This cartoon is available as a print or a poster on Redbubble.

Click here to buy it on Redbubble..

If you know of something I’ve done that you think shirtworthy, let me know in email.

Because just because I’m not a libertarian doesn’t mean I can’t be a stinkin’ capitalist!

–Barry

Buy this cartoon as a print or a poster!

.

Buy the shirt!

Script:

PANELS 1 & 2. The Federal Reserve, depicted as a professorial-looking man (bow tie, pipe), cheerily talking to a balding, working-class looking dude in an undershirt. Working class dude is listening without much expression.
FEDERAL RESERVE: hi! i’m the federal reserve! i practically run the economy! i COULD use my powers to lower unemployment, but INVESTORS don’t want that. in fact, whenever unemployment gets LOW, i make it go UP. because that’s what wall street wants. i purposely create unemployment!
PANELS 3 & 4 The Federal Reserve is gone, and in his place is The Banking Industry, depicted as a balding man in a vest, tie and jacket, and with dollar bills floating in the air around him. Banking Industry is even more cheerful than Federal Reserve was. Working class dude continues listening expressionlessly.
BANKING INDUSTRY: hey there! I’m the banking industry. i pack the government with my friends, and gamble wildly until i destroy the entire economy. after that, i’ll get bailed out with YOUR tax dollars. then i’ll foreclose on the horribly inequitable mortgage i sold you and take your home!
PANEL 5: Man wearing Uncle Sam hat has now replaced Banking Industry. Uncle Sam waves cheerily. Working Class Dude continues to listen expressionlessly.
UNCLE SAM: greetings! i’m your goverment!
PANEL 6: Uncle Sam leans in and whispers. Working Class Dude continues to listen expressionlessly.
UNCLE SAM: i make little GESTURES towards reform, but in the end i always take the banks’ side! because they totally OWN me!
PANELS 7 & 8: An Immigrant Dude replaces Uncle Sam, and speaks cheerfully. Immigrant Dude looks exactly like Working Class Dude, except his skin is a little darker. Working Class Dude continues to listen expressionlessly.
IMMIGRANT DUDE: hello! i’m an immigrant. i just want to work hard to feed my family.
PANEL 9: Working Class Dude yells very loudly and angrily; Immigrant Dude winces back in surprise.
WORKING CLASS DUDE: QUIT RUINING MY LIFE, YOU SELFISH BASTARD!!

Panel one: Two women are talking, one white, one black. The white woman looks annoyed, the black woman looks nervous.
WHITE WOMAN: so then HE said i was being RACIST! that’s CRAZY, right?
BLACK WOMAN: um… do you realize you’ve done this before?

Panel two
WW: Done what?
BW: Ask me to reassure you you’re not a racist.

Panel three: Close-up on the black woman, mockingly imitating a jubilant doctor.
BW: when i was BORN, the doctor didn’t say “oh, it’s a healthy BLACK baby! god willing, she’ll grow up to reassure WHITE people!”

Panel four: Close-up on the black woman, now with an openly angry expression.
BW: my PARENTS didn’t say “if we raise her JUST right, then SOMEDAY she’ll make WHITE people feel BETTER about themselves!”

Panel five
BW: do you UNDERSTAND what I’m telling you?
WW: I think I do.

Panel six
WW: just one thing… you’re not suggesting that I’ve been RACIST, right?

Tiny inset panel at bottom of panel six
BW: Do you even hear the words I say?
WW: The ones I like.

Visual description: This is a four-panel cartoon. Each panel shows the same three woman. The woman on the left and right are arguing; the woman in the middle is listening with interest to their arguments.
Panel 1
WOMAN 1: our NEW HEALTH CARE BALLOON is a GIGANTIC deal! it’s more like a RIDE in a HOT AIR BALLOON! and EVERY AMERICAN can ride to a HEALTHIER TOMORROW! it’s the balloon we’ve waited our WHOLE LIFE for!
Panel 2
WOMAN 2: LIES! the new health care balloon is more like the HINDENBURG! a GIANT FLAMING GASBAG OF DEATH FOR ALL AMERICANS! the END OF FREEDOM on our SHINING SHORES!
Panel 3: The two arguing women are now just yelling into each other’s faces.
WOMAN 1: LIFESAVER!
WOMAN 2: HINDENBURG!
WOMAN 1: BOON TO ALL!
WOMAN 2: SOCIALIST DEATHTRAP!
WOMAN 1: THE NEW NEW DEAL!
WOMAN 2: DEATH BY MANDATE!
Panel 4: A perfectly ordinary, normal-sized balloon has floated into the picture.
WOMAN 1 (Arms wide open, gesturing towards the balloon): It’s HERE! Isn’t it AWESOME?
WOMAN 2 (Fleeing in terror): AYIEE! THE NEW STALIN!
Woman in middle: Looks towards the viewer with a “you’ve got to be kidding me” expression on her face.
CAPTION: The Great Health Care Debate

This cartoon was co-written by Rachel Swirsky.

