Liars

Great Scott!

During his State of the Union address this week, President Biden said, “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.” Republicans booed and heckled him for this comment. Some, specifically Marjorie Taylor Greene, howled “liar” at the president.

From there, the president pointed out that since they claim it’s not true, then cuts to Medicare and Social Security are “off the table.” You could see Kevin McCarthy sink lower in his chair.

Republicans are still livid over this because President Biden told the truth. Some Republicans have proposed “sunsetting” Medicare and Social Security.

What is “sunset” when it comes to government programs? It means that at a certain point in time, a government program has to be reauthorized by Congress. Florida Senator Rick Scott’s plan details that every federal legislation has to be voted on again after five years. That means Congress would have to vote on programs like Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act every five years.

If you think it’s bad now that we have to fight for the debt ceiling every year, wait until we have to campaign for Social Security every five years. Do you really feel it’s safe with a Republican majority if there’s a law stating they can get rid of it? And in a sunset, would the program be abolished if Congress doesn’t vote on it every five years?

So when President Biden said “some” Republicans want to sunset Medicare and Social Security, he was right. The hecklers are wrong. Maybe Republicans should actually read their own policy proposals.

Scott doubled down on his plan after the president’s speech, saying, “In my plan, I suggested the following: All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again. This is clearly and obviously an idea aimed at dealing with all the crazy new laws our Congress has been passing of late.” He claimed he wasn’t going after Medicare or Social Security and called the claim “a lie” and “a dishonest move … from a very confused president.”  

No, President Biden is not confused because he read Scott’s plan. If anything, Scott is confused by claiming he’s not after those programs while plainly stating his proposal will sunset those programs. He claimed Biden was “twisting” his words and that it was really Democrats who wanted to cut benefits, not Republicans, even though it’s his 12-point plan to do so.

Man, Republicans really hate it when you point out facts…or quote them. President Biden said “some” Republicans, not all, are proposing to do away with Social Security and Medicare. Rick Scott is not the only one.

Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah said, “One thing that you probably haven’t ever heard from a politician: it will be my objective to phase out Social Security. To pull it up by the roots, and get rid of it.”

Republican Senator John Thune, the number two guy in GOP Senate leadership, said last November that Social Security and Medicare benefits should be slashed.

The Republican Study Committee, which includes a majority of House Republicans, released a formal budget including raising the eligibility ages for each program, along with withholding payments for individuals who retire early or had a certain income and privatizing funding for Social Security to lower income taxes.

In 2015, a majority of House Republicans, which included current Speaker Kevin McCarthy, voted to raise the retirement age to 70, which would cut Social Security benefits for tens of millions of seniors who paid into the system for years.

Former Vice President (sic) Mike Pence has suggested privatizing Social Security.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson doesn’t want to sunset Social Security and Medicare every five years. Nope. He wants to do it…wait for it…every year. He wants it to be an annual thing. Somehow despite this, Wisconsin reelected him last year.

Republican Lindsey Graham suggests raising the age to qualify for Social Security and Medicare.

Raising the age for qualifying for Social Security and Medicare does take benefits away from millions of Americans. The current retirement age is 66 for full benefits, but will eventually increase to 67. A lot of Republicans want to make it higher, like to 70. A lot of people won’t live to see 70 which means they’ll never collect Social Security which will make more money available for corporate welfare and tax cuts for billionaire assholes.

So, no. President Biden was NOT lying when he said there are some Republicans who want to take away Social Security and Medicare benefits from you. Republicans are lying when they say they’re not lying.

Republicans are all liars. It’s what they do. George Santos could tell you, except he’d be lying.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Liars, Speakers, and Swearers

Yes, I stayed up all night to watch Kevin McCarthy finally become the Speaker of the House after 15 ballots. One thing that’s for certain is that McCarthy enters the office as the weakest Speaker in House history.

There are actually a lot of certainties with this, one being that the Goon Caucus or Chaos Caucus which consisted of nihilists like Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Bob Good, Scott Perry, Chip Roy, and Eli Crane are not people of principles or who keep their word. They’re all liars who were inconsistent throughout the entire ordeal. Each of them promised they’d never vote for Kevin McCarthy and described themselves as “Never Kevins,” but each of them eventually supported Kevin McCarthy. And yeah, a vote for Present was a vote for McCarthy. But then again, we also saw a bunch of so-called Never Trumpers become Trumpers.

Some members of the Goon Squad kept changing who they’d vote for. Gaetz voted for Jim Jordan, Donald Trump, and Present throughout the process. Someone eventually tried to literally kick his ass which would have been the most positive outcome in all of this. We’ll never know for sure if Matt Gaetz has a punchable face if people keep holding back the people trying to punch him. Sheesh.

Since there wasn’t actually a plan to replace McCarthy with another candidate, the obvious object was to hold the process hostage to make deals. Now, the party that demands transparency needs to be transparent and tell us every side deal Kevin McCarthy made for votes. He said he didn’t promise the chairmanship of a subcommittee to Matt Gaetz, who seemed to change his vote immediately after the attempted assault, but we all know that since Kevin McCarthy is a flake and a Republican, he is a liar. Why did he give Gaetz a pat on the back shortly before the final ballot?

So maybe Republicans should have just elected lying George Santos as Speaker because Kevin McCarthy started his speech after winning the speakership by lying.

He talked about ending the woke culture in schools, stopping the politicization of the FBI, and revoking a passed bill authorizing the hiring of more IRS agents. McCarthy started his tenure as Speaker lying and gaslighting America and also assuring us that he’s only going to fight for the rich and powerful. What do you think that IRS thing is about?

Already he’s writing checks his ass can’t cash, and it’s not a stolen Brazilian check from George Santos. This House with a Republican majority that needed 15 ballots to finally elect a Speaker, weakening him in the process, will not accomplish anything significant over the next two years. Every bill they try to pass will be held hostage by the Goon Squad who will demand trades and deals for their votes. And I don’t think McCarthy has anything left to trade. Because of the narrow majority, they will need those votes. Matt Gaetz has shown us how the next two years are going to go. And even if they manage to pass anything, it has to get through the Senate which has a Democratic majority. And even then, it has to get past President Joe Biden, who’s not going to sign any bullshit bills from this House. What are they going to pass, a law that bans wokeness in schools? All this House is going to do for the next two years is conduct bullshit investigations that will go nowhere, but may succeed in demonizing their political opponents.

I have two predictions. Kevin McCarthy won’t last two years and at the end of that, Republicans still won’t have produced anything solid from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Facebook Suspension Update: There are5 days left (ooh, we’re getting closer), so it says, in my Facebook suspension for typing the word “Taliban.” Quannah had a countdown clock for it, but it broke.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Nosy Republicans

This should not come as a surprise to anyone but a brand new lie has been discovered from Republican congressman-elect, George Santos.

You remember this Republican idiot. He won a Long Island congressional district that includes parts of Queens, and then we learned last week that basically everything he claimed about his past is a lie.

He lied about his education, claiming he has a degree (he does not) and that he went to two New York City universities that he never attended. He lied about being Jewish, now saying he didn’t say “Jewish,” but “Jew-ish.” He lied about his ancestry. He lied about where he worked and a charity he invented. He lied about having employees who were at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando during a mass shooting. He lied about being a landlord when the fact is he was an evicted tenant. He lied about his income.

George Santos is a pathological liar.

When I wrote about this last week, I joked that he might have lied about being an openly gay Republican. He says he’s been out and proud for the past decade and it’s revolutionary for a gay Latino Republican to win a congressional seat. But now The Daily Beast (I just signed up for a year’s subscription for $25 and this is the first time I’m getting to use it for my research) is reporting that Santos got a divorce within two weeks of announcing his candidacy for Congress.

Now Santos says he lives in Long Island with his husband and four dogs. That’s nice…but there’s no record of him being married to the guy he claims is his husband. But what we did find was a divorce… from a woman. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Santos is lying about those four dogs.

People get married for different reasons and plenty of gay people have married the opposite sex. But Santos claims he’s been out and proud for the past decade…when he was married to a woman, which he must not have been proud about because he kept it from his voters. Why he was married to a woman is his business and I’m not trying to pry into that. What I think is scandalous is that he kept it from his voters.

Santos admitted in an interview that he lied about his education and some of his work history and blows it off, comparing it to people who fudge their resumés. But if you lie on a job application the way Santos did to win a seat in Congress, you’d get fired. Baskin-Robbins fired Ant-Man for lying about his criminal past, though they did let him grab a Mango Fruit Blast on his way out the door, off the books of course. “Baskin-Robbins don’t play”. But Republicans, having fewer ethics than Baskin-Robbins, won’t push Santos out because they don’t care. If anything, they might become even more comfortable with him since he was once married to a woman….so maybe he’s not all gay.

And speaking of criminal pasts (although Ant-Man’s was a “cool” crime), Santos may be wanted in Brazil.

Republicans are liars so they’ll be OK with one more, especially with only a nine-seat advantage over Democrats in the House. They know if they remove Santos, which is within their power, that a Democrat will probably, most certainly, win his seat in a special election. And Santos better not get too comfortable in Congress because he will not be re-elected in 2024.

