Conservatives and Romney

With today’s editorial cartoon, I have no doubts that a conservative would never vote for Obama to spite Romney.  However it is true that many conservative groups are calling on him to move to the right or lose their support.  So isn’t that really the same thing?  Tony Perkins (no not the actor), of the conservative group Family Research Council said this:  “And so if the party is moving in a different direction, we are not going there.  The only reason there was an alignment with Rick Santorum from our constituency is because Rick embraced the ideas, the policies and the principles that our organization and our constituency believes in…If they don’t, they’re not going to get the unbridled enthusiastic support that Rick Santorum enjoys.”

So maybe they don’t vote for Obama but more likely just don’t vote.  If you have choice between supporting a guy who agrees with 50% of your beliefs versus one that supports 0% (obvious exaggeration), wouldn’t the logical thing to do is try to get something out of it?  Or do you enjoy bitching about the country for another 4 years?  I guess I will never understand the mindset of the far left/right.

 

On a different but not necessarily lighter note, I did a caricature tribute to Dick Clark this week.  New Years Eve won’t be the same without you (and please no Mayan jokes…I have heard them in every form the last week. haha)

Editorial Cartoon: Obama and Reagan

So my last politically inspired cartoon poked fun at the Republicans so now it is the Democrats turn.  Time and time again I see Democrats invoking the spirit of Ronald Reagan to shame Republicans into agreeing with their policies.  Somehow Reagan has turned from representing all things evil with Conservatives to the voice of an elder (albeit deceased) elder statesman.

Recently President Barack Obama invoked a quote from Reagan to defend the Buffet Rule (a plan to up the tax on the rich) calling Reagan (gasp) “a socialist” compared to the ‘Republicans of today.  At the same time he said “Trickle Down Economics” didn’t work…a phrase that was the basis of the Reagan plan.

The difference is how they are looking to go about it.  Obama wants to raise tax on the über rich…something the majority of Americans will get behind simply because it doesn’t affect them.  However, what Reagan wanted to do was similar to all Republican platforms generally and fight to reduce taxes.  I am not one of those people that clamors for tax deductions.  I think they are a necessary part of living in an advanced society.  However, I hate it when my tax money is wasted because of politics that both sides tend to partake in.

AND, I agree with Reagan that the key isn’t to just raise taxes on the rich.  It is to remove all the tax loopholes that seem to be available to the rich such that people like Warren Buffet pays less as a percent of income than his secretary.  Hilarious that Buffet will make that point but still take advantage of those loopholes himself.  Simplify the tax code, get rid of the loopholes that seem to pop up and we won’t need to worry so much about whose taxes should be raised or not.

Editorial Cartoon: Mitt Romney turns 65

Former Governor and current GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney turned 65 this week proclaiming that he would not enroll for Social Security payments or Medicare.

For those unfamiliar, AARP is an organization in the States that has huge interest group focusing on those above 50 on age related issues.  It was formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons.  Historically in the U.S. the retirement age has been 65 though you can get your AARP card which offers discounts on travel, restaurants etc long before that age.  In fact I knew a 30 year old once who had her card.  I guess all you need to do is send in your money and boom, there it is.

Oh and Denny’s is a national chain of restaurants that specializes in breakfast food.

Editorial Cartoon: The Generosity of Warren Buffet

Today’s editorial cartoon was inspired by a blog post from Jeff Jena that blasted Billionaire Warren Buffet for his pittance of a challenge to Republicans in Congress.   Now on one hand, I agree with Buffet that certain tax shelters need to be right sized.  CEOs who take little salary yet rake in stock options because Capital Gains are charged at a lower rate than income.    In the late 80′s and 90′s that rate was closer to 30% and now it is somewhere around 15% so there is precedent for a higher rate.  And we are familiar with the notion that Buffet paid less as a percent of income in taxes than his secretary.  Maybe Warren should start paying her in stock instead.

A Republican pushed through the Buffet Rule Act that gives individuals an option on the tax form allowing them to give more to the IRS to lower the national debt.   Buffet responded saying he would match any Congressional Republican’s donations to the debt dollar for dollar.  While it can be looked at as a “put your money where your mouth is” bet, it is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP on his part.

Based on recent data, Buffet’s net worth is somewhere around $50 billion and the entirety of Congress is around $2 Billions (well overpaid but still 25x less than Buffet).  Let’s put that in perspective you and I could understand.  It would be the same as someone earning $100,000 a year (Person A) saying he would match dollar for dollar in donations that someone earning just $4,000 (Person B) did.  Let’s say they each donate $1000.   That is only 1% of Person A’s income while it is 25% of Person B’s.  $1000 to Person A is nothing so even if all the Republican’s in Congress donated 100% of their yearly income, it wouldn’t even put the slightest dent in Warren’s pocketbook.

 

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