Healthcare

Another Windmill Victim

cjones02092020

I’m not a religious person or very spiritual at all. I’m definitely not a “new age” person. But I like to believe in karma. Even if it doesn’t really exist, it’s a good way to live your life. Basically, what you do to others will be returned to you, whether what you’ve done is good or bad. Basically, pay it forward and do unto others, blah blah blah.

Karma is probably not to blame for Rush Limbaugh’s advanced lung cancer. Rush has a long career of doing asshole shit unto others. The twice-divorced-family-values proponent, draft-dodging warmonger has spread hatred, racism, sexism, and misinformation for decades. And, it’s made him worth around $500 million. But, hatred, racism, and saying stupid shit doesn’t have any support from the science community for causing cancer. Smoking cigars for decades does.

People who have self-destructive habits tend to downplay the negative effects, even to the point of lying. Eddie Van Halen believes the cause for his tongue cancer is from his habit of holding copper guitar picks in his mouth while he was doing his double-tap method on the fretboard. I guess that’s possible but I think a larger culprit is Pall Malls or whatever brand he smoked since before he was even a teenager. My father, a lifelong alcoholic who drank a case of beer a day which would usually start around 6:00 a.m. was very defensive of his habits and swore he could quit at any time. He never did.

Rush once said to a caller on his show, “There’s no even major sickness component associated with secondhand smoke. It may irritate you, and you may not like it, but it will not make you sick, and it will not kill you.” He also claimed, “Firsthand smoke takes 50 years to kill people, if it does.Not everybody that smokes gets cancer. Now, it’s true that everybody who smokes dies, but so does everyone who eats carrots.”

Rush’s defense of smoking is almost as ridiculous as Donald Trump’s claim that the noise from windmills cause cancer.

Limbaugh was a huge defender of smokers and complained about the nation’s changing attitudes toward smoking. Even our major tobacco states, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia, have banned indoor smoking in restaurants. Rush wailed, “I’m telling you, there ought to be some measure of appreciation for people who buy tobacco products, despite the forces arrayed against them, It’s getting harder and harder to use tobacco products, unless you want to call marijuana tobacco, and you can do that anywhere, for the most part. But the fact of the matter is they have to endure a lot, the public hates them, they’re despised, they can’t smoke in places of comfort anymore, can’t even smoke outside in a park! And yet their actions and their taxes and their purchases are funding children’s health care programs. I’m just saying there ought to be a little appreciation shown for them, instead of having them hated and reviled.” Then he said, “I would like a medal for smoking cigars.”

Rush should have eaten more carrots.

Here’s the thing I get tired of hearing from smokers and granted, I don’t hear it a lot because it’s stupid: You are not a victim of smoker persecution. You choose to smoke and spread your filth onto others. You don’t have a constitutional right to smoke anywhere you please. We all have the right not to inhale someone else’s destructive, nasty habit. And I say this being a former smoker (we’re the worst when it comes to hating smoke).

Since I believe in karma, I don’t want to go too heavy on Rush. I’m not rejoicing in his illness and I wish him a full recovery. Cancer isn’t something any of us should wish on anyone, even a troglodyte like Rush Limbaugh. Hey, when they go low, we go high, right? But, my hope from this is that Rush gets a better perspective. Somehow, I doubt he does.

This is a guy who was a strong proponent of the war on drugs and as you see above, complained about marijuana. Yet, he himself was a drug addict. He was against taxpayer-funded support for drug addicts, yet being rich, he was able to get help. When he had a health scare while on vacation, he claimed his access to high-quality medical attention was proof we didn’t need a national healthcare plan. Rush never understood it was more about access. Maybe now, he’ll think about preexisting conditions. Rush should ponder what would happen with his healthcare if he wasn’t rich and there wasn’t Obamacare. He’d probably use Obamacare while continuing to attack it. That’s what they do.

Rush once said he’d move to Costa Rica if Obamacare was implemented. Fortunately for Costa Ricans, he never made the move. And if he had, he may have been horrified to discover they have a national health plan…

…until he got advanced lung cancer.

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If You Like Your B.S., You Can Keep Your B.S.

cjones10232018

When you point out any of Donald Trump’s lies to one of his sycophants, you’ll hear two responses. They’ll either come at you about Obama’s 57 states comment or his “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” promise in 2013.

