Norfolk Southern

Conjunction Misfunction

Silicone Valley Bank crashed Saturday with $212 billion in assets. It’s the second-largest bank failure in history. This prompted Cocaine Bear, I mean Donald Trump Jr, to tweet, “I don’t remember banks collapsing under Trump.”

Seaway Bank and Trust Company, Proficio Bank, First NBC Bank, Guaranty Bank, Fayette County Bank, The Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Argonia, Washington Federal Bank for Savings, The Enloe State Bank, Louisa Community Bank, Resolute Bank, City National Bank of New Jersey, Ericson State Bank, The First State Bank, First City Bank of Florida, Almena State Bank all collapsed during the Trump administration. In case you’re counting, that’s 15 banks that collapsed during the Trump administration. Just because Sniffles Jr doesn’t remember something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Ten years from now and he won’t remember dating Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, “They give money to Silicon Valley Bank. They give money to Ukraine. But no money for East Palestine.” MTG’s received a bailout of over $183,504 which she didn’t refuse. And why should taxpayers pay for a corporation’s fuck up in East Palestine? The government paying to clean up the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio would be a taxpayer-paid bailout for a corporation. Norfolk Southern is a huge campaign contributor to Republicans.

On Sunday, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC announced they were taking “decisive actions” to protect the economy and shore up confidence in the banking system. This is so there isn’t a panic and everyone in the nation pulls their money out of their banks, which is what happened to SVB. This is a bailout but it’s not a taxpayer bailout like the one we saw in 2008.

SVB is not going to be revived and lenders and shareholders won’t be getting any government money. But depositors will be paid back from a fund that banks pay into called the “Depositors Insurance Fund.”

Conservatives are blaming the bank’s collapse on…wait for it…”wokeism.” Wait, what? Seriously? Yes, seriously. It’s because the bank hired gay bank tellers and trans security guards. No, really, they blame investments that promote environmental and social goals and SVB’s commitment to diversity and equity programs. The reason conservatives hate SVB so much is that it was a bank used by the tech industry, which of course they believe discriminates against them. For them, it’s an easy target if you don’t look at the details.

And yes, Trump’s deregulation of the banking industry is a contributing factor in SVB’s collapse.

President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 which was designed to prevent another collapse like the one we saw in 2018. Dodd-Frank mandated stricter capital and liquidity standards for institutions with $50 billion in assets. Trump’s rewrite raised the minimum to $250 billion in assets.

SVB’s CEO was a huge supporter to raise that minimum and at the time, SVG had less than $50 billion in assets. When SVB crashed last week, it had $212 billion.

If Republicans want to scream and hootin’ and hollerin’ (I’m in Tennesse) about the bank’s collapse, then they need to scream at themselves.

You can’t keep deregulating banks and railroads and then wonder why they crash…or blame wokeism.

Creative note: This cartoon was drawn at a Starbucks in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I wrote the blog back in my hotel room.

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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Trump Train Wreck

Republicans have politicized the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, blasting President Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and other Democrats while never mentioning Norfolk Southern, the Republican-lobbying railway corporation responsible for this mess.

This week’s talking point was attacking President Biden for visiting Ukraine before visiting East Palestine as if it’s not an American president’s job to oppose fascism and stand up for democracy. Others, like MAGAt cartoonists Steve Kelley and Dana Summers, blast him for directing taxpayer money to help Ukraine fight Russia while not sending any to East Palestine.

Steve and Dana are great examples of how partisan and inconsistent the Right is. They oppose funding infrastructure while screaming for public funds to go into cleaning up a toxic train derailment. They gripe about public debt but want taxpayer money spent to clean up a toxic disaster created by a corporation that spends millions lobbying Republicans to cut regulations that create toxic train derailments. Republicans who scream about debt are just fine with tax cuts for billionaire assholes, spending millions on racist walls, and cleaning up disasters created by corporations. Steve and Dana would rather taxpayers clean up the toxicity than the corporation that made it.

By the way, we can care about both, the war in Ukraine and the train derailment. One doesn’t actually have anything to do with the other. But, goons gotta goon. Take in point, Donald Trump.

Donald Trump visited East Palestine this week and brought MAGA hats and Trump-branded water even though there isn’t a brand of Trump water. This is like the time when candidate Trump sent Play-Doh to hurricane survivors in 2016.

Here’s a clue for you MAGAts: If a candidate visits your disaster area and hands out products with his name on them, he doesn’t actually care about you. He’s campaigning. And in Trump’s case, he’s probably also grifting.

Trump, who won’t go out in the rain less enough walk through a war zone while air raids sirens are going off, said while posing in front of crates of “Trump Water,” “You are not forgotten. We stand with you. We pray for you. And we will stand with you and your fight to help ensure the accountability that you deserve.”

