from the San Diego Reader

from the Omaha Reader

from the Lincoln Journal Star

from the San Diego Reader

from the Omaha Reader

Below was the initial version. Sometimes it’s good for cartoonists to have editors.
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From a story by JoAnne Young in the Tuesday, January 15 Lincoln Journal Star (emphasis mine):

In four words: taxes are too high.

It’s become a gubernatorial mantra, oft repeated in a state that ranks high among its peers in the amount of money residents pay to live here.

Taxes in Nebraska are too high, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said to the Legislature in his State of the State address Tuesday morning. And if it was up to him, more relief would be on the way, in the form of $75 million in property tax relief, increasing the amount for each property owner from the current $83 to $151 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Last year, the Legislature lowered taxes, giving property tax relief, repealing the death tax, eliminating the marriage penalty, expanding the earned income tax credit and repealing the sales tax on construction labor.

From Don Walton’s column in Monday’s Journal Star (emphasis again mine):

Lots of imprecise, and often misleading, talk about the comparative level of taxes paid by Nebraskans.

Some recent stats on Nebraska’s ranking among the states:

* 2006 state tax revenue: 30th in terms of per capita taxes; 31st in terms of percentage of personal income; source: www.taxadmin.org.

* 2007 combined state and local tax burden, as defined by dividing total tax payments by total income; ninth; source: Tax Foundation.

* 2007 combined state, local and federal tax burden, as previously defined; 22nd; source: Tax Foundation.

Although on the high end in terms of local taxation, Nebraskans appear to be somewhere in the middle in terms of total taxes paid.

That’s not what you hear — and read — virtually every day.

from the Lincoln Journal Star

Commentary on the “constitutional hunting protection” issue, including response from Sen. Tony Fulton, follows the cartoon.

I was angry when I saw that the idea of a constitutional amendment to protect hunting was once again being brought up. I was especially upset that it was being associated with Sen. Tony Fulton. I grew up in Auburn with Tony, and though I was closer in age to his two younger brothers, we always knew each other and kept in good contact since we both left our hometown.

What upset me about this coming from Tony was the fact that, less than a year ago, he opposed adding language to the state’s discrimination policy based largely on the premise — as he stated on the record and separately in correspondence with me — that there was no evidence of hiring discrimination against homosexuals, therefore it was unnecessary to clutter our laws for something that required no government intervention for a group that needed no protection.
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from the San Diego Reader

Have you seen this? Some Bush supporter, apparently feeling victimized that the rest of the world can’t be forced to see things in the desired way, has crafted a hypothetical resignation speech from George W Bush.

I think the best part is that this is somehow supposed to build sympathy for the guy, or maybe convince defectors that they were wrong for losing faith in him when this his how one of his loyal supporters views the rest of the world.

Actual critics can’t even compete with this.

If Bush resigned today, this is what his speech would be…..

Normally, I start these things out by saying “My Fellow Americans”, not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don’t know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you’re really not fellow Americans any longer.

I’ll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution, let me assure you: There’s been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I’m quitting is simple. I’m fed up with you people. I’m fed up because you have no understanding of what’s really going on in the world. Or of what’s going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let’s start local. You’ve been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that’s despite record numbers of homeowners, including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we’re mentioning minorities, I’ll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton administration. I’ve mentioned all those things before, but it doesn’t sink in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there’s increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world.

Don’t give me this “blood for oil” crap. If I were trading blood for oil I would’ve already seized Iraq ’s oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. (more…)