pomes of buddy don: Desperate Straits

Today's news is nothing if not scary. I imagine the markets will be way down today, as they are so far in Europe and the far east. Lehman is gone. Merrill's been sold. The US taxpayer is on the line for a load of the bailouts for other institutions. There is fear up and down the street. We could be in ...

Desperate Straits

Some say it’s just the marketplace at work —
The winners thrive; the rest? Eliminated!
But when the risk’s too great, the losers shirk
And stick us with the losses they created.

For since we have no lobbyists to plead
Our case before the world except in votes,
Huge losses can be spread until we bleed
As our complaints are strangled in our throats.

We pay our tax dollars to avoid risk
To those who have achieved deregulation,
To those whose growth in wealth is rather brisk
While we can barely keep up with inflation.

Rich folks in sheltered neighborhoods with gates
Are those we must protect from desperate straits!

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