Happy Consumer Holidays!

This is just my little take on US consumerism and patriotism.  Just something to think about.  Here’s a video and the comic strip.

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Happy Consumer Holidays!

“You’ve Been Teabagged!”

All across the USA people will be protesting Obama’s taxation plan, and reliving the glory days of the Boston Tea Party.  Anyone thinking that the modern form of teabagging has anything to do with abusive government taxation has been drinking something other than tea.  Actually they should be embarrassed by their lack of history and their lack of modern slang.   Let’s just say the word teabagging has to do with sex more tax.

Here’s how most people think of the Boston Tea Party of 1773.  You have to remember that tea was the coffee of the day.  The East India Company was a faltering tea importer to this continent.  History gets a little watered down, so most people today think that the Tea Act of 1773 was England’s way of milking some more cash through a tax on tea to the Americans.

Let’s untwist that tea bag back into shape.  The Tea Act gave the East India Company absolute access to the American tea trade – and exempted the company from paying taxes to England on any tea shipped to the new colonies. 

The point of the Tea Act of 1773 was increase profits for the company and to make the stockholders rich and create a monopoly to drive their smaller competitors out of business.  Since the East India Company no longer had to pay taxes, the company could lower their tea prices to a point where smaller importers and local teahouses couldn’t compete.   Hmmmm – sounds more like Wal-Mart. 

The early colonists were so angered by Wal-Mart – errr – I mean the East India Company that they revolted against the company and the English.  Their anger was aimed at a multinational corporation that was taking advantage of a situation.  Small businesses were being driven out because they still had to pay taxes and that this Tea Act was put in place without consulting the colonies.  Thus came the phrase: “No Taxation Without Representation”.

The people who stormed the British tea ships were resisting the influx of a multi-national company that was destroying the smaller businesses.  Once the Boston Tea Party occurred England responded by closing the Boston ports until the disposed of tea was paid for.  The citizens declined to pay!   This insolence was a dip into things to come. 

Wow!  Have times changed!  Can you imagine if corporate media existed back then and could control people to act out against their own best interests?  I’ll stick to my coffee.

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Trickle Down Economics

Corporate Greed isn't all bad.

It’s a Wonderful LIFE!

It's Gonna Be a Wonderful Life!

It makes me happy to see this broken, old man leave office this way!   This last administration was all about greed and filling their pockets, so good riddance.

Great Sales Discounts make us happy!

What will become of department stores with these kinds of discounts?  What will become of China?

Holiday Retail Sales

Holiday Retail Sales

I did this cartoon thinking about how can department stores offer 50-70% off merchandise?  If you think of the design, the production, legalities, shipment, and sales people, and whatever else — what was the profit margins like without the discounts?  What if the auto industry could knock off 70% on a car?  Whooo-wee!

Mixed Messages……….

The question is why can’t we take care of people in this country?  The Republican party puts so much emphasis on life being so sacred.  But it never really is “for the people”, but it is always corparations first.  I can only assume that the term Corporatist has replaced Republican.  Come Join US at http://www.LivinginLethargy.com

Hey Ralphie!

I’m standing in the toothpaste aisle of the grocery store.  There is probably fifty types of toothpaste to choose from.  There’s even lemon flavored toothpaste!   The United States is full of choices, and we love choices.  Somebody is out there rubbing lemon flavoring all over the inside of their mouth.   

So in the land of choices, why don’t we expect the same thing in our political elections?  Let’s face it candidates are products and are marketed as so.  John McCain is the tough, durable truck.  Barack Obama is the fabric softener that will make your clothes feel good against your skin.  Hillary Clinton is the cereal that is good for you, but you aren’t sure what’s really in it.   

George Bush was sold to us as a guy you want to have a beer with.  Of course he’s an alcoholic, so how’d that work out?  Personally I don’t want to have a beer with a president – I want someone who will save our country from corporatists, will uphold the Constitution, and show the world what a great country this is.   

Ralph Nader announced recently that he’ll run for the third time.  The reason for his candidacy is always the same.  Republicans and democrats have lost their focus and favor corporations over the people.  These two parties have lead us into a war full of lies, destroyed the educational system to a point where most U.S. citizens believe the bible should be a text book, stripped away freedoms and rights,  taken apart regulatory agencies, destroyed the middle class in order to beef up corporations, and on and on.   