To compare Obama’s 57 states gaffe to what Donald Trump does on a daily basis, one must be delusional. As Kellyanne Conway’s husband George tweeted, “There’s a huge difference between an isolated slip of the tongue and ceaseless, shameless, and witless prevarication on virtually all topics, large and small.”

But, Obama’s promise that you can keep your doctor turned out to be untrue for a lot of people. His actual quote was, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it,” and PolitiFact named it the Lie of the Year for 2013.

Even with lies, there are differences between Obama and Trump. When Obama made his statement, it hadn’t been proven to be untrue at the time. As time went on and it turned out to be false, he stopped saying it. Eventually, Obama apologized.

Donald Trump lies about stuff that’s already known to be false, and he doubles down to perpetuate the lie. Then, his followers repeat it until they’re all gaslighted to the point that reality is their delusion. For example; Trump sycophants believe the economy didn’t recover from the Bush recession until January 2017, the day Trump took office. Most of them don’t even remember the recession started under Bush. This really defies reality since they actually lived through the Obama era, but maybe 62 million Americans were in a coma for eight years. If Trump has made the 57-states gaffe, Republicans would be in chat rooms right now arguing that there are seven additional states.

When Republican Congressman Bruce Poliquin of Maine was asked if he voted to repeal Obamacare, he says he didn’t. He tells this lie despite the record, and video evidence that shows he did vote to repeal Obamacare and its pre-existing conditions protections. He even removed a promise from his website to “end Obamacare.” Now, Republicans are telling voters that they’ll save pre-existing protections if we return them to Congress, despite the fact that they already tried to destroy it after spending several years promising to do so. Poliquin is just an example of these liars.

Of the 73 House Republicans in competitive races, 67 of them voted to eliminate Obamacare’s protection of pre-existing conditions. Now, they’re all champions for healthcare.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is talking about destroying Obamacare after the midterm elections. He’s even talking about cutting Medicare and Social Security to help lower the deficit their tax cuts for the rich helped create. Despite this, Donald Trump says most Republicans are against it.

Trump tweeted, “All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don’t, they will after I speak to them. I am in total support. Also, Democrats will destroy your Medicare, and I will keep it healthy and well!” Trump tells a lot of lies. From that tweet, you’d think Trump has never talked to a Republican or himself.

While Trump talks about protecting coverage of pre-existing conditions, his own administration is backing a lawsuit that will destroy Obamacare. Trump’s Justice Department has declined to defend the health care law in court against a suit from 20 GOP-led states challenging Obamacare’s constitutionality.

After being unpopular for many years, Obamacare now has an approval from a majority of Americans. Despite promising to repeal it for the entirety of its existence, Republicans never had a plan to replace it. They still don’t. Trump’s promise during the presidential campaign was to replace it with “something better.” For as stupid and empty as Trump is, that’s the most substantial replacement plan any Republican has ever offered.

Don’t believe Republicans in their campaign to retain the House. They gave a huge tax cut to the richest of Americans while trying to strip healthcare from the rest. Now, they’re talking about cutting Medicare and Social Security while campaigning that they’ll save healthcare and Democrats, who gave us a national healthcare plan, will take it away.

Republicans say Democrats don’t have a platform but ask one of them what they’ll replace Obamacare with. They’re running on a campaign of fear while hiding that they’re the ones we need to be afraid of.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
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Free Unicorn Rides

cjones09242017

I hope no one gets the impression I’m calling Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy “RINOs” (Republican In Name Only), or that their dangerous health-care plan is somehow a moderate proposal. I hate explaining cartoons but, the rhinoceros here is meant to represent a rhinoceros.

Donald Trump tweeted that he would not support Graham-Cassidy if it did not include coverage of pre-existing conditions. Last June, Graham referred to back-room deals that would exclude states in order to get a specific senator’s vote when he said, “if leaders started that crap of straight-up buying votes for their health care bill then they’re going to lose me.” Cassidy went on The Jimmy Kimmel show last May and told the host, “no family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can’t afford it.” He said all future health-care proposals need to pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test.” Cassidy said he would reject legislation that couldn’t meet it. Now, legislation that doesn’t pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test” has Cassidy’s name on it.

There is a simple explanation for why these Republicans words don’t match their actions. They’re all liars.

