Special Session

This cartoon is about a week old, but I never got around to posting it online. The gag is pretty straight forward but my editor loves the character of Jimmy Doyle. I will miss Jim when his term runs out next year.

Believe

I liked this image. I think it's a little bit sad, and sobering, but I'm not sure the message is razor sharp which, after all, is the point of an editorial cartoon.


Still, I like drawing Santa and Polar Bears, so there.

Stuck!!!!

I thought this was a great image to describe this unpleasant situation.

DUI Snowman

State Legislators will likely pass a bill this week to "toughen" Wisconsin's pathetically lenient drunken driving laws. While the legislation hardly sends the message that Wisconsin is serious about cracking down on the scourge of the state, something is better than nothing.

But the problem is, lawmakers likely won't be able to raise enough money to cover the cost of tougher enforcement. They will be relying on fees charged to criminals, which will likely only raise $15 million, and hopefully less (I'm pro less crime). If legislators were serious about raising money to crack down on drunken drivers they would raise the state's minuscule beer tax. But as this cartoon illustrates, they don't have the snowball for that.

Let it Snow

It is dumping in Madison right now. We have about 15" outside our front door right now. We lost power for a while last night while the storm raged, and we have a tree in our backyard that is being seriously weighted down by at least a foot of wet, heavy snow. Still, since I work from home, I don't think I'm going to get a snow day today.

Edgewater Hotel

Here is the cartoon, I drew earlier in the week about the Edgewater Hotel in Madison. A developer wants to spend to $93 million to fix up the hotel and add an 8-story tower and dozens of more rooms.

I think it's amazing that in this economy, somebody wants to invest our community. Some neighbors think it will destroy the character of their downtown neighbor. I say they can go jump in a lake.

Downtown Madison belongs to all of us, and I don't think a small group of NIMBY folks should be able to slow down progress. There are lots of benefits to living in downtown Madison. You are close to fine restaurants, bars, intriguing shopping and fantastic cultural institutions. The down side is that you shouldn't be allowed to complain about tall buildings in your neighborhood.

DNR deer count

There has been a whole lot of hoopla about the DNR count of the Wisconsin Deer Herd. Hunters think the DNR has been grossly overestimating the size of the herd, and therefore has been advocating for unsustainable hunting practices, like "earn a buck" which forces hunters to shoot an antler-less deer, before allowing them to shoot a trophy Buck. Hunters cite the dramatically lower deer kill this year (which was down about 30%), as evidence of the DNR faulty numbers. Of course, the DNR suspended the "earn a buck" program this year, and hunters killed a very few antler less deer. Perhaps the change in policy explains the change in the deer kill.

But the cartoon is still a lot of fun.

Tax Heck

I thought this cartoon was pretty funny. I like the idea of HECK, some sort of watered down, not so bad version of eternal damnation.

Weekend Cartoons

These cartoons ran in the State Journal on Saturday and Sunday.

Both are pretty funny, but neither are particularly hard hitting. Also, I need to draw fewer animals. I don't really care for our furry friends.

Update

Here are the cartoons I've drawn since my last post.

Barrett Runs for Governor

Here is the cartoon I drew for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's decision to run for Governor in 2010.
I drew the cartoon earlier last week, because I had to head out of town for a funeral.

I had two separate captions for the cartoon one in case Barrett declared he would run, and one for in case he decided to stay put. Here is the cartoon that didn't run.
And I was pretty perturbed that Barret waited until Sunday to announce his candidacy. I had stayed up until 3am last Thursday morning drawing the cartoon so my editor could use it over the weekend. I then awoke at 5am Thursday so I catch my flight to the east coast for the funeral. By announcing on Sunday, when there is no one at the editorial desk at the Wisconsin State Journal, my cartoon didn't run until Tuesday, and I stayed up to 3am for no reason.

Consider yourself warned Mayor Barrett, you've gotten my bad side, and now I will relish every opportunity I get to draw a cartoon about you. That's right, don't mess with the cartoonist.

Radioactive

The issue of using student test scores to evaluate teacher performance has become rather toxic.

It all seems rather silly to me. I understand that teachers should not be evaluated solely on student test results, but test that measure a student's learning progress are essential to evaluating how well teachers are performing, and whether they should keep their jobs. There are thousands of dedicated teachers in this country that are woefully underpaid for the innovative work they do to help their students learn. Likewise there are thousands of unimaginative and apathetic teachers who are concerned more with their next vacation, than they are with how well their students learn. Good teachers need to be paid for their trouble, and bad teachers need to be removed from the classrooms, and there's nothing wrong with using student test scores to help separate the good from the bad.

Edgewater and Library projects in Madison

Here is a cartoon from today's Wisconsin State Journal.

I usually agree with Ald. Schumacher. I've found him to be pragmatic and he has a healthier dose of common sense than most council members. But he's wrong to delay the Edgewater and Library proposals. Both proposals hinge on cheap construction and material cost because of the recession, and both will cost significantly more money and become less viable as the economy improves.

