So hey people, today we start out with cartoons on some actual warships, just a few years prior to 1916! And guess what, they were arguing back then, on whether they had enough ships! And just out, Mitt Romney’s newest round of advertisements, takes his penchance for lying to a whole new level. He has several ads in which he has extracted his (Mitt’s) comments during the third debate — including the one on the U.S. Navy of 1916 — leaving out the President’s response that tore these same comments apart (as did every truth checking outlet out there). It’s been less than a week since that debate — everyone who watched it knows precisely what this liar is up to. Does he really think the American People are that stupid? Hell, Mitt’s own G.O.P. rivals during the primaries, were pointing out what a constant shifting liar he was (silence, of course, from that crowd now). Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough, whether the majority prefers the truth, or, prefers lies that they simply want to believe, despite all evidence contrary.

This year, we have one political party saying that the best way to balance the budget and get the economy moving, is to give bigger tax breaks to millionaires, increase military spending beyond what the Pentagon has any plans to use that money for, at the expense of slahing programs to help the middle class and poor, and remove the money to enforce environmental regulations, food & drug health regulations, regulations to watch out for Wall Street criminality (because, as we know, there hasn’r been one single Wall Street scandal/swindle since the last huge one where they stole money from us all…

And the other political party, of course, has the opposite approach.

As we can see by the following cartoons from the past hundred years, the debate of spending money on weapons that either get destroyed in war, or later become obsoleted (yet another way of siphoning cash to wealthy arms merchants — just as Republican President and military hero Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the nation against in his famous speech concerning the Industrial-Military Complex), versus investing tax money in permanent structures to the longterm benefit of the nation, is hardly a new argument.

I’m not a dove, I believe in a strong military, and in support for military personnel. But the current Republican plan to fund weapons even the generals don’t want, does nothing to support our troops, while simultaneously slashing programs that many — including our troops and their families — depend upon. Plus, as many are pointing out, simply doesn’t balance mathematically.

Above, from the September 1912 issue of Cartoons Magazine, we have those for & against a larger Navy. Cartoons are by Oscar Cesare, Tige Reynolds, Luther D. Bradley, Herbert H. Perry, and Camillus Kessler.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and read their captions.

Below, from the March 5th, 1952 issue of the Daily Worker, is a cartoon by artist Fred Ellis, depicting the rich military industrialists that Eisenhower warned of, reaping in money all while unemployment continued to be a problem.

Above, Ellis, in the May 6th, 1952 Daily Worker, showing the tax burden of War upon the American people.

Below, artist Homer Davenport, from his 1910 collection, The Dollar or the Man?, depicting essentially the same thing.

Above, yet another image on the same theme by Ellis, this time from the April 25th, 1952 Daily Worker. All three of the above Ellis cartoons were scanned from the book, The Worker — 36 Years of Drawings.

Beneath, the Marche Militaire, by Ellis again. This time scanned from the publication, Red Cartoons 1928.

One more from Ellis above, from Red Cartoons 1928, titled For the Next War.

Below, A Heavy Load to Carry, by Frederick Burr Opper, from the rear cover of the June 27th, 1888 issue of Puck magazine.

Finally, for our last three cartoons, we switch to the more light-hearted indictments upon rich armament manufacturers of Syd Hoff, found in his 1935 book, The Ruling Clawss.

To find prior episodes of this series,click on Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons. And, to find earlier posts concerning financial reforms in general, click here.

Doug Wheeler

NYPuck Financial Reforms