Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
January 26, 2014

Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema went off again. This time opining about Muslim people by asking this question: “Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?” Not the first time Agema has gone done that road. Here’s I cartoon I did a few years ago. (It’s one of my favorites.) And here’s the backstory on this latest embarrassment.

The point is, the GOP (at least ostensively) is trying to attract new voters by portraying itself as more inclusive. Agema keeps working hard in the exact opposite direction. Fun fact: I originally conceived this comic with Agema in the window looking like this:

For a variety of reasons, my editors and I decided to go with the petulant little kid approach.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
January 19, 2014

After many, many, many years of economic challenges, Michigan finds itself in the unfamiliar situation of having a budget surplus. Estimates put the surplus at close to a billion dollars. One school of thought is to reinvest that money in programs and projects that have been cut continuously for more than a decade. Another thinks refunding money to taxpayers is the way to go. A third way proposes socking that money away in a rainy day fund. All good thoughts that should be explored and debated. What I don’t want to happen is for the legislators to get so caught up in how to use the surplus for political gain that they don’t actually do anything positive with it. Which is why a smack or two across the face may not be a bad idea. (Lawyer note: John Auchter accepts all the benefit but none of the liability for this idea.)

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
January 12, 2014

Last week it was really cold and it snowed. Then it got warmer and it rained.

I really don’t want to talk about it anymore….

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
January 5, 2014

Sorry Governor Snyder, but I have to call bullshit on this one. Hiding the names of contributors to issue ads is a defense of the first amendment? Really? This country was quite literally founded on the idea of full accountability and disclosure on issues. The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not hide behind a made-up organization name. They used their own names. And while they too risked the harassment of the bloggers of their day (publishers of pamphlets and placards), they also risked some very real medieval punishments for treason: hanging, beheading, drawn and quartered, etc. So simply identifying yourself when you pay to have an ad run seems pretty patriotic, don’t you think? Well, that’s my opinion. If you have a problem with that, there’s my name, email address, Twitter account, and picture right there.