Funny Editorial Cartoons 7 Nov 2009

From Denny: There was a lot going on this week but health care reform continued to dominate. The public is finally waking up to the tactics of the Republicans and their lobbyists who unceasingly run anti-health care reform TV ads in my state with the usual suspects of scare tactics.

Basically, the cartoons revolved around the concepts of how no one wants to be labelled as a Republican, how the Republicans have deceived us on health care reform, how Obama looks too weak on restraining Big Business, Banks and Wall Street, Hillary on the move dealing with world behavior problems and how perplexed the average American is feeling these days with their lives falling apart.

There were so many good cartoons I'll continue the rest of them on Monday's post with the late night show quips roundup.



How the Republicans are perceived by the American voter on health care:







Gay marriage law died in Maine, one of the most liberal states in the Union. My guess is that while the public is fine with the lifestyle choice they aren't fine with the educational materials that came into the school system of books like Heather Has Two Mommies.

When 1% of the population starts trying to dominate the majority then there will be pushback. Had the gay rights folks not pushed on the majority in such a militant manner they would have already received their equal rights to marriage.

While it's understandable gays don't want hetero lifestyles pushed onto them they have to consider the reverse and not push the gay lifestyle onto the heteros. No one likes to be pushed around or dominated against their will. When people in America on both sides of any political, gender or religious issue finally understand and accept that to be true they might actually create break-throughs for equality legislation that benefits everyone.



Republicans trying to rebuild their political party and can't find any takers. People have abandoned them like rats off a sinking ship.

Many of them finally woke up and realized they had screwed themselves out of a decent paycheck, a regular job and truly lower taxes locally and state wise - because these went through the roof under the Republican Bush years - who threw all the national taxes (which were cheaper to centralize) to the local and state levels.

Under the Democrats the nation pooled their resources and taxes were cheaper on the local and state levels, try 50% less in my area. The average middle class person also paid an additional $5,000 to $7,000 extra national taxes during the Republican Bush years. And these guys have the nerve to scream about how the Democrats are raising taxes?

BTW, voters identifying themselves as Republicans have fallen to a low of only 19% and falling - from a previous 56% during the Bush years.







The average guy's experience when he goes to the bank:



Our Wall Street "buddies" and their "intellectual" business strategies:



Senator LieberBush in the pocket of Republican Big Business lobbyists (Senator Lieberman from Connecticut). Sadly, Lieberman started out in politics as a really decent guy who was doing the right thing by people. He stayed in Washington far too long and was seduced and destroyed by the atmosphere:




Obama's weak attempts to restrain and corral Wall Street, Big Business and Banks:





The never popular Republican Gingrich who was forced to resign as Speaker of the House, who started in politics in 1978 and started America on the destructive course it's been on for the past 30 years: getting rid of all the laws that restrained and regulated Big Business and Banks from raping the taxpayers' wallets and jobs:



This one brings to mind the shock-jocks and diarrhea-mouths of talk radio like Rush:



Climate change fools who just don't get it:



Hillary in Pakistan. I have 3 words to say, Go! Hillary, Go! :)





Ziggy as the average guy who plays by all the rules, votes but gets his vote thrown out by cheaters, goes to war for his country and can't get decent health care or a job when he comes off the battlefield, puts his money in the bank and then gets screwed with excessive interest rates on his credit cards is left wondering who is going to protect him:



*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, have a great weekend, bookmark this blog and come back often for a grin!

These graphics are great fun and come from:

Politics: FINALLY! House Votes to Restrict Wall Street Bonuses

CEO Looking a Little Nervous...? WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 9: Former Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron (L) adjusts his tie while testifying with former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd (R), and fromer Fannie Mae CEO Harold Raines (C) before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing on "The Role of Fannie and Freddie Mac in the Financial Crisis" on Capitol Hill December 9, 2008 in Washington, DC. The hearing focused on the financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, their takeover by the federal government, and their role in the ongoing financial crisis.Image by Getty Images via Daylife

From Denny: This just in from the Friday afternoon news cycle... Congress knows the public is seriously ticked off about the greed on Wall Street. They took advantage of us from the TARP money that was supposed to keep them afloat and the economy from tanking as the conventional wisdom went. When I first heard of it when Bush was on his way out of office I knew it was the Republican's last parting shot of "screw over the public" yet one more time "because we can." So, they did.

All they did with the TARP money was bonus themselves and continue greedy unwise short-term vision business as usual. Big business is now feeing their customers into the poor house as a result of feeling free enough to play with taxpayer money. The big banks, even Royal Bank of Scotland who got money from two countries - United States AND United Kingdom - decided to use their bail-out money to enhance their profit bottom line for the quarter. They even publicly said they saw no reason to start lending out the money to the public they were given for that express purpose.

