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 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.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
December 29, 2013

This was based entirely on an offhand comment I made in the blog post for my previous cartoon. When an idea comes to you between Christmas and New Year’s, you don’t question it; you just draw it so you can get back to not doing things….

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
December 22, 2013

The backstories:

• Panel 1: Dave Agema went off again sharing his uniquely twisted and mostly unsolicited views on homosexuality. This isn’t the first time (and actually not even the last because he has since opined his support for the Duck Dynasty dude.) Nothing good can come from going down that road, Dave.
• Panel 2: Dave Bing was a professional basketball star and successful entrepreneur, a generous and resourceful doer of good. He did not need to be mayor of Detroit. He did not need to be the one to follow the complete train-wreck that was Kwame Kitpatrick. He did not need to do battle with the delusional and dysfunctional city council. He deserves a hearty thank-you and somebody to let him know that it’s okay for him to relax now.
• Panel 3: This goes back to an earlier cartoon. Secretary of State Johnson (a Republican) proposed additional transparency to campaign financing; Republican Senators almost immediately proposed and passed legislation to do the opposite. I supposed the only decent thing for them to do was to include her in on some of the cash.

A very Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year! (Warning: 2014 is an election year.)

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
December 15, 2013

Mandela was an angry young man, a revolutionary with generations of legitimate reasons to hold resentment in his heart. He was locked up in prison for 27 years, the prime of his life, away from his wife and family. And this was his thought when asked to lead his country forward. Wow. I couldn’t imagine anything more perfect for the advent season. (Still, I can’t promise that I won’t be drawing something less positive for this coming week.)

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
December 8, 2013

There’s a lot involved with this taking personal responsibility for your finances stuff, and it sure ain’t getting any easier. My brother and I were discussing this recently. Well, lamenting really. We’re both reasonably capable adults, but we both feel absolutely overwhelmed with managing retirement plans. The choices, the options, the opportunities to screw up  — it’s exhausting to even think about! But instead of drawing a cartoon about a whiner like me, I decided to make fun of those who are gung-ho in embracing this “personal responsibility” lifestyle, because at best it can make you the guy you don’t want to get in a conversation with at a holiday party and at worst it can consume your whole life.

The local/Michigan angle to this (in case you were wondering) was the recent decision to move forward with the Detroit bankruptcy case. As a result, retirees from the City of Detroit can expect their pensions to be reduced in some way. It’s easy  to think, “well I don’t have a pension!” or “they should have been better prepared” or “I’m sure they are all thieves and welfare cheaters anyway” depending on how far down the I-Hate-Detroit road you want to go. But we would all do well to keep in mind that the same financial forces that have done away with pensions are the ones that will eventually end your employer-based health insurance. Yep, more choices to manage! Wheeee!

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
December 1, 2013

First, apologies to my wife’s Uncle Bob — I wasn’t drawing you! “Uncle Bob” just seemed like the best name for a grouchy old guy. Wait… that didn’t come out right either.

Anyway, the US Treasury Department recently announced its intention to sell off its remaining stock in General Motors and bring to an end the bailout process that began five years ago. There are some (Mitt Romney famously) who still contend that the bailout was a bad idea. True, taxpayers will have lost an estimated $10 billion on the deal. But with a healthy and successful GM and vibrant US auto industry, arguing against the bailout seems more and more, well, old and grouchy.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
November 24, 2013

It should come as no surprise that this editorial cartooning thing comes easiest when something really and truly ticks you off. Such is the case when Secretary of State Ruth Johnson recently proposed that Michigan consider some transparency in the financing of so called “issue ads” (Issue ads are those campaign spots that can serve up whatever slanderous bile they want so long as they don’t endorse a candidate. And as a bonus for being slimy, they don’t have to reveal who paid for the ad.)  The Supreme Court left it up to the states to decide whether the money source must be revealed. Many states require it. At this point, Michigan does not.

And it doesn’t look likely that Michigan will. Because almost immediately after Johnson floated the transparency idea, Senator Arlan Meekhof and senate leader Randy Richardville rammed through a bill to do exactly the opposite — keep the revenue sources anonymous and then doubling the amount allowed to be given. The defense for this (and a rather cynical one at that) is free speech or the claim that donation sources need to be hidden because otherwise those who make them might feel uncomfortable. First, I’m sure they type who have the likes of Senator Meekhof do their bidding are plenty lawyered up to deal with the consequences of being revealed. Second, is it not a virtue to stand up  for what you believe in?

Hey, my friend and “Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City” author, Gordon Young featured me in a post on his FlintExpats site:
http://www.flintexpats.com/2013/11/john-auchter-cartoon-desk-and-end-of-era.html

It’s about the recent cartoon I did about the last remnant of the AC Spark Plug complex in Flint recently closing down. But there is also an interesting bit about my drawing table, which happens to have a AC Spark Plug connection. Check it out. And buy Gordie’s book! Christmas is coming — great stocking stuffer for that Flintoid (or Flintoid wannabe) on you list!