Health Care | Progressive Political Cartoons

See Sue Run (now with two endings!)

Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

There are two versions of this cartoon. The only difference is the final panel; in one version, the final panel is about how many Americans ignore the way government helps their lives. In the other version, the final panel is specifically a dig at the Tea Party.

The general version:

And the Tea Party version:

	Select Read a transcript of the cartoon
PANEL 1 See Sue (Illustration of small white girl in pigtails running. This is Sue.) See Sue run. PANEL 2 See Sue run to public school. (Illustration of Sue running towards brick building.) Go, Sue, go! PANEL 3 See Sue’s Daddy tkae a child-care tax credit. (Illustation of Sue’s Daddy in foreground filling out some forms while Sue plays with toys on the floor in the background.) Maybe Daddy will use it to buy Sue more toys! PANEL 4 See Sue use federal student loans to attend college. (Illustration of Sue, now a teenager in a cap and gown, receiving a high school diploma.) Good going, Sue! PANEL 5 See Sue lower her taxes with the lifetime learning credit. (Illustration of Sue putting an envelope into a mailbox. This cartoon is certainly action-packed, isn’t it?) Clever Sue! PANEL 6 See Sue get a job. (Illustration of sue wearing goggles and sawing a piece of wood that’s clamped to two sawhorses.) See the employer tax exclusion make Sue’s health care cheaper. PANEL 7 See Sue buy a home. (Illustration of a small house.) Sue can afford it because of the mortgage deduction! PANEL 8 See Sue have a baby. (Illustration of a baby’s pacifier.) See Sue take the child-tax credit. PANEL 9 See Sue save for her kid’s college education with a tax-free education savings account. (Illustration of Sue, now a bit older, filling out forms.) Good planning Sue! PANEL 10 See Sue retire. (Illustration of Sue, now older with white hair, at a retirement party — there are balloons and cake and a man has his arm around her shoulders.) Now Sue will collect Social Security! PANEL 11 See Sue get sick. (Illustration of Sue in a patient’s gown at a doctor’s office, being spoken to by someone holding a clipboard.) Good thing Sue has Medicare! PANEL 12 See Sue Fail To See (Illustration of Sue, wearing a blazer, angrily speaking.) Sue: When has the government ever helped me? Funny Sue! ALTERNATIVE PANEL 12: PANEL 12 See Sue join the Tea Party. (Illustration of Sue, wearing a blazer, angrily speaking.) SUE: I’ve never taken a cent from the government! Funny Sue!

Read a transcript of the cartoon

PANEL 1
See Sue
(Illustration of small white girl in pigtails running. This is Sue.)
See Sue run.

PANEL 2
See Sue run to public school.
(Illustration of Sue running towards brick building.)
Go, Sue, go!

PANEL 3
See Sue’s Daddy tkae a child-care tax credit.
(Illustation of Sue’s Daddy in foreground filling out some forms while Sue plays with toys on the floor in the background.)
Maybe Daddy will use it to buy Sue more toys!

PANEL 4
See Sue use federal student loans to attend college.
(Illustration of Sue, now a teenager in a cap and gown, receiving a high school diploma.)
Good going, Sue!

PANEL 5
See Sue lower her taxes with the lifetime learning credit.
(Illustration of Sue putting an envelope into a mailbox. This cartoon is certainly action-packed, isn’t it?)
Clever Sue!

PANEL 6
See Sue get a job.
(Illustration of sue wearing goggles and sawing a piece of wood that’s clamped to two sawhorses.)
See the employer tax exclusion make Sue’s health care cheaper.

PANEL 7
See Sue buy a home.
(Illustration of a small house.)
Sue can afford it because of the mortgage deduction!

PANEL 8
See Sue have a baby.
(Illustration of a baby’s pacifier.)
See Sue take the child-tax credit.

PANEL 9
See Sue save for her kid’s college education with a tax-free education savings account.
(Illustration of Sue, now a bit older, filling out forms.)
Good planning Sue!

PANEL 10
See Sue retire.
(Illustration of Sue, now older with white hair, at a retirement party — there are balloons and cake and a man has his arm around her shoulders.)
Now Sue will collect Social Security!

PANEL 11
See Sue get sick.
(Illustration of Sue in a patient’s gown at a doctor’s office, being spoken to by someone holding a clipboard.)
Good thing Sue has Medicare!