Michael Schumacher is pretty smart and knows this. He wants to kill these projects.

He should have to guts to say so.

More updates

Here are some recent Cartoons.

Favre Toon

Here is yesterday's cartoon about Brett Favre's return to Green Bay. It was a tough game.

Lawton bows out.

Lt. Governor Barb Lawton unexpected dropped out to the race for Governor last week. Rumors have been flying like beads at Mardi Gras as to what exactly were the "very personal" reason that forced her to quit. Some said she couldn't raise funds, others questions her health and a shock jock even spewed nasty rumor about her marriage. Most likely she was forced out by the Obama administration who wants Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run.

But he hasn't made a decision yet, and if he chooses not to run, the Democrats will be up a frozen creek without a paddle.

Last Week cartoons

I was so busy drawing last week that I forgot to post cartoons here on the blog. Here are the cartoons I did last week.

Beer Tax Cartoon

This is my most recent cartoon calling for an increase in the beer tax in Wisconsin. I originally had the Tavern League bartender saying both of the gag lines, but my editor thought it was a little too extreme to attribute a line encouraging drunken driving to the Tavern League. I'm not entirely sure I agree with him, but the cartoon is still good and makes a strong point.

State Lawmakers are old and Making fewer laws.

This story in the Wisconsin State Journal caught my eye this morning. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank, published a report finding that lawmakers are getting older, staying elected longer, and authoring fewer bills.

I'm not crazy about lawmakers getting old and comfortable in their cushy government jobs, but there isn't anything inherently wrong with them writing fewer bills, and I'm surprised that the conservative think tank didn't point that out.

When it comes to legislation, quality is more important that quantity, and often the best policy is the legislation that doesn't get written.

As for how this translates into an editorial cartoon, damned if I know.

Obama's Nobel

Here is my Obama Nobel Peace Prize cartoon. It's not the best cartoon I've ever drawn but I had fun drawing it, and the cartoon has a different message from many of the Obama/Nobel cartoons I seen on the various blogs and list-serves.

Out of town update

I was out of town visiting my in-laws earlier this week and didn't get a chance to post the cartoons I drew while I was gone.

Packers vs. Vikings Monday

The Packers head to the Metrodome tonight to take on the hated Vikings and Brett Favre. Some families in Wisconsin are being torn between loyalty to Favre and loyalty to the packers. Here is the cartoon I did for the Sunday opinion page:

And here is the illustration I did for Monday's front page.

Deer Collisions

I didn't know we killed so many deer in Wisconsin...accidentally.

Ahmadinejad's security detail

The Packers' offensive line has been truly offensive, and not in the marching down the field and scoring points way.

Drunk ASSemblyman

Wisconsin State Rep. Jeff Wood, was pulled over for OWI last week. Apparently he wasn't drunk but, he had been popping pain pills. It's the fourth time he has been arrested for suspected OWI. Ironically he voted with the rest of the Assembly to toughen the state's drunken driving laws, making the the fourth OWI conviction a felony. It's currently a misdemeanor. The Governor has not signed the new legislation into law yet, but he likely will when it gets to his desk.

I tried to point out the irony of the 4th OWI arrest in the cartoon, but the lawyer for the Wisconsin State Journal nixed the sketch. Rep. Wood has not yet been convicted of his 3rd OWI, (it happened earlier this year), and the attorney thought I was overstepping the line by pointing out the Wood's arrest would have been a felony if the legislation he supported had been state law.

Bring the Troops Home

Afghanistan looks like it is seriously becoming a quagmire for the United State military, but I think we should seriously listen to our generals thoughts on how can stabilize the country, and train the Afghans to protect themselves before we pull our troops out. Our soldiers have fought too hard, for too long, for us to abandon the mission, as soon as it gets difficult.

A Wii bit too much fun

Sheriff's Deputies in Polk County Florida got caught on tape playing a Wii bowling game at the house they were searching for drugs and other contraband. You have got to be kidding me.

Wisconsin's Most Wanted

About 12,000 DNA samples taken from the 120,000 or so convicted felons in the last decade are lost or missing. The Attorney General's office and the State Department of Corrections are blaming each other for the mix-up. In the meantime, at least one person has been killed by a convicted felon and suspected serial killer whose DNA was not in the system. For more information check out this story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/60116757.html

Drunk Driving in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin State Assembly passed some pretty piss poor legislation to "toughen" drunken driving laws. Wisconsin is still the only state where the first drunken driving offense in not a crime but a civil infraction. Now under the new "tough" laws the first offense is crime, only if there is a minor in the car and the 4th offense (not the 5th) is a felony, but only if the 4th offense occurs within 5 years of the 3rd offense. Only one other state, North Dakota, lets repeat drunks off the hook for a felony until the 4th offense. A third offense felony is pretty standard.

On the bright side, considering that a good chunk of lawmakers have been pulled over after having a few too many, the Assembly didn't loosen the drunk driving laws.