Buttonwood: Tied to the mast Coping with the politics of austerity. TAXES are unpopular, and so are public-spending cuts. Democracies may thus have an innate tendency to run up budget deficits. How to control the politicians’ urge to splurge? In Greek mythology the song of the Sire 07-01-2009 by dandan56 Tags buttonwood, mast, tied