Poem 529

Every year, the Beltway crowd
All get a little thrill
As they take the White House budget
On its journey to The Hill
 
You’ll hear familiar phrases like,
“Well, this will never fly.”
While others, with annoyance say,
“The ink’s not even dry.”
 
The most familiar phrasing?
According to the vets here
The folks who say, “That’s D.O.A.”
Before it even gets here!”

But what we saw this week

Is really quite unprecedented
The people rose in outrage
And the President relented.

Tax exempted savings

Which the government still backs
Would, when you took the money out
Be subject to a tax.

The money was for college kids

So folks like us could school them
But trying to explain it
Even Gruber couldn’t fool them

The reason that the White House
Says they made the quick redaction?
The rule was controversial
And they didn’t want the distraction

Some were just astounded
You could hear them gasp and golly
While others see this back down
As a footnote to the folly
 
But scouts are sent ahead
To see the way the tracks get laid
That’s why the world needs poets
And the big bucks we get paid

I see a stand for common sense

And this is what we learned
Hill 529 will be the mountain
Where momentum turned

The people now are up in arms

Let’s keep them on the run
In just this magic moment
The revolution has begun!