PANEL 12
See Sue Fail To See
(Illustration of Sue, wearing a blazer, angrily speaking.)
Sue: When has the government ever helped me?
Funny Sue!

ALTERNATIVE PANEL 12:
PANEL 12
See Sue join the Tea Party.
(Illustration of Sue, wearing a blazer, angrily speaking.)
SUE: I’ve never taken a cent from the government!
Funny Sue!

Posted in Economic cartoons, Health care |

Health Care and Freedom

Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

	Select Read a transcript of the cartoon
The scene: A woman in casual business wear addresses the reader directly. Panel one Woman: i’m TRAPPED in my job, because my kid is sick, and if i change jobs there goes my health insurance! Panel two Woman: i have a great idea for a business start-up — the kind of thing that could change my life! but i’m TRAPPED in my job because of the health insurance. Panel three Woman: the job recently forced me to relocate to IDAHO. i HATE living in idaho! i miss my family. but i’m trapped in my job because… well, you know. Panel four Woman: my boss assigns me unpaid overtime and makes inappropriate comments… but i can’t tell him to SHOVE it, because i’m TRAPPED. Panel five Woman: so my friend tells me that to solve all these problems, i should support single-payer health care. and i said to her, ARE YOU NUTS? Panel six Woman: once the government gets involved in health care, we won’t be FREE!

Read a transcript of the cartoon

Posted in Health care |

The Great Health Care Debate

Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

Visual description: This is a four-panel cartoon. Each panel shows the same three woman. The woman on the left and right are arguing; the woman in the middle is listening with interest to their arguments.
Panel 1
WOMAN 1: our NEW HEALTH CARE BALLOON is a GIGANTIC deal! it’s more like a RIDE in a HOT AIR BALLOON! and EVERY AMERICAN can ride to a HEALTHIER TOMORROW! it’s the balloon we’ve waited our WHOLE LIFE for!
Panel 2
WOMAN 2: LIES! the new health care balloon is more like the HINDENBURG! a GIANT FLAMING GASBAG OF DEATH FOR ALL AMERICANS! the END OF FREEDOM on our SHINING SHORES!
Panel 3: The two arguing women are now just yelling into each other’s faces.
WOMAN 1: LIFESAVER!
WOMAN 2: HINDENBURG!
WOMAN 1: BOON TO ALL!
WOMAN 2: SOCIALIST DEATHTRAP!
WOMAN 1: THE NEW NEW DEAL!
WOMAN 2: DEATH BY MANDATE!
Panel 4: A perfectly ordinary, normal-sized balloon has floated into the picture.
WOMAN 1 (Arms wide open, gesturing towards the balloon): It’s HERE! Isn’t it AWESOME?
WOMAN 2 (Fleeing in terror): AYIEE! THE NEW STALIN!
Woman in middle: Looks towards the viewer with a “you’ve got to be kidding me” expression on her face.
CAPTION: The Great Health Care Debate

Posted in Health care |

Socialized Medicine

Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

Posted in Health care |

Star Wars Muppet Health Care Mashup + Original Art Auction!

Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

This cartoon was published in the April 2009 issue of Dollars and Sense. The original art is being auctioned here.

To tell you the truth, I can’t draw Darth’s helmet to save my life. So I turned to the awesome Bill Mudron, who could easily draw Darth’s helmet with a crayon clenched between his butt cheeks, although in this case I’m pretty sure Bill used his hands. I wrote and penciled the cartoon, and Bill inked it, drawing Darth and the backgrounds pretty much from scratch.

Since this is a health care cartoon, I thought it would make sense to auction it off to help someone pay for health care. Somewhere on the internet I ran into Connie Parrott‘s case; Connie is a type 1 diabetic who is trying to raise funds for needed medical equipment through the internet. Although I haven’t met Connie, I emailed her, and she was willing to let me do the auction thing. Connie’s friend Ed Brayton, volunteered to help organize it.

So, anyway: The original art is being auctioned here on Ebay. You can find details (paper stock, image size, etc) over there.

It’s worth mentioning that I don’t usually draw my cartoons on paper! This is the first cartoon I’ve done in years that wasn’t done 100% on computer. So this is a relatively rare chance to own original paper art for one of my strips.

UPDATE: The art sold for $200. Yay!

Posted in Health care |