Scott Brown's Avatar

Scott Brown Avatar Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

So why did Sen. Scott Brown vote for President Obama's jobs bill? Is it because Massachusetts' first Republican senator in 32 years has a bipartisan side? Or is it because he's got a blue extraterrestrial "avatar" counterpart who's responsible for Brown's many blue-state positions over the years? Find out in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

3-D glasses not required for viewing of this cartoon.

Health Care Costs 'Taxing' Obama, Dems

President Obama's new health care reform plan shows that the history of American health care is as big an obstacle to Obama and the Democrats as is the Republican opposition.
"Officials said the president’s bill was expected to include a version of the Senate’s proposed tax on high-cost, employer-sponsored insurance policies," the New York Times reported.
Ouch. So much for employers getting behind the bill. For it was tax breaks, not tax hikes, that spurred employer-based coverage in the past century.
"In 1943, the Internal Revenue Service ruled that employer-based health care should be tax free," NPR reported. "A second law, in 1954, made the tax advantages even more attractive."
The problem for Obama seems to be where to find the $900 billion that would insure about 30 million Americans by 2019. Taxing employer-sponsored policies is a shortsighted solution, as it would remove one of the incentives for employers to offer health care.
Then again, it's not like there are many more appealing ways. Look at what my home state, Massachusetts, did to fund near-universal care.
"Democrats have already hiked the fines for people who don't obtain insurance under the 'individual mandate,' already increased business penalties, taxed insurers and hospitals, raised premiums, and pumped up the state tobacco levy," the Wall Street Journal noted. "That's still not enough money."
Still, if Obama wants to pass health-care reform, he has to find funding alternatives to taxing businesses. If those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes, those who go against health-care history are doomed to make even worse mistakes.

Will Palin Visit Winter Olympics?

Palin Olympics Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are in full swing ... and a crass airplane passenger has already taken a swing at former (and future?) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on the flight from there. Yet Satan thinks another possible GOP challenger, Sarah Palin, might have better luck if she follows up her stop at the Daytona 500 with a visit to Vancouver. Read more in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

Tea Party Rage, Explained

Tea Party Anger Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

They've gotten (grudging) props from NYT columnist David Brooks and about one out of every five Americans considers themselves a member. But just what, exactly, is the Tea Party movement so angry about? Satan breaks it down for Frank Faust in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

Barack-Buffett Brouhaha Brewing?

Warren Buffett Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

Remember Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men whom both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain discussed as a possible Treasury Secretary during Campaign '08?
Well, now Tax Day is a few months ahead, the anti-corporate Tea Party movement is in full swing, and President Obama is blasting the Supreme Court's recent pro-Wall Street decision. What does the Sage of Omaha have to say about all this? Find out in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

Obama Makes "House Call" for Health Care

State of the Union 2010 Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

President Obama defended health care reform in his State of the Union address last week. And even though the issue is down in the polls, Obama's still shrugging off devilish advice to mothball the issue in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!