Political Cartoon #5:

The title of the cartoon for the political cartoon this week is “Lipstick on a Deficit” (it wasn’t specifically written anywhere)—the cartoon speaks for itself. President Bush, President-elect Obama, and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, are featured standing outside of the White House. There’s a humongous pig covered in filth with the words “$1.2 Trillion Deficit” on its side that’s blocking Obama’s way into the White House. Obama seems shocked to see the giant pig in front of him, and Bush explains apologetically about not having enough money for the lipstick (reference to a famous expression that was used in the 2008 presidential campaigning).

I don’t think Obama is really as shocked to see the enormous deficit that the Bush presidency is so kindly leaving behind for him. He made it clear that the felt that President Bush was a pretty big failure. Besides that, the economic crisis will be the first thing President-elect Barack Obama will have to face as soon as he takes office. The 111th Congress is already looking into his stimulus plan which has a price tag hovering around $800 billion. The stimulus plan includes public works projects (to create jobs), income tax cuts, and business tax cuts (having some resemblance to FDR’s New Deal program). A Gallup poll says that a majority of Americans support Obama: seventy-two percent support income tax cuts, seventy-five percent support business tax cuts, and seventy-eight percent support the infrastructure program. There’s definitely a sense of optimism for the new presidency, and the nation seems to be ready for a new, fresh start.