Description of cartoon:

Panel 1: An angry-looking cartoon donut yells at the reader. The hole in the donut forms the donut’s huge, yelling mouth; the donut also has cartoony-looking, angry eyes, and a big nose. The donut is holding two stone tablets Moses-style.
DONUT: HARK, o my children! It is I, your LORD AND GOD the DEFICIT! Incarnated in pastry raiment to decree MY HOLY COMMANDMENTS!
FOOTNOTE: Why a donut? Because it has a hole.

Panel 2: Donut, now without tablets, continues yelling.
DONUT: Thou shalt not have single payer health care. for though it would save money, I, the LORD YOUR DEFICIT, in my all-knowing wisdom, pronounce that we CAN’T AFFORD IT!

Panel 3: Donut gestures hugely, arms above head.
DONUT: Hear me, the LORD YOUR DEFICIT! We cannot afford it! Neither to restore HEALTH unto the sick, nor to give PROSPERITY to the foresaken. YEA, even though social spending would curtail recession and replenish coffers, still we CANNOT afford it!

Panel 4: Donut is now wearing a US Army officer’s hat, and holding a automatic rifle in one hand and a knife in the other.
DONUT: Yet I, THE DEFICIT, pronounce unto you that endless wars NEED NOT be paid for! Never let cost deter you from raining onto the ground the BLOOD of those who are REPELLENT unto you!

Panel 5: Extreme close-up of Donut’s face. The military cap is gone. Donut yells.
DONUT:Thou shalt EVERLASTINGLY support tax cuts, no matter the cost!
SO SAYETH THE DEFICIT!
And thou shalt NEVER raise taxes, no matter the need for revenue!
SO SAYETH THE DEFICIT!

Panel 6: The donut is shown very distant from the reader, at the top of a steep mountain. There are clouds behind the donut and a lightning bolt is coming from one of the clouds.
DONUT: OBEY these commandments, my children! free your hearts of skepticism, and compassion, and basic knowledge of economics. then thou shalt be pleasing unto me, YOUR LORD THE DEFICIT! AMEN!

There is a caption at the bottom of the entire cartoon, which says, “The Church of Fiscal Conservatism.”

A cartoon that was inspired by Paul Krugman’s article “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?”

[Visual description:
Panel one: Dude wearing "Uncle Sam" hat and a Hawaiian shirt is walking alongside a cliff, with John Keynes, who has a big mustache.
HAT DUDE: Keynes, you are old-fashioned and useless. Modern economics has transcended you.
Panel 2: Hat Dude teeters on the edge of falling off the cliff.
HAT DUDE: Oh Dear! I am plummeting over a cliff! SAVE ME KEYNES!
Panel 3: Keynes has caught hat dude by the wrist and is pulling him to safety.
KEYNES: It's okay... I've got you!
HAT DUDE: Thank you, Keynes!
Panel 4: They resume their walk.
HAT DUDE: As I was saying, Keynes, you're of no use at all! ]

This cartoon was published in the April 2009 issue of Dollars and Sense. The original art is being auctioned here.

To tell you the truth, I can’t draw Darth’s helmet to save my life. So I turned to the awesome Bill Mudron, who could easily draw Darth’s helmet with a crayon clenched between his butt cheeks, although in this case I’m pretty sure Bill used his hands. I wrote and penciled the cartoon, and Bill inked it, drawing Darth and the backgrounds pretty much from scratch.

Since this is a health care cartoon, I thought it would make sense to auction it off to help someone pay for health care. Somewhere on the internet I ran into Connie Parrott‘s case; Connie is a type 1 diabetic who is trying to raise funds for needed medical equipment through the internet. Although I haven’t met Connie, I emailed her, and she was willing to let me do the auction thing. Connie’s friend Ed Brayton, volunteered to help organize it.

So, anyway: The original art is being auctioned here on Ebay. You can find details (paper stock, image size, etc) over there.

It’s worth mentioning that I don’t usually draw my cartoons on paper! This is the first cartoon I’ve done in years that wasn’t done 100% on computer. So this is a relatively rare chance to own original paper art for one of my strips.

UPDATE: The art sold for $200. Yay!

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

This comic strip was a component of a larger page of cartoons originally done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. You can view the whole thing here.

“Recession Funnies” was a 2/3 page group of cartoons done for Dollars & Sense Magazine. It’s too large to fit in this space, but you can view the whole thing here.

Originally published in Dollars and Sense. A tip of the pen to Ezra Klein’s blog, my favorite health care policy blog.