Republicans are making a deal that will exclude Alaska from their new health-care plan, as they want that state’s senator’s vote. Even though Graham said he wouldn’t stand for “that crap,” his name and support are still on this bill. Do you know what kind of “crap” I can’t stand? Lying hypocrites.

This legislation allows states, depending on the particular state’s action before with Obamacare, to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Donald Trump still supports it. Cassidy still supports it, and he put his name on it. Kimmel says this bill doesn’t just fail to pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test,” it fails the “Bill Cassidy test.” Cassidy says that Kimmel doesn’t understand the details. Kimmel understands that Cassidy is a liar.

I’m pretty sure the doctors who are parts of the American Diabetes Association, American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, etc, who oppose this bill, understand the details. Every state Medicaid director understands this bill, as all 50 of them are opposed to it. As for Trump’s understanding, he doesn’t. But, as Kimmel pointed out, Trump hates stuff that has Obama’s name on it and that “he’d sign copies of the Quran at the Barnes and Noble in Fallujah if it meant he could get rid of Obamacare.”

The Republicans need to pass this bill next Saturday, because after that they’ll need more than a simple 50-vote majority. It’s why they’re not waiting for it to be scored by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, as it will underscore just how crappy this bill is, and the Republicans are lying.

Vice-President Mike Pence was asked on Fox And Friends whether proposed block grants to states would mean governors would cover pre-existing conditions. Pence dodged the question and said, “Thomas Jefferson said, ‘Government that governs least governs best,’ I mean, the question that people ought to ask is, who do you think will be more responsive to the healthcare needs in your community? Your governor and your state legislature, or a congressman and a president in a far off nation’s capital?”

First off, Thomas Jefferson didn’t say that. Pence must be getting his quotes from Russian troll bots on Facebook. But, Pence does have a point in that we shouldn’t trust our president, and not just with our health-care needs. We can’t trust the guy with Twitter. You don’t see Pence leaving his wife alone in a room with Trump.

One United States Senator has told the truth about this bill. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley said,  “You know, I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered. But, Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.” So your future health-care coverage, if you can afford it, if you can carry it, if you actually have it, isn’t nearly as important as the politics of it. Getting re-elected, cutting taxes for billionaires, and having money continue to be pumped to you from corporate lobbyists is much more important to Republicans than your family’s healthcare.

My hope is that Republicans don’t just mistake the rhinoceros for a unicorn and take a ride, but that they fall off and get trampled under it.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print. All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.

Baby’s Black Balloons

cjones07212017

I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq. At the same time, I wasn’t hoping for it to fail. I didn’t wish death on American soldiers. I wanted the invasion to be a success. While I felt everything being promised by the Bush/Cheney administration, like “they’ll treat us as liberators,” and “it’ll be quick and easy,” was total bullshit, I wanted to be proven wrong.

Most people want our president to succeed, even if they didn’t vote for him, don’t like him, and don’t have any faith at all in the person. They want America to succeed regardless of the president and which party he belongs to (or Russian dictator). Regular people don’t want American failures so they can score political points for their partisanship. While I don’t want stupid and regressive policies inflicted upon my nation, I don’t want Vladimir Putin sitting in the Oval Office to prove my point.

Donald Trump wishes failure on America. He said so himself as he says “we’ll just wait for Obamacare to fail.” These are not words of patriots. Donald Trump and many Republicans are not patriots. Fortunately, there’s about three in the GOP Senate, and they’re all women. They have blocked the Republicans from stripping health care from millions of Americans just so the rich can get a generous tax break.

While it’s easier to wait for something to collapse than actually work on it (and cast blame on the party that doesn’t control Congress), we didn’t elect a president to take it easy (though I am kinda relieved every time he’s on a golf course).

Now the GOP wants to repeal Obamacare without a replacement and give themselves a deadline to replace within two years with “something better.” These guys spent seven years voting to repeal Obamacare without ever proposing a solution. They’ve had the House, Senate, and White House since January, and they can’t submit a plan that works or is acceptable to the public. Do you really believe they’ll come through in two years?

Republicans wished Obama to fail. They said so. Now they’re in power, and they still wish pain and suffering on America. The responsible thing to do would be to make Obamacare better, not wish for it to die and affect millions of Americans. Republicans won’t just wait for it to die on its own. They’ll do everything they can to make it fail.