Trump refuses to “ensure the accountability” they deserve. He’s the guy who deregulated the railway industry making it easier for toxic train derailments to happen. He demands accountability while refusing to say “Norfolk Southern.” He shouldn’t be handing out bottles of water with his name on them. He should be handing out checks.

How can Republicans spend so much time and energy howling about a corporate-made disaster without mentioning the corporation? If you listen to these goons, you’d think Pete Buttigieg’s gay marriage caused the train derailment. Or maybe it was Pete and his husband adopting babies.

And as if East Palestine hadn’t suffered enough from leaking toxic chemicals, Rudy Giuliani and his hair dye made a visit.

Marco Rubio says Buttigieg is more focused on his political future than his job as Transportation Secretary, but remember that Rubio ran for president during his first term as a U.S. Senator.

Every single Republican who has tried to score political points from this needs to put up or shut up. Notice that none of them have offered solutions. But I got one. each of them, from Marco Rubio to Sean Hannity to Marjorie Taylor Greene to Jim “Gym” Jordan to Donald Trump, and even MAGAt cartoonists need to throw their support for heavier regulations on the railway industry. And they all need to support stiffer fines on these greedy corporate bastards when they make these messes.

How about a new law that whenever a railway company creates a toxic disaster they have to spend at least the same amount on the cleanup that they did on stock buybacks?

Everything President Biden is cleaning up now is leftover from Trump. We have a recession because of Trump. We had a supply-chain crisis because of Trump. We have high gas prices because of Trump. the high cost of eggs we’re paying today is because of Trump. We’re still cleaning up the mess from Trump ignoring the coronavirus pandemic. Even the war in Ukraine is partly because of Trump. And this toxic train derailment belongs to Trump too.

The entire Trump presidency (sic) was a toxic train wreck that we’re still cleaning up and that motherfucker shows up with a straight orange face in the middle of it for a photo-op.

And here’s another piece of advice: Don’t drink Trump water.

Music Note: I listened to Billy Joel.

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:

Norfolk Southern

I’ve seen a lot of cartoons by my right-wing colleagues on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. I’ve seen them from Michael Ramirez, Chip Bok, Mike Lester, Mike Beckom, Henry Payne, Dana Summers, Gary Varvel, Branco, Tom Stiglich, Steve Kelley, Al Goodwyn, and Ben Garrison and they all have one thing in common. Not one of those cartoonists has mentioned Norfolk Southern, the corporation responsible for the train derailment and environmental disaster.

All of the right-wing MAGA-loving cartoonists have gone after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and President Joe Biden for not cleaning up the disaster fast enough that was created by a corporation, a corporation that spends millions each year lobbying. Lobbying who? Lobbying Republicans. They also fail to mention that Donald Trump and Republicans deregulated the rail industry’s handling of toxic chemicals. But most conservative political cartoonists don’t let facts get in their way. Ask Dick Wright. Or ask him again…or again.

The derailment spewed toxic chemicals in East Palestine and forced residents to abandon their homes for several days. Leave it to Republicans to howl at Democrats for not cleaning up their mess fast enough.

Norfolk Southern has created a $1 million fund for victims of their toxic chemical disaster and has pledged about $4 million more on cleanup efforts. Don’t cry too much over Norfolk Southern having to spend a few million on this since the company’s value is over $53 billion. That’s “billion” with a big ass “B.”

Last year, Norfolk Southern spent over $4 billion, with another big ass “B,” on stock buybacks. That’s not all. In 2021, they spent $4.36 million on lobbying nationwide. They spent millions over the past decade lobbying to deregulate how they haul toxic chemicals.

They’ve given over $40,000 to the inauguration party and political PACs of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. Over the past six years, they’ve given over $98,000 to Ohio Republicans and almost none to Democrats.

Norfolk Southern lobbied to defeat state legislation, in two different sessions, that would have required a minimum of two-person crews on freight trains, pushed by advocates as a safety measure.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and other legislators published a letter stating, “It has been reported that the seven Class I (biggest) railroads in the U.S. spent more than $114 billion on stock buybacks and cash distributions and paid more than $77 billion in dividends between 2010 and 2021, amounts that significantly exceed the $138 billion spent on their infrastructure during that period.”

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell said that large railroads “have cut their workforce by nearly one-third, shuttered railyards where railcars are traditionally inspected and are running longer and heavier trains. Thousands of trains carrying hazardous materials, like the one that derailed in Ohio, travel through communities throughout the nation each day.” The train that derailed in East Palestine had 150 cars.

Last year, Republicans voted against paid time off for railway workers.

A corporation created a toxic chemical disaster and the Republicans who helped them do it, and who ignored railway workers’ warnings that this would happen, are blaming Democrats.

