November 13, 2008 by rfhicks.

President Elect B.O. will face global leaders both friendly and unfriendly after he has taken his inauguration vows. The President of Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejād, has forwarded his congratulations to the President Elect on his election victory. Russia has been steadfast and warned that they were not to be ignored as they place their missles on the perimeters of Poland.

The President Elect has already hinted that he would pull all troops out of Iraq within 16 months of his term in office and focus the United States military resources on Afghanistan.

The President Elect’s recent security briefing with the NSA has probably revealed many things to him that may change his military and strategic stance in the months to come. Even though Sarah Palin was unable to name the participants in the NAFTA free trade agreement let us not forget how B.O. trivialized the dangers of dealing with Iran. Knowing your enemy in a world of terrorism and conflict can make or break a president during his term. This type of ignorance does not bode well for ‘Joe the Plumber’ and I as we do not want another terrorist strike on U.S. soil.

Let us hope that President Elect B.O. pays very close attention to Pakistan. Pakistan is a potential ally in the war on terror and also possesses nuclear weapons. We do not want Islamic extremists overrunning Pakistan and getting their paws on nuclear armanents or it will take more than a decoder ring to solve our global terrorist challenge.

Posted in The Presidency | 2 Comments »

November 7, 2008 by rfhicks.

A president elect with the initials B.O., two wars that smell to high heaven, and economy that reeks of recession.What a wonderful climate for corporate whiners that still beg for government intervention even after they receive massive tax breaks and move the majority of their manufacturing overseas. They continue pumping out massive gas guzzling SUVs while ignoring wildly gyrating energy prices. Sobering up to reality and putting aside capital for retooling factories for alternate energy cars might give them some independence. They keep sticking their grubby paws in the government’s cookie jar where there lies a big ol’ mousetrap at the bottom that won’t let them get their hands out. In other words the Feds are ready to lay down harsher terms with each loan and tell them how to run their business and build their cars, something the Fed knows absolutely nothing about. In the meantime ‘Joe the Plumber’ and I are rotating and checking the pressure in our tires until that second stimulus check hits the mailbox.

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

October 24, 2008 by rfhicks.

 Too little too late. The Capitol Hill gang reluctantly yanks a few golden umbrellas from the breast fed and pampered slouches at A.I.G. The public gives a diminished hooray as they watch the market slide further down a black hole.

 Why should a few well-heeled slouches be given ‘performance bonuses’ while they panhandle the Federal Reserve for spare change to cover their ill conceived investments. After they snag a few 100 billion dollars they go gallivanting off to swanky California hotel resorts getting their putters calibrated. In the meantime I guess we’ll all wait till those stimulus checks make into the mail.

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

October 23, 2008 by rfhicks.

 The Christmas shopping season is quickly encroaching upon us.  Our leaders on Capitol Hill have appointed a couple of Wall Street cronies to exercise their skills ratcheting the economy and Wall Street into shape. Looks like Ben took the economy up a notch one too many while Hank Paulson is on the ground again with oil in his face.

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment »

October 14, 2008 by rfhicks.

I guess the first ‘bridge loan’ doled out be the Federal Reserve wasn’t enough. No, A.I.G. needs another loan so the top zoot suits

can go to Half Moon Bay and get there putters calibrated along with some nice back rubs by the staff masseuses.  They better be curvey masseuses for $400,000.

On the other hand did A.I.G. just have bad timing and this event accidentally coincided with the stock market crash?

Nah, I don’t think so.

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment »

October 9, 2008 by rfhicks.

Boo! It’s an election year and Halloween is almost here. We have been paired down to two candidates to vote for from the old staid and crooked parties. The global economy is in a major meltdown. Not only will October 31 be Halloween, but this November 4 will be the Halloween II. This presidential election will prove to be interesting with The Mummy( Barack Obama) vs. Hellraiser( John McCain).

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment »

October 3, 2008 by rfhicks.

Tracking money tracking mud what’s the difference. Greed and avarice run amok in the housing market. Lenders are eager to cash in by lowering their qualification standards. Banks wind up holding trillions of dollars of questionable mortgage contracts. Other banks around the globe wind up buying into the greed of the housing market by buying the questionable paper. The housing market suddenly deflates leaving the banks holding worthless pulp.

Our representatives in Washington, who don’t want to reveal their involvement in the financial fiasco, find that it is easier to appoint their old wall street cronies to control the United States Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury where they have easy access to a taxpayer loan. In the meantime they bullhorn the public with fear and misinformation.

They tell the public without our taxpayer dollars none will survive. When we all lose our homes, jobs, cars where will the next taxpayer bailout come from.

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

September 23, 2008 by rfhicks.

The current whipsaw economy has both inspired me artistically and has me consuming a lot of Tums fretting over my 401k. There have been a combination of factors that drove me to do this cartoon.

Number #1, I have been cartooning a long time and was encouraged by a lot of people to try my hand at editorial cartooning. When I began my cartooning career I was member of the Mid-South Cartoonists’ Association and hung out with a lot of guys that were editorial cartoonists’ both big and small. I even met Michael Ramirez who worked at the time for The Commercial Appeal. Since then Michael has moved on from Memphis snagging two Pulitzer’s Prizes for editorial cartooning and working at the Los Angeles Times.

Number #2, I did a couple of editorial cartoons in my early career in Memphis. I showed them around to friends and relatives and always got a laugh for my nascent sarcasm. I quickly grasped the concept of literally labeling things and characters in the editorial cartoon and being able to help people understand complex issues.

Number #3, I always have liked reading newspapers and digesting things going on in the world. With the advent of the Internet and cell phones one can easily satiate his appetite for reading the latest headlines.

Number #4, I have spent 3 of 4 years using accounting software trying to track my individual bank account. I used Quicken quite awhile and was able to penetrate the fog of accounting jargon and get a grip on how banks and big businesses count their money and it is not always cash. When I began to explore creating my own spreadsheets I began to realize how creative banks and businesses can be when they call one thing an asset and another a liability.

Take all these experiences and blend them together and there you have it; Gargantuan investment firms reduced to panhandling on the steps of the United States Federal Reserve.

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment »

September 16, 2008 by rfhicks.

I was watching the History channel last night and they were running the 911 films. I had already heard the news regarding Lehman Bros. along with Merrill Lynch and the financial troubles they were trying to maneuver through. I had been at work about an hour when I got this idea for a political cartoon regarding Wall Street miscarriage. I felt strongly about it and made a quick pencil sketch in my moleskine journal. When I got home I scanned it in and made some refinements in Corel Painter X.

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

August 19, 2008 by rfhicks.

Well, I must confess. I called off from work today, but followed the proper procedure. I was going through and Interferon depressive period after skin rash side effect the day before. I went out with my sketchbook and tried to work my way out of this depressive period. Lately the Interferon has diminished my ability to concentrate, so starting the drawings was tough. I simply ignored attention to detail and let the pencil roll where it wanted it too. Then I followed with watercolor pencil. Since the drawings are entirely abstract then so must be the name. This is called ‘Ozmozium’.

Posted in Hepatitis C, sketches | No Comments »