Category Archives: President
Poppy in Cartoons, R.I.P.
Our 41st president George H.W. Bush died over the weekend. And the media has been heaping praise on him ever since. He was a man of great virtue. And the fact that his virtues – he was a genuine war hero with modesty, honesty and compassion – fit a narrative in sharp contrast to our 45th president may have something to do with it.
Here are some Bush 41 cartoons, along with text, from my book The Recent History of the United States in Political Cartoons, A Look Bok:
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Bush sought the Republican nomination for the 1988 presidential election and found it difficult to gain attention and traction while serving as vice president to the spotlight-savvy Reagan.
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George Herbert Walker Bush had run against Reagan for the 1980 Republican nomination. Reagan’s platform was for increased military spending and tax cuts. Reagan subscribed to a theory called “supply-side economics,” illustrated by the Laffer Curve, cooked up by economist Arthur Laffer. He predicted the tax cuts would cause so much new economic activity that tax revenues would increase enough to replace the money lost though tax cuts. During the campaign Bush called it voodoo economics. When the vanquished primary candidate Bush later became Reagan’s vp, many true believers questioned his conversion.
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The wimp factor was really a creation of the press.
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Budget Director Richard Darman fretted quite a bit about balancing the budget – especially in light of President Bush’s understated campaign pledge: “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Eventually Darman convinced Bush to raise taxes, sealing his fate, if not his lips, as a one-term president.
Trump Base Battle
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The economy is booming but the Trump base is taking a hit.
GM is shutting down Chevy Cruze production at its 6 million square foot Lordstown plant. And Reason says the billion dollar cost of steel and other tariffs might have something to do with it. Steel workers are an important part of the Trump base. So are autoworkers and 1400 of them are about to lose their jobs.
Trump Base
“The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get!,” tweets Trump.
Kevin Williamson at NR says it was dumb to bail out GM in the first place. American carmakers can’t compete on sedans with the likes of Honda or Audi. But they’re good at making trucks and SUVs people like. They should have focused on that sector long ago, he says. But we “paid them not to.”
Electric cars too. NPR reports the government subsidies electric cars to the tune of a $7,500 tax credit for buyers.
So now GM will focus on what it’s good at. In Mexico.
Press Pass Conference
Invading Caravan
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President Trump ordered “roughly 5,800 troops” to the Mexican border. And he says “they have built a very beautiful fence.” But the real mission: stop a Central American immigrant invasion force. The invading caravan crossed Mexico with Patton Third Army-like speed. And now they’re advancing toward American lines outside Tijuana. So stay tuned.
Agenda
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Mark Penn is a pollster and analyst. He was the chief strategist for both Bill and Hillary’s presidential campaigns. NY Magazine calls him a Trump loving “sleaze ball.”
Here’s why: He recently made the point that Trump makes promises and mostly keeps them. But Democrats only agenda is to impeach Trump.
