Pursuant to my previous blog entry…

The media gives its audience what it wants, so I suppose we really should be looking at the man in the mirror here. Oof. Sorry. That’s enough of that. Rest in peace, Mr. Jackson.

Much to the relief of “President” Ahmedinejad and Governor Sanford (I’m sure), the untimely death of Michael Jackson has overwhelmingly placed philandering politicians and the Iranian democracy crisis on news cycle back-burners for the time being. Nonetheless, we can reminisce – Here’s what I penned over the past few days…

Drew this scene from memory. Looks like my kitchen floor after breakfast w/my 21 month old son. He has an excuse though.

I love drawing angry men yelling out of windows. Conjures fond childhood memories.
Another thing that conjures fond childhood memories is not being handed an ER bill for 10,000 Pounds the time I broke my big toe in a spectacular cycling accident near London. (That’s approximately the amount I was charged when I broke my collarbone in December – as astute loyal readers of this blog will remember.) I have spent many hours in various ERs and the single difference between British and US versions is one won’t discharge you without handing you a breathtaking invoice. The care itself is pretty much the same.

The big question is of course, how do we pay for the “public option” as it has been dubbed? Here’s my take:

1) The Insurance Companies are making massive profits as toll collectors between us and our doctors. Those profits are real money – so there’s masses of room for vast cost-cutting, which the public option would enable – And is the main reason insurance companies are freaking out.

2) Due to the high quarterly profit requirements of the middlemen insurance companies, decent health plans are monumentally expensive. I (a lucky member of “the insured”) pay a small fortune (aka “tax”) for family coverage, and I still have to pay huge out of pocket charges that seem to be plucked at random from a hat sitting in front of whichever “associate” I happen to be complaining to. Every dollar they force me to pay is a dollar in their pocket.
I don’t think I am alone in saying that I would gleefully redirect my high premiums/copays into a national system in order to starve the Insurance Co.s of profit – especially if it also meant my unemployed neighbor is covered when her little boy breaks his toe in a spectacular cycling accident.

3) The Iraq war still costs us $12 billion a month. How come anti-health-care-for-all deficit hawks weren’t up in arms about that huge piece of unsustainable Government spending? Anyway there’s $12 billion a month right there without touching the current tax rate.

There! All figured out. A National Health plan will not be perfect, I admit…But the current system of delivery is worse, and frankly unsustainable. I’m sure none of my dear regular blog readers/commenters have anything to say about my personal take on this particular issue…

This is tomorrow’s cartoon…But in light of today’s events in Iran, thought I’d publish it on the blog a day early.

Breaking news: Nothing happening in Albany.

Apart from the daily bulletins of who refuses to recognize whose “leadership,” there really isn’t a hugely noticeable difference in the actual substance coming from the state capital. I’ve always felt like the place almost exists in some far off fantasy parish, with no apparent bearing (other than its considerable cost) on anything in NY State itself.

Reminds me a bit of our friendly neighborhood nuke plant, which – we are reminded constantly – is “essential” to the energy needs of the lower Hudson Valley. Yet when it is being repaired during one of its relatively frequent emergency shutdowns, my office lights still work smashingly.

I went in several visual directions before sketching up this image. Almost did an oil derrick/frame drilling into consumers/customers/victims – or whatever you call people who got shafted by the bank biz – but I thought this was a more amusing take on the “framework” motif. I really thought long and hard about putting in the “greed” label, as I really loathe labeling, but I loathe ambiguousness more, so the label stayed in.

The President’s already compromise-laced proposal to overhaul the financial regulatory system is now in Congress’ sweaty palms and will be further weakened by bank lobbyists who didn’t get their way during the White House cobbling-together session. Predictably, their only interest is in preserving the structure holding up that vast belly. My dream is to one day be able to afford my own lobbyist.

Playing issue catch up after the relaxing week I took off was of course filled with unrelaxing, high political dudgeon – and consequently interesting material for cartoons. Nice to be back at the drawing table.