Washington has zeroes in with laser-like focus on the most pressing issue of our day–the unacceptable level of unemployment. No, wait! Just kidding. It’s cutting the size of government, which of course, matters more than anything else to the millions of Americans who can’t find work, who have lost or are in are in danger [...]

The economy continues to lurch along, gaining a little bit of steam, then falling back again. Unemployment stays stubbornly around 9%, homes are still being foreclosed at a ferocious rate, and  the housing industry remains in a deep funk, Meanwhile, official Washington is consumed with the debate over the debt ceiling. Will someone please explain [...]

I just returned from my son’s graduation from Boston University. It’s a big school, with thousands of graduates–so many that each department hands out the diplomas in a separate ceremony–and it’s only one of many colleges and universities in the area. Harvard, Tufts, MIT, Boston College, Northeastern, Brandeis, and so many others have graduations in [...]

Funny, you’d think Wally Piper’s classic children’s book, The Little Engine That Could, would have been a rich source for cartoon metaphors, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever used it. The tragic oddity of the economic recovery now well underway is how few people are yet benefitting from it. Wall [...]

Corporate profits in the United States have reached an all-time high. Despite this, the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high; companies aren’t hiring, and wads of hoarded corporate cash so far have not translated into jobs (but executive bonuses are back to pre-recession levels). Can we now finally dispense with the trickle-down theory? Of course not. [...]

The rescue of the miners trapped 2000 feet below ground is too good a metaphor to pass up. I suspect there will be a number of similar cartoons in the next few days. I’ve already seen one by my buddy Rob Rogers in Pittsburgh, and more are sure to follow.

I’m as perplexed as anyone by the lack of focus among Democrats running for office this election. It starts at the top, with a White House that has been unable to produce a coherent election message. It ought to be easy, especially for as gifted an orator as Obama, but he’s been bizarrely unable to [...]

Now that the stimulus spending is winding down (note to critics of stimulus spending, who said it didn’t do anything: if it didn’t do any good, why is the loss of it endangering the recovery?), the job market is looking grim again. For reasons I can’t quite fathom in this oddest of election years, neither [...]

Medical marijuana shops are cropping up all over the place. We all know, of course, that this is a total sham; it’s a way to legalize marijuana while pretending that we’re doing it for purely ethical reasons. We won’t admit that the prohibition of ganja was as effective as the prohibition of alcohol, so we [...]