Trump and the GOP continue to describe Obamacare as failing. That is a lie. It’s not failing. It can be a lot better but it’s not going to die on its own. The GOP will have to manipulate it to make it fail, and they’re willing to do that.

Donald Trump doesn’t care about you, your health, your family’s health, or this nation. Donald Trump only cares about Donald Trump.

Creative note: Even though this is published early, you’re still getting another cartoon in the morning.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print. All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.

GOP Can’t Hear You

cjones07182017

Are you looking forward to screaming at your Republican representative at his or her town hall about their stripping health care from millions of Americans? Too bad. Congress will have a month-long August recess, but don’t expect there to be many Republican members willing to hear you out.

There won’t be very many opportunities for you to unleash your verbal Kraken at your Congressman or Senator. There’s a better chance Donald Trump will give a one-on-one interview with Lawrence O’Donnell than Speaker of the House Paul Ryan holding a town hall. In fact, nearly 160 Republicans have yet to hold a town hall in 2017.

During the July 4th break, Ryan refused to hear from his constituents. His excuse? He’s worried too many people will attend his forum that are not from his district and that they won’t be civil. What he and other Republicans are really afraid of are hearing examples from their constituents of how Obamacare has helped them, saved their lives or the lives of their loved ones, and how the GOP’s reckless plan to ditch Obamacare and cut into Medicaid will destroy their lives. A lot of people have problems with the “Repeal/Replace” only being a ruse to provide huge tax breaks to rich people.

Refusing to hold meetings with their voters will also save Republicans the trouble of lying to their constituents and reading their own plan so they’ll actually understand it. It works for Trump. They really don’t mind all the angry phone calls as they have people to take those calls for them. The stacks of post-it notes reading “Betty from Dubuque hates you” doesn’t affect them all that much.

Republicans didn’t seem to care at all when people protesting their health-care plan were arrested at the Capitol. Eighty people were arrested at the House and Senate buildings for protesting. Many of those were in wheelchairs and dragged out by police with their hands zip tied.

Republicans tend to be tone-deaf, but now they prefer to be entirely deaf to your complaints. While John McCain recently had eye surgery to improve his vision, most Republicans choose to remain blind to the real-world problems of their voters.

If you can’t get up those steps in August, or can’t even find them, don’t worry too much. We can do our own repealing and replacing in November 2018.

Creative Notes: I usually try to take Saturdays off from drawing a cartoon so I can recharge. I usually work at night, so Sunday night is the start of a new week for me (and sometimes there’s nothing really new on a Sunday to inspire a cartoon). I’m not always able to get that day off, but I did this weekend. In fact, I drew my last cartoon Friday afternoon so now it kinda feels like I haven’t drawn a cartoon in two days. Actually, it’s been three days since I’ve had to think of a cartoon because this cartoon was halfway in the can. I don’t normally save ideas. I usually hate them when I return to them. I have a folder full of outdated ideas represented by rough drawings.

I started this cartoon Thursday night, then I had another idea I felt fit the moment better. But, I still liked this one so I didn’t trash it. Most of the drawing was completed and all I had to do was tighten things up a bit and color the cartoon. I still procrastinated while working. I watched a bunch of pointless stuff on YouTube, drank some coffee, read a few articles, some hate mail, and finally completed the cartoon in three hours, which should have taken about 30 minutes.

At some point, I’ll tell you why I’m the world’s greatest procrastinator.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print. All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.

Repeal, Replace, Reboot, Reweb

cjones07162017

What if Jared Kushner is Spiderman? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? No? Well, we can all at least agree that it’s not Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump is not Batman. If anything, all three of these guys would be super villains….if super villains were really, really stupid and crashed into a lot of shit.

The Republicans keep rewriting their health-care plan, and each time it gets worse. It’s like those Incredible Hulk solo films (comic book theme today. Yes, we’re doing this). Even Edward Norton, acting in and writing the film, didn’t help much (Mark Ruffalo kicks ass though). Now they’ve let Ted Cruz (bwahahaha) sink his fangs into it. That would be like trying to improve that Lone Ranger movie by having Kevin Smith rewrite it (The Clerks guy has made a couple of movies you can laugh at, but he really hasn’t ever made a good movie. Ever. Discuss).

