He made a modest proposal to sell all the furniture to pay rent.
modest proposal
idiomAn idea which is especially extreme, unorthodox or distasteful, often put forward in jest.
Origin
first recorded 18th c.From Jonathan Swift's 1729 satire A Modest Proposal, which suggested cannibalism as a solution to Irish poverty.
The politician offered a modest proposal to solve the budget crisis by taxing every single breath taken in public.
In a satirical essay, the author presented a modest proposal that suggested solving poverty by consuming the children of the poor.