Apologies for my posting laxness these past few days. I’ve been doing some public speaking and have had ludicrously limited time. I’m at it again this week, and if you’re interested, I’ll be presenting at The Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, CT on Thursday at 7:00PM.
To make up for my radio silence…Here is an extra little illustration I did for a Saturday piece we ran on the psychology of mindless consumerism – Not that I have any experience on that subject…

Hey a cartoon that’s not about the economy! Instead we turn to the murderous reign of mexican drug cartels over both sides of the US border…armed by upstanding law-abiding US gun dealers. What a mess.

Okay, I confess, this cartoon is bordering on unvarnished populism, as the rising maintenance costs of a vast Metropolitan public transportation system plus its bridges and tunnels ARE a genuine problem for the MTA. It’s just that it seems the only solution that the MTA board ever visualizes is hiking fares and tolls every single year, without fail. Now that the economy is in the tank, they seem to not understand that most of their riders are also facing their own personal budgetary issues. Perhaps the strategy is to drive people away from public transportation in order to reduce maintenance costs?

I read through the details of the T.A.R.P “public private partnership” and was struck by how the govt. has gone to extraordinary lengths to bribe private investors to take a risk. Basically the bribe entails removing the risk. I’d like some of that in my investment landscape please. I can see the backlash now as hedge funds reap massive Taxpayer/Govt-backed rewards, regardless of whether the toxic assets they took off the banks’ books grow or sink in value.

The Obama administration is well aware of this, and is running interference by describing the private investors as the good guys. The heros. The patriots. I am having a slightly hard time with that analogy.

Congress enabled the ability of TARP recipients to take our money without strings attached, and now they are mad – because the people are mad – that bailed out banks are using our money to line their failed greedy traders’ pockets. Greed from bankers was to be expected – Congress on the other hand is responsible for not insisting on oversight.

Speaking of perception, there’s rumbling that this could hurt Obama’s bailout plans. I disagree. I think people know the difference between propping up institutions that will destroy the economy if we allow them to collapse, and a few unscrupulous Wall Streeters stealing money that isn’t theirs – Particularly when the economic turmoil that is costing people their jobs, houses and retirement savings was caused by those same geniuses. This time, the pitchforks are entirely warranted.

Fortunately I didn’t feel like I needed to label the dragon. I hate labels, which can be a necessary component when indulging in the metaphorical genre of political cartooning.

There was a great letter in the NY Times yesterday suggesting that the AIG bonus anger explosion was Obama’s Katrina moment. That may or may not be true, but Tim Geithner, with his puzzling display of overt niceness to failed bankers, is apparently experiencing his “Brownie” moment.

Yeah..So The AIG types really warranted not only another cartoon, but also a really lousy pun.

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s splendid that yours and my bailout money enabled AIG to pay its beleaguered executives their astonishingly huge bonuses as a reward for cluelessly grinding their company into the ground. Perhaps we are seeing at last a return to the old economic order – over which we reminisce so wistfully.

I got a little lost when idea-ifying over this one. I’m confused by the whole Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget gap phenomenon. No matter what, they always need more money than they did in the previous year. This year, of course, it’s all “much worse.” What I can glean is that Albany doesn’t want to impose new taxes and a new series of toll booths at the East River and Harlem crossings (which are my personal favorite bridges – not because there’s no toll per se, but because there’s rarely a backup, due to there being no toll booths…) Conversely, the M.T.A. is threatening huge fare hikes and service cuts if they don’t get their payroll tax and tolls implemented to supplement their incomprehensible inability to spend only the money they earn. So the M.T.A. and Albany have entered into yet another battle over which set of commuters to aggravate. So as you can see, it’s hard to figure out who the villain is for cartooning purposes. I personally think that, if anything, subway fares should go up, as the bridge tolls are already diverted to prop up subway costs.
And compared to other underground systems around the world, the NYC Subway is a bargain.

Oh, and Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan should be revisited.