The new plan already has GOP defectors, moderates like Maine’s Susan Collins (hero) and scary conservatives like Kentucky’s Rand Paul (villain). The new plan still has massive cuts to Medicare in addition to allowing insurance companies to deny coverage for preexisting conditions. Who in the Hell thinks that improves coverage? Oh yeah. Ted Cruz. Who let Cruz, Shitweaselman, get involved? Mitch McConnell, Turtleman!!!!

Deceit not only comes in ugly packages like Ted Cruz. It can come in a pretty wrapper, like Jared Kushner.

Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law has a security clearance as senior advisor to the president. Having a security clearance is serious business as it allows you access to classified intelligence (Stuff like, Ted Cruz is an alien reptilian). Lying on the application can send a person to prison. Jared has had to amend his at least twice. He forgot to mention he met with the Russian ambassador and the chairman of a Russian government-owned bank. Apparently, during his chats with the Russian ambassador, Kushner asked for a “secret and secure communications channel” with the Kremlin using Russian diplomatic facilities, in an attempt for the transition team to communicate with Russia without the U.S. government’s knowledge.

He has had to amend his application a second time after someone leaked that he, Trump campaign manager (at the time) Paul Manafort, and his idiot brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer who was promising dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Some people are speculating that it was Jared who leaked the meeting with the lawyer so that maybe it would be old news by the time he testifies before the United States Senate. Other say that’s crazy as it puts him in legal hot water. Plus, why would he sell out his wife’s brother? But then we remember, he’s the son of a man, Charles Kushner, who hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, recorded the entire ordeal, and then sent the tapes to his brother-in-law’s wife, Charles Kushner’s sister. That’s some shady shit right there. That’s the sort of devious stuff that will land a guy in prison, which is where Charles went.

How many more times will Jared be rebooting his clearance application? And why is Ted Cruz so icky?

The GOP health-care plan and Kushy’s clearance has had as many reboots as Spiderman. I liked Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman. That third movie went a little off the rails, but it was still a good trilogy. Then they rebooted it which seemed pointless. Now they’re rebooting it again, but this time Spidey is still in high school (Spider-man: Homecoming) and getting all tangled up in the MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has him swinging around with the Avengers.

I will be checking out the new Spiderman though I’m not sure how I feel about it. Everyone says it’s great but the entire Avengers thing is starting to look like a club that’s not very exclusive. They’ll let anyone join. Plus, Marisa Tomei is Aunt May? Aunt May is supposed to be old and frail, not the wise-cracking Italian hairdressing mechanic from My Cousin Vinny, or the stripper from The Wrestler. If nothing else, I’ll enjoy watching Robert Downey Jr. play Tony Stark again.

I have an idea. Can we reboot the presidency?

Creative notes: I started with another idea and the bulk of it was drawn. I had this idea and was just going to tweet it out as a smart-ass comment, but then I thought it would change things up a bit and make a decent cartoon. I still like the first cartoon I was working on and may finish it this weekend.

I occasionally tweet out smart-ass comments on Twitter that amuse me, but not enough to create a cartoon out of. You should definitely follow me there if you don’t have enough sarcasm in your life.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print. All donations will receive my eternal gratitude.

Health Care Detained

cjones06222017

I know. This cartoon is pretty harsh. While I don’t believe Republicans really want to hurt Americans, I do believe the majority of them put their special interests above the health of our citizens. They don’t want us to see what’s going on behind their curtain.

It’s terrible that Otto Warmbier was detained for 17 months by North Korea for swiping a propaganda poster he wanted to keep as a souvenir. It’s a tragedy that the Kim regime returned him in a coma, which he died from on Monday. The mystery is: what did the Kim regime do to Warmbier that put him into a coma?

My point here is that Republicans in Washington need to express a bit more concern than Kim Jong Un does for the health of Americans. They can start by crafting their health care plan in open and not in secret away from the American public, their Democratic opponents, and even the majority of their own party.

I’m for open government, here and in North Korea. I’m also for punishing those who seek to hurt Americans, intentionally or not.

Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through Paypal. Your support contributes to my work and continued existence. The starving cartoonist appreciates it. If you’ve donated in the past, THANK YOU!!!

