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Time was when people were making money,

And spending it as fast as they could make it,

When Wall St. was paved with milk and honey

And other people's money, with brokers ready to take it.

Corporate bosses were taking profits for themselves,

Letting their workers have minimum-wage cake;

Wehn accountants placed doctored books on the shelves

To keep the IRS from knowing who was on the take.

At some point, for some people, earning money lost its appeal:

"Why bother earning it when we can legally steal

From those who trust it with us? We'll never feel

Like Howie Mandel asking, "Deal Or No Deal?"



Now the tables have turned: economies the world over

Have begun to topple, ours being the first.

More and more bad news rolled us on our backs like Rover,

And made us realize we were choking on our thirst

For money and power. The markets spun out

Of control, and much was lost in a heartbeat.

What was a trickle became a flood, no doubt,

As it flowed from Wall St. and spilled onto Main Street.

Politicians soon saw they had to stop the spinning wheel

Before too many jobs and too much money lost would seal

The fate of a nation. They came to Congress to humbly kneel

Before their peers, begging, "Deal Or No Deal?"



A deal was indeed made, but of the wrong sort,

As more money and more jobs are still disappearing,

And with every market drop and negative earnings report,

The long-forewarned recession that everyone was fearing

Becomes a stark reality. Not for many years

Have so many lost their jobs so fast, but today

Even the corporate bosses see their worst fears

Of losing the money they have stolen anyway.

CEOs of banks and department stores now stand heel to heel

With the thousands of unemployed workers, unable to conceal

What the heads of GM, Ford, and Chrysler now feel,

With tin cups in their hands, asking "Deal Or No Deal?"







Patrick W. Hopkins               12/10/2008