that

              the top 1%  earn more income than the bottom 50%;

              can you spell inequity?

Most of our highways & bridges

are in  terrible shape, crumbling, unsafe, ignored;

We spend more money on our military budget,        something like six

                     trillion dollars, more than 90% spent by all the other

              countries in the world combined, sending the cream

         of our youth to spill their blood in the Middle East.

Why in God’s name can’t we spend 1 trillion dollars

        on rebuilding America’s infrastructure, creating safer

        transportation & new jobs?

And what about our soaring costs for a college education,

creating student indebtedness that will take             decades to repay?

        While 25% of all large corporations in this country

                    pay no federal income tax at all, & another       

                                   50% receive huge Republican-created tax breaks.

                    Middle class youth cannot afford college.

         It is essential that corporations need to pay their fair share,

so that we can reduce educational costs

to the realm of affordable.

Even though I realize

that my complaints will go unheeded,

       my data will be discredited,

       my concerns will not be addressed, 

       my children & grandchildren’s future is in jeopardy, &

       my efforts to get your attention are fruitless, still

I feel better uttering these shameful facts,

rather than watching the disintegration

of democracy mutely, dispassionately, 

just enabling You to have your way with

this country without a fuss.

I remain ashamed of your greed, deceit, & apathy,

as I gird my loins for the 2016 presidential election.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Poetics

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