Very clever

Anything that implicitly compares the contemporary ruling class with medieval english barons is welcome.

The outcry by the English baronage over this shortfall would have warmed the heart of today’s most avid fiscal conservative. There being no liberal social programs available to cut -- the peasantry was pretty much expected to suffer and die in unalleviated poverty in the Middle Ages -- the exchequer focused instead on reducing foreign aid, which in this case meant discontinuing the policy of bribing the duke of Burgundy.