Ralph Nader is a viable candidate.  Ralph Nader did not cause Al Gore or John Kerry to lose the elections.  Gore and Kerry caused their losses.  In 2000 Nader’s percentage was 2.7 and in 2004 he received half of one percent.  Al Gore is a brilliant man, who should have had a greater voting percentage than George Bush, but of course U.S. citizens would rather have a beer with their alcoholic president than a talk with a president that might inspired them or bring this country back to the state of a world power – not just an oil greedy military power.  

These coming elections will be the same as the last two.  The television debates or commercials between the republican and the democratic candidate will be made up of two bland sour cream dips, and they will leave out the spicier dip just like in the past.

– Jake Drew

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The Altered State of the Union

I learned during the Reagan years to never watch a televised speech given by him.  He truly was the greatest actor of our time.  Forget Marlon Brando or the Fonda family – no one compared to Ronald Reagan!  He could make launching missiles toward Russia sound and seem like the right thing to do.  Oh yeah!  He did do that once – he was just joking around though.     

So I read President Bush’s last State of the Union address.  The body of the speech was a muddled mess of blurbs about housing, trade/jobs, terrorism, medicare, education, and more about there are people that don’t like our freedoms.  He did start out making an interesting point about the position of our politician’s responsibility to the country.  He opened with:

“…,All of us were sent to Washington to carry out the people’s business.  That is the purpose of this body.  It is the meaning of our oath. And it remains our charge to keep,….  So in all we do, we must trust in the ability of free people to make wise decisions, and empower them to improve their lives and their futures,….” 

And the President ended the speech on this note about “We, the people”,….:  

“…,Governor Morris was asked to draft the preamble to our new Constitution, he offered an important revision and opened with words that changed the course of our Nation and the history of the world: “We the people.” …,As we continue to trust the people, our Nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the State of our Union will remain strong.  So tonight, with confidence in freedom’s power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business.”

I think about the approval ratings of the President and Congress, which hovers around twenty percent.  He can’t honestly believe he’s carrying out what the people want.  We are being held hostage by this administration.  Maybe the only thing that can save us over the next year would be a hostage negotiator.  

Jake Drew

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Here’s a FISH!

Out walking one night I came upon an alley, and when I looked down it I saw a bunch of thugs beating the hell out of my Uncle Sam.  The thugs saw me and came toward me.  I was way too much in shock and awe to run.  One of the thugs reached into his pocket and handled me $600 and told me to get lost.  I took the money and ran.

That’s what the Bush administration and congress did on Thursday to the people of the United States.  The president thinks that borrowing an estimated 150 billion dollars and throwing it at the people will solve the economic problems of this country.  How?   

Well we’ll find out on January 28th with his final State of the Union address.  Now like presidential candidate John McCain I can tell you I don’t understand economics, but I think I have some common sense.   

Some of the details of the speech seem to involve households receiving tax rebates of between $300- $1,200 and $300 for each child that they have.   Another part of the package involves tax cuts for businesses, giving firms incentives to invest in new facilities, development, upgrades, employment,….

Small companies will see lenient laws on expense write offs, and companies in financial difficulties will get rebates for taxes already paid.  

If the expectation is that the average citizen will go out and buy more “toys” manufactured in China, who probably will finance the borrowed $150 billion, I truly hope they are wrong.  The best thing anyone could do with this “one-time rebate” is pay off bills or sock it away.

If we are in so much trouble as a nation, then throwing more borrowed money at it won’t work.   If we all go out and spend this “one-time” rebate on more consumer goods, who benefits?  It’s not the person buying this stuff – it’s the corporations and stock holders!  Unless you plan on going into a Wal-Mart or Target and buying products manufactured in the USA — well, first off good luck finding something made in the United States.

That’s the point!  That rebate money won’t even go back into your community!  If there’s unemployment, housing, and infra-structure problems going on, the money should be put into programs to solve these issues, so people will have financial security to purchase more toys.

No wait – that’s a Franklin Roosevelt concept.  This is an administration and congress that prefers Herbert Hoover.  They prefer to sell off everything like a yard sale.   Maybe looking at it from a religious perspective would be better because our government loves that; you can give a person a fish to eat or teach him to fish.      

Jake Drew

For All the News Fit to Cartoon – Come Visit us at http://www.LivinginLethargy.com