Want a signed copy of this cartoon? Donate at least $50 and I’ll ship it to you. Make sure to mention in the note with your donation which cartoon you want along with the mailing address you need it shipped to. If it’s a gift, make sure to mention the recipient’s name so I can make it out to them.

When You’re Ba-a-a-a-ad At Your Job

cjones03282017

Say what you will about Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but she knows how to do her job. The Democratic Party worked on the bill for the Affordable Care Act for over a year. When it came time to vote it passed without one Republican House member’s support. Pelosi, Speaker of the House at the time, herded enough Democrats to pass the bill without any single Republican vote.

Paul Ryan is not good at his job.

As Speaker of the House Ryan shoved a huge tax cut bill for the rich disguised as a healthcare law through the House in two weeks. Despite having the kind of majority where he could pass the bill without any Democrats, he still failed.

He couldn’t convince moderate Republicans to strip health coverage from over 20 million Americans. He couldn’t make the bill mean enough to convince his most rabid heartless members, the so-called “Freedom Caucus.” Not one Democrat supported the bill so naturally Trump blamed the bill’s failure on Democrats. Then he blamed the Freedom Caucus. Tomorrow he’ll probably blame Obama.

Ryan, previously regarded as a policy wonkish king of guy, didn’t seem to understand the finer aspects of the bill while he campaigned for it. Donald Trump seemed to understand it even less. The biggest reason they could give for supporting it was that it wasn’t Obamacare. Unfortunately for them, RyanCare, or TrumpCare, only had 17% support from the public. While Obamacare has its critics and flaws, it’s polling a hell of a lot higher than 17%.

Paul Ryan pulled the bill to avoid suffering an embarrassing defeat. Their plan now is to dismantle Obamacare piece by piece to prove to the public it’s not a good system, even if it takes them having to throw monkey wrenches into it. The public doesn’t want that. The public wants Obamacare improved, especially in regards with single-payer.

Some people argued that the Republicans wouldn’t allow a bad bill to pass, unlike the Democrats did with Obamacare. No. what the Republicans proved is that they’ve spent the past eight years being the party of “no” without any real plans of their own. They spent seven years telling us how bad Obamacare is. They voted repeatedly to repeal the law. Now that they have the power to repeal it and replace it with what Trump promised, “something better,” they failed to come through.

The party of No doesn’t know how to lead. It’s not debatable that they ever had a workable plan to replace Obamacare. On top of all that, Trump and Ryan has a party that’s not afraid of them.

Paul Ryan is a shepherd whose about to be eaten by his flock. How much do you want to bet Trump feeds him to the flock to save his own skin?

Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through Paypal. Your support contributes to my work and continued existence. The starving cartoonist appreciates it. If you’ve donated in the past, THANK YOU!!!

Want a signed copy of this cartoon? Donate at least $50 and I’ll ship it to you. Make sure to mention in the note with your donation which cartoon you want along with the mailing address you need it shipped to. If it’s a gift, make sure to mention the recipient’s name so I can make it out to them.

Sucky Healthcare

cjones01062017

During the presidential campaign Donald Trump promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something better.” He never told us what “something better” includes but we’re going to love it.

After The Affordable Healthcare Act was passed in 2012 Republicans attempted to repeal it over 60 times. Not once in that time span have they had a plan to replace it with. Today they tell us they’re going to “repeal and replace.” The details they’re short on is what they’re going to replace it with.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is a man who knows policy. He’s intelligent, informed, and is very detailed on specifics. He’s the Republican’s top guy and even he can’t give us details on this replacement. The leeches might be an appropriate analogy as we’re now looking for a healthcare plan from a man who looks like Eddie Munster.

A majority of voters want Obamacare repaired. A lot of premiums have shot up and consumers are feeling the pain. Republican voters want it repealed entirely without considering they may be uninsured afterward. Many are covered by Obamacare and they’re not even aware of it. On top of all this anyone who believes their rates will go down after Obamacare is repealed are idiots. They probably believe Putin is a good guy and we should trust Julian Assange over the CIA. Of course we’re talking about Trump voters so we’re not talking about people who play with full decks.

Voters gave Republicans full control of the government and they’re about to get what has been promised. The GOP plans to trash Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and access to healthcare for everyone. But hey, America will be great again.

What should be clear to everyone is that Republicans suck.

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