Remember when President Obama cleaned up President George W. Bush’s economic disaster and the best complaint from Republicans was that it was a “weak” recovery? Remember when Bill Clinton cleaned up the first Bush’s economic disaster and left a surplus…which Bush’s son later spent on wars and billionaire tax cuts? Republicans create messes and Democrats clean them up so Republicans can make new messes. Right now, President Biden is cleaning up the mess created by Donald Trump. Don’t let them get away with it this time.

Norfolk Southern and Republicans did this. Unlike my colleagues, I will say their names.

Music note: I listened to Nirvana.

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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Mutated Toxic Train Spill Bear

When I first saw one Republican after another expressing outrage over a toxic chemical spill from a train derailment, I thought maybe I was having a stroke. My second thought was that maybe it was derailed by drag queens with Hunter’s laptop and black history books (don’t steal that cartoon idea, fuckers).

Republicans care about the environment? Republicans get upset over a corporation dumping toxic waste? Republicans taking a position in favor of more regulations and funding for the environment? Republicans maybe being in favor of stiff fines for corporations that crap on the environment? No. They aren’t in favor of any of that. But I knew this was a heavy topic on Fox News after I saw about six cartoons from the goons on it.

Don’t tell me that the goons who want to give contracts to oil corporations to drill for oil in national parks care about a toxic chemical spill.

Norfolk Southern Railroad had a train derailment and spilled toxins in East Palestine, Ohio. People are sick. One person said he can’t get the taste of batteries out of his mouth. I’ve never eaten a battery but I can’t imagine that tastes good. What Republicans are doing is using this disaster to attack political opponents. This time, they’re going after the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, because blah blah blah he’s a member of the Biden administration and he’s gay. If you listen to Republicans long enough, you’d think Mayor Pete had hijacked the train and derailed it himself.

Most of the howls coming from the GOP about this spill are about Buttigieg, and not exactly about the spill. They’re not talking about cleaning this up, preventing future train derailments, helping those affected, or concerns about the environment. Everything they’re saying is about Buttigieg. This is only about politics for them. Jim “Gym” Jordan doesn’t give a shit about a toxic chemical spill in Ohio, and that’s his state.

Just a few months ago, there was a threat of a railway strike. Rail workers got just about everything they wanted but the one thing they didn’t get was paid time off. They didn’t get it because one party voted against it. Guess which party that was. Yup, Republicans.

Over the past six years, railways have laid off 30 percent of their workforce. One way the rail companies save money is by adding as many cars to a train as possible because a 100-car train does not require more workers than a 50-car train. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a 150-car train.

Republicans voted against helping railway workers and then act surprised when something fucks up. Why didn’t someone warn them this would happen? Oh, yeah. Railway workers warned them. But Republicans don’t listen to the workers. They only listen to CEOs, board members, lobbyists, and male hookers through the glory holes in airport bathroom stalls.

Senator Marco Rubio has called for Buttigieg’s resignation, claiming the oversight from his department caused this crash. But you know who Republicans aren’t blaming? The one name I’m not seeing in any of their tweets is Norfolk Southern.

They’re not blaming the corporation. They’re not blaming Donald Trump, whom they worked with to cut regulations making the transportation of toxic chemicals even more dangerous. They’re not blaming themselves for cutting regulations. They’re not blaming themselves for defending corporations from being fined for destroying the environment. They’re not blaming themselves for voting against the infrastructure package. They’re not blaming themselves for voting against paid time off for railway workers.

Workers need rest. People need to sleep. People who don’t get enough rest can seriously mess up at work. Take me for example. I never get enough sleep and came dangerously close to giving that two-headed bear a dick.

Blaming Buttigieg is the same strategy Republicans have been using over the past several years. They yell and scream while not offering actual solutions or finding anything specific to scream about. It’s like Wokeism. They’re gonna fight it, just don’t ask them what it is. They’re gonna go to war to make cuts before they raise the debt ceiling, just don’t ask them what they’re gonna cut. They say a black history course is hateful, just don’t ask them which part. They howl about President Biden shooting down objects over Lake Huron when they don’t know what he shot down or where Lake Huron is. And they’re screaming for Mayor Pete’s head, claiming his oversight of the railway industry led to this derailment, while they can’t point out what he did to cause this derailment.

I think Cocaine Bear would be better at legislating than Republicans.

Music note: I really got into the crosshatching and coloring of this and took my time, which is the best way to do it. And the best way to be patient and relaxed while drawing is to listen to music. I was all over the place with this one, listening to Frankie Valli, The Fray, Garbage, Finger Eleven, Rihanna, Marshall Tucker, M, The Breeders, and stuff I can’t recall now.

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: