State of the Union by Carl Moore
- October 13, 2009
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Speed Bump by Dave Coverly
Stone Soup by Jan EliotAbout State of the Union
State of the Union is the result of a self-professed "fallen liberal’s" journey from radical socialism to conversative cartooning. Combining startling caricatures with a sly sense of humor and a sharp eye for satire, this innovative new strip will be sure to tickle your funnybone while making you think.
© 2009 Creators Syndicate - All Rights Reserved.
Comments (32) Jump to Comments Form
mroberts88 said, about 1 month ago
David, in my hypothetical, we wouldnt have known each other. I would have been johnny gang-banger. You did take it in a different direction than I was expecting, so good job. If someone has a firearm, of any kind pointed at me, one of my friends, family, or other loved ones, I would take a gun, and take them out.
I am interested however, how are assault weapons needless? They can be used for types of hunting. (Hog, coyote, possibly wolf.)
Jehosaphat, thats a good lesson.
johnnydoc5 said, about 1 month ago
Produce the evidence I say!
toasteroven said, about 1 month ago
Carl Moore, your cartoons are dull, badly paced, poorly drawn train wrecks.
I just thought you should know that.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
about 1 month ago
mroberts88 - Glad U liked it (re: comment from yesterday) - hope it helps U with some of your term papers. One of my teachers wrote that on one of my research paper eons ago - along with deducting points off my grade:-))
As for today’s strip - ACORN’s impropriety is so tiny in the totality of what’s gone wrong in the world - it’s ludicrous to waste time responding to it. Carl’s gone petty picking….again!
Contrarian said, about 1 month ago
David
Re: Yesterday
As a percentage of g.d.p., President Obama’s budgets are not as bad as Bush-Dick’s.
You’ll get no argument from me about the Bush-Cheney years. As a conservative, I do not defend Blue-Blood, Country Club, Wall Street Neo-cons who scuttled the Republican Party.
The OMB differs with the CBO with regards to the debt to GDP ratio so I won’t debate that point other than to note that if the economy does rebound, the ratio won’t be as bad as either agency projects.
If, however, the recovery is sluggish, the CBO projects a ratio close to 80%–in the out years–which is higher than Bush-Cheney’s 67%.
Jefferson, by the way, placed the nation in debt to enact the Louisiana Purchase.
Yes, a huge debt. He labored greatly over that decision, thinking that it was not even constitutional. It was a philosophical problem that he struggled with. The deciding factor was that the opposition Federalist Party wanted to go to war to seize the territory.
The only president you could support in the last thirty years is Bill Clinton.
I did well under Clinton. I commend him–with a wink and a nod–for working so well with a conservative Congress for six of his 8 years in office. David, you’ve got to give me that!
sablebrush5 said, about 1 month ago
The Acorn scandal is small, yes, but it’s revealing in that it shows Obama is just another two-bit politician who used the Acorn people when it suited his needs, and practically disowns them when it’s politically expedient to do so.
And, too, it shows how the mainstream media is, as Bernie Goldberg has said, “slobbering” all over Obama, avoiding negative stories as much as they can, and spinning the news to fit their pre-conceived notion of Obama as the Great Black Intellectual Who Will Save Us All. It’s pathetic and shameful.
Jim said, about 1 month ago
To me , Mr . Moore does a serviceable job with his caricature drawings , but the topic today seems a bit old .
Kees
said,
about 1 month ago
Todays punch line is as old as……..
I think that todays scandal in Holland might be a nice topic.
We just lost a bank. It fell over yesterday evening.
It is a small bank, but non the less a bank. 60% of its earnings came from mortgages and loans with (don’t know the English word for it) purchase policies (you put in an amount of money and after 30 years the interest and dividends combined make up for your loan, so during the time your loan is active you only pay interest)
And that’s where it all went wrong. The commission charges for making the investments were way too high.
And here comes the punch line for this scandal:
The CEO was the former minister of finance!!!
rricchhterr said, about 1 month ago
mroberts88
re: yerterday
racism, suppression, division
are all a common denominator
due to lack of
respect…
let me give you a simple for instance…
hazing
unfortunately our egos never out grow
themselves.
in the same way,
our thirst for money
is never quenched…
LibrarianInTraining said, about 1 month ago
johnnydoc5, it’s all over the internet. Just Google it.
scottfreitas
said,
about 1 month ago
ACORN has spent decades corrupting our political process, and “helping” deadbeats learn how to milk their fellow taxpayers for all the “free” stuff they could possibly get.
I don’t even undrstand why Leftists defend ACORN.
True, all deadbeats and slackers (including almost 100% of convicted criminals) are Leftists. But not all Leftists are deadbeats and slackers (or even convicted criminals), sooo… the math doesn’t add up.
No society can possibly survive when there are huge numbers of parasites sucking off it who contribute nothing but misery and suffering to their neighbors. ACORN is all about turning people into misery-inducing parasites…
DavidDow said, about 1 month ago
Since today’s cartoon is really lame (Carl Moore, the Acorn thing was dealt with quickly, and it’s over; it was a tiny little bug-storm concerning a few part-time workers and a pair of zealous regressives who persisted into a dozen Acorn offices to find someone mal-informed enough to let them sit & talk; most of the Acorn staff threw them out & said that they were calling the police; it’s just a shame that Acorn staff considered the prank stupid & not malicious & didn’t warn other offices), let us continue some discussion from yesterday & the weekend:
Mrob., how many times has anyone pointed a gun at you or a loved one? As for assault weapons in hunting, it is hardly sporting. Use a rifle and give the animal a chance. I trust that you hunt for meat & fur, &c. Hunting simply to kill animals is childish & cruel.
Thanks, Contrarian, for your concessions, and I will concede that Bill Clinton learned to work well with a Republican Congress. That was a trademark of his: to get along with everyone. Unfortunately, the election of the Republican Congress was much his fault, and he had—and has—conservative tendencies—even more so than has President Obama—that co-incided with the leanings of the Congress.
You overlooked the other part of my point about Clinton, though: By your equation of federal debt with big government AND your opposing presidents who increase the federal debt, Ronald Reagan is the worst president, and G.H.W. Bush was awful, too.
Lewreader
said,
about 1 month ago
Let me get this right. Getting convicted felons, uneducated, non-working people extra effort to get them to vote for politicians who tell them they are going to get all sorts of free things from the government paid for by the working class is a good thing.Did ACORN just do this or were they involved in securing sub-prime loans for these same people.
You mean my mother lied when she said work hard, serve your country, and register to vote before election day? I must have gotten the message wrong. Do nothing, have babies I can’t afford and the government will save me with health care and welfare from that big roll of money they print in Washington.
DavidDow said, about 1 month ago
Good grief, Lew, when do you ever chase ambulances? You’re constantly whining about these mythical “lazy poor” making your life sooooooo harrrrrrrrddddd.
Stop whining, and count your blessings.
harleyquinn
said,
about 1 month ago
chickens are coming home to roust! I was proven right that Acorn is a corrupt wing of the Chicago machine that put Obama in place.
Contrarian said, about 1 month ago
I registered to vote at an ACORN booth that was set up in front of a local supermarket.
The canvasser noted that I had checked Declined To State under political affiliation.
Weeks passed, and I hadn’t received my ID card from the Registrar of Voters.
A few days before the primary, I called the Registrar to verify my status and was told that I was not registered and, therefore, would not be permitted to cast a ballot.
Curious, but three weeks after the general election, I got my ID card in the mail.
When I called the Registrar for an explanation, I was told that ACORN officials had overlooked a box of applications that were turned in too late to be processed in time for the election.
Hmmm.
Contrarian said, about 1 month ago
David
Re: By your equation of federal debt…Ronald Reagan is the worst president.
Lou Cannon wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times, comparing Reagan’s budgets–which added $3 trillion to the national debt–with Obama’s projected debt estimate of $9 trillion (based on CBO analysis).
(FDR had to wrestle with a debt ratio that exceeded 100%.)
David, do I sense that you are in agreement with that ghoul, Dick Cheney, that deficits are not a problem?
OMG, the poles have just reversed!
butch1942 said, about 1 month ago
Dave I still think they should have gone to the movies.
BirishB said, about 1 month ago
Every ACORN has the potential to grow into a great oak tree. ACORN – the organization – has the potential to advocate for a marginalized group.
An acorn embodies the potential for a small thing to grow into something massive and long lasting.
However, every “acorn” must be properly nurtured and must exist in the correct environment to grow. Thus, not all acorns become oak trees. Likewise, the actions of ACORN – the group – must be above reproach in order to meet its intention and potential.
ACORN, in theory, is the embodiment of the American political spirit: organize and gather together in common interest to make a difference.
But if a few bad actors corrupted ACORN – misused its potential for wrongdoing – then its growth should be stopped. The potential for it to grow into something bigger must be halted.
That said, the individuals that corrupted ACORN are responsible for its malfeasance, and not the organization itself. We should be angry at those that took something potentially great and made it a laughingstock; by directing our anger at the ubiquitous and impersonal ACORN, we detract from those that are actually guilty.
Every citizen deserves a chance to lobby Washington, and ACORN is intended to be the voice of the poor and oft-overlooked. Wall Street lobbyists (and oil, tobacco, firearms, etc.) all get a seat at the decision table; ACORN ought to be providing the same, providing an advocate for a marginalized group.
IF there is evidence that ACORN is in the wrong, and IFObama ignores it, then the potential for this scandal to overshadow his presidency exists. Who will chop down that oak tree?
However, IF there are only individual bad actors, then we should all be fair about the potential for community-based action to make a significant difference, and, thus, allow ACORN to continue its good deeds.
After all, who wouldn’t want the comfort provided by a massive oak tree that grew organically from a tiny ACORN if it would mean that all of us would be stronger and better for it?
Contrarian said, about 1 month ago
[My apologies to SOTU. This is not my personal platform, but I need to respond to DavidDow one more time.]
David asked:
Do you have any suggestion as to how Obama should have addressed [the recession]?
Yes, and it is a very simple, but radical idea.
In the fiscal year (ending Sept. 30, 2008), the IRS collected $2.3 trillion in taxes.
How do you think the economy would respond if the government suspended tax collection for one year?
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
about 1 month ago
Economics plagued Nixon too - Anyone remember the “Phase Program”:
“At home, Nixon adopted the so-called New Federalism, a program designed to end what he said was the Democratic habit of “throwing money at problems.” Congress passed part of the plan—revenue sharing with states and cities—and appropriated some $30 billion for local needs. While espousing the fiscal conservatism traditional to his party, Nixon held to no set economic course. After first advocating a balanced budget, he turned to deficit financing. Having decided against wage and price controls to battle rising inflation rates, he reversed himself dramatically in August 1971. He imposed controls, with limited success, in four phases extending into 1974. Nixon’s economic policies were bold but inconsistent, and, partly because of rapidly rising energy costs, he was unable to avert a recession in 1974.”
http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=217742
Comments regarding Former Presidents Carter & Reagan last week focused on the later part of the 70’s. Carter inherited the Nixon/Agnew/Ford legacy. So what about Nixon & The Economy?
POLICY: Nixon’s Other Crisis: The Shrinking Dollar
Published June 18, 1973
“…Thus all the aspects of the U.S. economic malaise interact in circular fashion to intensify one another. Rapid U.S. inflation makes the dollar look weaker than ever to foreigners, and they mark its price down against their own currencies. The dollar’s slide then worsens the American inflation by increasing the price of imported goods and materials —for instance oil from the Arab states of the Middle East. The fewer Saudi Arabian riyals an American dollar equals, the higher the price of Arab oil in the U.S. Prices of American stocks slip because of worries about inflation and the declining dollar—the latter one of the prime sources of Wall Street’s recent frets. The stock market slide makes foreigners still more suspicious of the American economy and more prone than ever to sell dollars. And so it goes.”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910678,00.html
The Economy During The Bush/Cheney Years:
“OFF THE CHARTS; Dollar Sinks the Lowest Since It Started to Float” Published Sept 22, 2007
“A DOLLAR bill won’t buy what it used to. The greenback is worth less than ever before in this age of flexible exchange rates, and it has declined faster during the Bush administration than in any president’s term since Richard M. Nixon severed the dollar’s ties to gold in 1971.”
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E7D8123AF931A1575AC0A9619C8B63
MOORE concern should be about the Economy - it effects/affects US ALL.
mroberts88 said, about 1 month ago
When my stepbrothers were little kids, their dad held a gun at them and threatened to shoot. Obviously he isnt right in the head, and is the kind of person who shouldnt have firearms. On the hunting part, it depends on what I’m hunting. If its deer, yes, I’ll use what I can, if its coyote, probably not, but I’m doing it to lower a predator population. Farming is big where I am, so there are alot of coyotes.
If a few Acorn employees did that, they should be fired, and we should know if they were told not to. If they werent, the problem is done, if they were, fire those that told the employees to do that.
ReFlex-76
said,
about 1 month ago
Just to be clear:
-There were no prostitutes, it was a guy posing with his employee.
The ACORN employees who fell for it were fired.
Tapes where the ACORN employees caught on and turned them down have gone mysteriously missing.
Turns out some of these tapes may be illegal because of privacy laws.
BirishB said, about 1 month ago
Contrarian …
When the Bush tax cuts were enacted by Congress, the logic behind the move was that returning money to Americans would spur spending.
But it did not. Americans, overwhelmingly, pocketed the dough (saved their acorns for winter? sorry, had to). Those tax cuts did not turn into the seed money that Bush intended it to be (twice? really? did i just do that?)
Likewise, given the propensity for Americans to spend on things with depreciating value (plasma screens and automobiles), I do not agree that allowing Americans to keep their money for a year would have the kind of effect you think it might, even in our consumer economy.
Moreover, I believe it would plant the seeds of destruction (sorry … another acorn reference). How would the government fund necessary programs? (Define “necessary” as you will, but a for instance would be the some aspects of military spending we can all agree are essential [NOT ALL]).
Suspending tax payments for a year would really only rob Peter to pay Paul. I think we would literally reap what we sow (argh! can’t stop myself) – that is, we would accumulate deficits in spending on programs X, Y and Z that would eventually have to be paid off just so that Americans could get a few more bucks in their pocket that they may or may not spend and use wisely. Would we simply plow through our new-gotten gains instead of harvesting our investments? (i know … i have to stop)
I like the out of the box thinking, but I think that strategy would be …
… wait for it …
NUTS! (sorry)
Contrarian said, about 1 month ago
GJ_Jehosaphat
Nixon and the gold standard is a whole other topic I wish I had time to hash out.
Ron Paul presents a very lengthy dissertation on the gold standard here:
The End of Dollar Hegemony
BirishB
I did not benefit from W’s two-bit tax cut, but if I could keep my whole paycheck for a year, then I could buy a car without a clunkers’ handout.
Thank you for not calling me nuts–only the idea.
Whether tax cuts can stimulate the economy, here’s what JFK thought:
JFK’s Tax Cuts
Radical-Knight
said,
about 1 month ago
toasterover - Your rhetoric is boring and obnoxious.
I just thought you should know that.
toasteroven said, about 1 month ago
Ha ha!
What an absolute treasure you are, RK.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
about 1 month ago
Contrarian - Thanks for the link - I like Ron Paul but I’m one of those practical folks who wonder “WHY GOLD”? Why not other precious gems or metals - a discussion for another day. I figure it involves Myth & Superstition rather than for any Metallurgical Quality….
mroberts88 said, about 1 month ago
Jehosaphat, it may have something to do with money being backed by gold.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
about 1 month ago
mrob - I was thinking WAY BACK in time like:
“The Ancient World (pre 400 AD)
In the quest for gold by various ancient civilizations, prisoners of war were sent to work the mines, as were slaves and criminals, all during a time when gold had no value as ‘money,’ but was just considered a desirable commodity in itself.”
http://www.goldipedia.gold.org/historyandculture/ancient_world/
I’ve been reading about Gold prices on CNN?MONEY recently & how the current rise in price is NOT related to inflationary pressures. The Link provided by Contrarian is an article written by Ron Paul & talks about the gold standard in US history.
Commodities trading usually relies on the old “Supply & Demand” theory (and speculation and/or betting on futures). Gold trading seems more like it’s based on advertising (myth of scarcity) & profiteering.
DavidDow said, about 1 month ago
No, the poles are still where they are, and Hell hasn’t frozen over, Contrarian. Deficits are important, but there are times, reasons, & causes when a country—like an individual—must run a deficit and times when it need not. For instance, when you buy a house, you accrue a massive debt. It can be a sensible act, however, because of the benefits it affords and because you can pay off—or manage—the debt. Likewise, if you had no cash & no food but you had a credit card, then you could run some temporary debt that would help you survive until you could regain an income.
On the other hand, if you simply run up credit-card debt to buy stuff for your friends, who already have a lot of stuff, and you have no intention to pay off the debt, then that (like the debt of Bush-Dick) is utterly irresponsible. Likewise, if you continue to buy lots of overpriced stuff while you have chosen to live on a much smaller income, then you will run up a huge debt, and if you decide that your grandchildren can pay it off, then you have acted wholly irresponsibility. That encapsulates the Reagan years.
I would like to write more, and I appreciate the thoughtful & interesting comments, but I give myself five minutes to reply, sso as not to turn this into some ’net addiction, and to get some real work done, and the five minutes ended four minutes ago.
senorbullwinkle
said,
about 1 month ago
http://fairtaxfraud.com/book.asp