What was voted upon and passed in the House by a 235 - 135 margin just minutes ago was a measure to prohibit pay and bonus packages that encourage big risks by bankers and traders, the kind of risks that can take down the economy like a house of cheap cards.

Just yesterday these big banks have bonused over $1 million to over 5,000 employees with the public money of billions. Voters are outraged. Europe and other investors outside America have called for this kind of reform for decades. They thought it was unbridled greed a long time ago and advised Bush and Cheney to do something about it. Of course, Bush and Cheney foolishly refused. What did you expect? You put two greedy American former CEO's - Bush who had bankrupted no less than eight companies - in charge of the candy store with a country's treasury and you think they would not go wild? Come on. They now had something to trade for big bucks to keep them in power: public funds.

Get this: even though House Republicans are fully aware of voter outrage, they still chose to dance to their lobbyist masters and vote AGAINST the measure. Unbelievable. Their sorry excuse of a claim? They weakly offered up, "Severe restrictions should apply only to banks that accept government aid."

So just what is the legislation banning in regard to risky compensation? This will apply to any firm with $1 billion in assests. That would include bank holding companies, broker-dealers, credit unions, investment advisors, and mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Prospects in the Senate are uncertain for this bill. You might want to start haranguing your Senators into voting for this bill now. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to take up this bill in the coming weeks after recess. It will be part of broader bill overhauling financial regulations.

What suggestions did President Obama ask to be included in this bill?

* shareholders get a nonbinding vote on compensation packages.

* prohibit members of compensation committees from having financial ties to the company and its executives (you know like Bush and Cheney did to Haliburton and others)

Finally, Congress is bowing to public pressure to deal with corporate greed. This is a good first step. The Senate had better get on board and sail this measure right on through or there will be a rush to "throw the bums out" come election time, and, these are the midterm elections coming up this November. Use your vote wisely.




Royal Bank of Scotland, big business, Wall Street, Republican Party, Dick Cheney, United States, Bank, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Business, Fannie Mae, Barack Obama, Freddie Mac, politics, big business

Video: Hurricane Katrina Super Volunteers 4 Years Later and How Bush Policies Have Jacked Up the Cost of Living There

From Denny:

Quality People Who Are REAL Christians

Hey! It's my birthday and I get to put up a story dear to my heart, all the class act volunteers who came into Louisiana and helped - and are still helping - rebuild people's lives. These folks are super heroes! They have given so much hope to thousands of people in emergency need who were so stressed out because they had meager or no resources to rebuild.

Most of all, these people like the ones profiled here, are REAL Christians. They are out there "in the highways and the byways" doing for others.

Pretend PHONY Christians

They aren't screaming about abortion and how a woman has no right to make her own moral decision. They aren't out there promoting character assassination because they can't get their own way and bully people into doing what they want. They aren't out there judging others because they don't go to the same church or believe in Jesus or whatever other hateful venom.

Latest Toxic Politics Courtesy of the Republicans

The latest so-called Christian vitriol is claiming President Obama is not a real American because they think his birth state of Hawaii is not really an American state. It just keeps getting meaner and meaner with the right wing's version of Christian politics. They also do not address him properly as The President. They have their little snide code words for him. Sure sounds like disrespect for the office, folks! You can't have it both ways: one minute demanding respect for a Republican President but you don't have to respect a Democratic President.

Call Goodness For What It Is and Quit Twisting the Truth

So, when I see quality people heralded as what they truly are, people of good character, then I like to promote them. Goodness no longer needs to be promoted as evil and evil as if it were good, something the Bible teaches by the way. That is some twisted thinking of our Republican politics in America for years now.

Republican Government Created Long-Term Harmful Effects After Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav

What a lot of the nation doesn't know, because it hasn't been the interest of the national media, is just how hard that storm hit the average person's wallet since the storm. Most Americans are frustrated and worried for the past year to eighteen months because of new expenses like fuel and food costs, watching their income ebb and flow because of it. Particular to Louisiana since 29 August 2005 is that the big business insurance companies have had a field day with us on jacking up our expenses beyond the ability to pay.

The argument is that you shouldn't live in such low-lying areas. True. Of course, you can kiss your oil to make the fuel for your car goodbye as the entire population moves away from the coasts. Kiss goodbye your natural gas to heat your homes, hot water and cook your food. Kiss goodbye your seafood too. Kiss goodbye your ports to move your goods across the country and overseas. That's the reality.

How It Developed into Such a Mess Because of Republican Policies

What's happened, because of Republican policies, is that the insurance companies were allowed carte blanche to do what they will. The result of Bush tax rebates has been that the state had to raise taxes, so did the local parishes (counties) and then the cities followed suit. Because of the Republicans yelling and screaming about how the Democrats would tax you, they ended up throwing the taxes to the local levels. Of course, not without a parting shot to the middle class across America. Under Bush, a Republican, I paid $7,000 more a year in federal taxes because of how he manipulated the tax code to force the middle class to give more again to replace what the wealthy were told they no longer had to give as their portion as being an American.

