THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER 2009

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER CLASSIC VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer
long, building his house and laying up supplies for
the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come
winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper
has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER 2009:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer
long, Building his house and laying up supplies for
the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away, taking out home equity loans, buying cars and going on vacation paid for by GM.

Come winter, the grasshopper who has not made a mortgage payment in six months gets a home foreclosure notice. He was counting on his house doubling in value so he could refinance to make the mortgage payment.

President Obama holds a town hall meeting introducing the shivering grasshopper as a victim of eight years of Republican greed and tax cuts.
He demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm in his house while the grasshopper is cold and starving. MSNBC, NBC and CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. Keith Olberman has the grasshopper as “Best Person in the World” and the boss the ant ‘Worst Person in the World”

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be? How can a country that can afford tax cuts for the ant when this poor Grasshopper is allowed to lose his home? It’s immoral that GWB cut the ant’s taxes and all the grasshopper (who pays no taxes) got was a tax rebate.

The grasshopper appears on Oprah with Obama, and everybody cries when they sing "Even a grasshopper deserves a home". Nancy Pelosi says this is just proof that eight years of capitalism has failed and introduces the “Home Fairness Act” into congress that lets a judge give a foreclosed house to the grasshopper from the government nationalized bank.

The ant is fined for not giving the grasshopper a raise 20 years ago under a new law passed by congress to protect low paid grasshoppers. The democrats in congress increase taxes on the ant to pay for the grasshopper’s credit card bills and car loan under Obama’s ‘Tax-Credit Fairness Act’ to help the 'middle class'. Both the ant and the grasshopper get hit by the new Cap and Trade energy tax taking half the ants income but the grasshoppers taxes are paid for by Obama’s ‘making being a democrat pay’ tax credit. All of the ant’s savings are destroyed as Obama demonizes investors and businesses and raises taxes on both. The ant closes his business and joins the ant on unemployment insurance. The grasshopper cashes his now permanent weekly unemployment check and is able to get a single beer with it due to massive inflation and sees Obama on the bar TV remind him to get his ‘free’ health care checkup.

(Author's note: A similar very well written anonymous story was posted on the internet when Clinton was President and it was the motivation and template for this story.)