Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for February 20, 2010
Transcript:
Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling Hollingsworth Hound in "Squeeze Plays" Hound: Don't begrudge the huge bonuses C.E.O.s got for running their banks into the ground! President Obama doesn't! Barack Obama: "There are some baseball players who get more than that who don't get to the World Series." "That's part of the free market system." Hound: He's totally RIGHT! And here's how free market capitalism works in banking AND in baseball! 1. Threaten the government Hound: Secretary, give us more money or we'll take down the economy! Hound: Mayor, build me a new stadium or I'll move my team to another city! 2. Use government support to profit STEAK Hound: Lend to me at a low rate! I CAN'T DEFAULT...the government will bail me out! GATE H GAME TODAY! Hound: Hoo! Profits are easy when the government pays for your facility! 3. Throw government-subsidized money at top players Hound: Here's your bonus, pal! See you on the links... $$$$$ Hound: Come to my team! It's fun to win! Whee! $$$$$ Hound: So keep out of our business, government! Meddling in bankers' bonuses will only mess up the pristine equilibrium of our free market system! Baseball Player: We're both too BIG to fail! Paid for by the C.F.T.G.F.I.H.F.M.C.-E.F.G.H.T.T.R.A.P. (Committee For Totally Government-Free, Invisible Hand, Free Market Capitalism, Except For Government Handouts To The Rich And Powerful)
pbarnrob over 14 years ago
And how well that worked out
ArtyG over 14 years ago
It’s the American way! Or somethin’……….
3hourtour Premium Member over 14 years ago
…have another pic-a-nic basket Boo-Boo…
Charles Brobst Premium Member over 14 years ago
Let bankers and ball players have their free market, if the people can cyclically have violent revolutions in which we eat the rich.
Donaldo Premium Member over 14 years ago
You can’t, Cabrobst. Americans are too afraid to be labeled pinko-commie-bastards. It’s in their blood.
jpozenel over 14 years ago
Oooo, this makes me so mad!
Time for a nap.
Ushindi over 14 years ago
Well, I’VE been an American pinko commie for years, but my parents WERE already married when I was born…
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
I suspect that Bolling is not open to the solution: a free market in which the government has no power to redistribute wealth from or to anyone, rich or poor.
aardvarkseyes over 14 years ago
I suspect pschearer is not open to a different solution: collect all the wealth in the country every decade or so and randomly distribute it among the citizens.
BrianCrook over 14 years ago
Fifty years is too long a wait, Radish. What about every, say, seventeen years?
Ruben Bolling hits a couple nails on their heads here. Now that we bailed out these banks, &c., why can’t we stop the bonuses? This argument that they reward talent & keep it from leaving is nonsense. There ain’t so much talent, and where would it go?
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
How quick people are to “redistribute” other’s property! By what right do you claim the power to take away what belongs to someone and give it to anyone else?
When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence he originally used British philosopher John Locke’s formulation of unalienable rights as “life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness”. But Benjamin Franklin, as a member of the subcommittee that had picked Jefferson to author the Declaration, had him remove the right of “property” out of concern that Southern states might attempt to use it to justify slavery.
Without property rights, no other rights are possible. There is no freedom of the press if the government owns all the presses. There is no freedom of assembly if you must request permission to use a government-owned hall. And you have no right to your life if government can take everything you possess.
rebeekekka over 14 years ago
Why is Obama taking the blame in this cartoon? The only bailout that’s happened while Obama’s been in office is the Bank of America one. Citigroup, Auto Industry, A.I.G, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, and Bear Stearns all happened in 2008.