There went my savings account allocated for emergencies and retirement. What people who don't know that don't live in a hurricane zone (just like I don't know what it's like to live in an earthquake zone) is that it costs easily $500 to $2,000 dollars every time you evacuate for a hurricane or have to hunker down for 10 days by "sheltering in place" at home. Two or three hurricanes a year and you can see how families are devastated.

Insurance Companies Taken Off the Leash to Run Wild

Then the insurance companies went up on homeowners' and car insurances to the tune of the highest in the nation. Homeowners' insurance and new property taxes take up almost 40% of what was once my modest house note before Hurricane Katrina. Don't even get me started on the cumulative effects of Hurricane Gustav afterward... :)

Shed Your Expenses

Of course, when your expenses go up you start shedding anything you consider a luxury like a second car, vacations, dining out, hair and nail salons (do it yourself; it's easy), the car wash, lawn service, the dry cleaners and anything else you can do less of or do without entirely. Not really hard for us because I know how to do the same services. The ride was nice while it lasted not having to do everything all the time as eventually you get an inflamed shoulder nerve like I did from too much work.

Bush Rezones Flood Map for Democratic Voting Areas of Louisiana

Bush's parting shot at the Louisiana middle class was to pander to the insurance companies and redraw the flood map to now include people whose homes have NEVER flooded or come near to it in my area. What did that mean? Well, try to the tune of an additional $5,000 a year for mandated flood insurance from the mortgage company. Sure, we found cheaper.

We also should be carrying just a $1,000 deductible for homeowners' insurance. Because of the insurance lobbyists demanding everyone in state be mandated to carry homeowners' insurance whether you want it or not, we now get a really pretty choice: extremely high deductibles or normal deductibles with outrageous prices.

So, that translates as now a $17,000 deductible for homeowners' insurance instead of a $1,000. I'm lucky; most people I know in the same modest sized house are paying a $23,000 to $28,000 deductible. What this basically translates into is that you are self-insuring. Most hurricane damage does not cost this much so you will be out of pocket for it. All the while you are forced by the Republican policies to pay for insurance that will never cover a thing. Talk about a scam.

So, enough of the educational rant about how national politics really can impact our daily lives... it was meant as an illustration so the concrete thinkers out there can see how their bad decisions play out when they don't care about anything more than screaming their rhetoric. This is real life, folks!

Enjoy the Video About People Helping People Who Fall Through the Cracks

You will really enjoy this video. What I liked is hearing it from their own lips about what it is to trust God and go out and do what you know God is calling you to do. They put their money, their lives, their welfare, their everything on the line to start up a Disaster Recovery Service. They are entirely dependent upon donations. These are some incredibly cool people!

If you are able to contribute to this endeavor and give a donation to them that would be great. You never know when these people may come to your neighborhood and help you and yours in the future. They are such a class act!

Video: Hurricane Katrina Super Volunteers

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Hawaii, Democrats, Hurricane Gustav, Republican, Barack Obama, United States, Hurricane Katrina, Insurance, Republican Party, Meteorology

This Week: Roundup of Sunday Funnies - Fired Astronaut, Poetry Torture

From Denny: Here's the short roundup of the late night show quips for this week!

As toxically expected the Bush League has been in full tilt operation this week trying to bury Nancy Pelosi with the usual idiot nonsense. She's so angry she can't see straight.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes before she does a 180 degree turn and starts prosecuting the Bush crowd for their high crimes and misdemeanors. Maybe this is what it will take to light a fire under her and other Dems to start taking out the trash in politics.

Trying to distract the public by discrediting and trashing Pelosi and other Dems still won't wash the stench off the Republican Party for the past eight years. Own it.

As Keith Obermann said so eloquently, "At the rate the Republican Party is going, especially with Cheney so foolishly outspoken, they are quickly going the way of the Whig Party. Who's the Whig Party? My point, exactly!"

***

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon: House speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the CIA lied to her in 2003. Yeah, apparently, they sent her a document saying that her makeup looked subtle.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Kimmel: Even NASA is feeling the effects of the economy all the way in space. It looks good. (Fake footage of guy handing out pink slip in space.) "You're fired!" (Astronaut:) "Oh terrific."

The Tonight Show

Jay Leno: President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hosted a night of poetry and music featuring musicians, authors and poets. To which President Bush said, "Now, that's torture."

Late Show

David Letterman: Did you see this? While his holiness is away on his trip to the Middle East, rest assured the Vatican is in good hands. Pope Benedict has hired an experienced vice pope. (Photo of Cheney at Vatican with lower third that reads, "Let's waterboard some heretics.") Vice Pope Cheney let's waterboard some heretics.

Photo by I'm Fantastic @ flickr