Now, while Republicans say they have ethics and the truth is important to them while they don’t force Santos out, watch their noses grow.

What House Republicans should do is fire George Santos, but let him grab a Mango Fruit Blast on his way out the door.

Creative note: I knew other cartoonists were gonna go for the Pinocchio cliché after this story hit, and I saw one yesterday. I took a break while drawing this and saw three more in a collection on Instagram (gathered by my friend Courtney Clift). Crap, I just saw another one on Facebook. Some of those guys are using it because they’re lazy (I liked one of them). I’m using it because I’m not lazy and kinda dreaded the work this one would entail. I’m pretty certain I missed something, like coloring a leaf, and I’ll spot it three days from now.

It is a good time to use the cliché as Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio came out a few weeks ago, and it’s excellent. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did and plan to watch it again. You should too.

Music note: Today’s music to color to was provided by Counting Crows.

Facebook Suspension Update: There are 15 days left in my Facebook suspension for typing the word “Taliban.” Here’s Quannah’s countdown clock.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Debating MAGA

During the debate between Democratic candidate Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance for the open Ohio senate seat, Ryan pointed out that Vance has claimed Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is a “credible” news source. Vance lied and said he had never said that.

During the debate between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker for Georgia’s senate seat, Walker lied about being a cop. He’s also lied about how many children he’s had, graduating at the top of his class when he never did graduate from college, beating his wife, and paying for abortions.

During the debate between Democratic candidate Val Demmings and Republican Senator Marco Rubio for Florida’s senate seat, Rubio lied and said Demmings supported abortion “on demand, for any reason, at any time, including the moment before birth.” 

During the debate between Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, Dixon lied about supporting election results after she cast doubts on the 2020 election.

During the debate for the governorship of Wisconsin between Democratic Governor Tony Evers and GOP candidate Tim Michels, Michels claimed that abortions are being committed “at the time of birth” and Evers favors allowing “a doctor to murder a baby after birth.”

During the debate between Utah Senator Mike Lee and Independent Evan McMullin, Lee lied about working with the White House to overturn the 2020 election.

These are just a few examples of Republican lies in debates leading up to the midterm elections.

Republicans lie, especially the ones who tie themselves to the MAGA agenda of fascism. They lie about election results, their records, and their opponents’ records. They will lie about abortion, guns, and climate change. They will lie about the color of the sky if it suits their purposes. And that’s probably why Arizona Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs refuses to debate Republican MAGA goon Kari Lake, who still insists there was massive election fraud in 2020 and that Donald Trump won.

Donald Trump has taught Republicans that they can lie and say pretty much whatever they want. While their opponents and the media will fact-check them, MAGA media will support their lies. Besides, their supporters don’t listen to legitimate news outlets anyway.

Donald Trump told over 30,000 lies when he was president (sic) yet his supporters believed every single one of them. Trump supporters believe he created the Obama economy despite being alive throughout the entire Obama administration. They believe there are invisible airplanes. They believe there were invisible airports during the American Revolution. They believe Trump had the largest inauguration crowd ever. They believe it didn’t rain during the inauguration. They believed his lies about the coronavirus, that it was “under control,” “disappearing,” “like the flu,” and that hydroxychloroquine and bleach up your ass were solutions. They believe he moved a hurricane with a Sharpie. They believe Trump didn’t know about payments to Stormy Daniels. They believe President Obama started the family-separation policy. They believe the noise from windmills causes cancer. They believe he’s the one who got Veterans Choice health care signed into law, and not President Obama. They still believe his big healthcare plan was coming in “two weeks.” They believe he was named “Michigan Man of the Year.” And they believe Trump won the 2020 election.

There are millions of Americans who believe Donald Trump won the 2020 election despite there being zero evidence to support the claim. There are millions of Republicans who believe whatever’s on Hunter Biden’s laptop proves his dad is corrupt, despite the fact they’ve never seen any evidence to support their belief or can tell you what exactly is on the laptop. And there are still millions of Republicans who believe President Obama was born in Kenya.

The most dangerous thing about these lies is that they’re using them to destroy democracy. They’re using the voter fraud lies of 2020 to make voting and even registering to vote more difficult for non-white Americans. Even the Republicans who admit Biden won are using the voter fraud lies to make it harder to vote in elections.

America, don’t vote for liars. Don’t vote for people who are full of shit. Don’t vote for people who are trying to destroy our democracy. Basically, don’t vote for Republicans.

Music Note: I listened to The Cars, Audioslave, and the B-52’s.

Creative note: I didn’t think of this idea until after I woke up this morning.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw: