Political Cartoonist Says Obama Lies

When Congressman Joe Wilson yelled, "You lie!" during President Obama's 2009 speech to Congress, he got a lot of backlash, but two-time Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist Michael Ramirez apparently doesn’t worry about a similar reaction.

On Wednesday, he called the president a liar while speaking to about 80 members of Capistrano Valley Republican Women Federated at the Marbella Country Club in San Juan Capistrano.

While noting the president has ridiculed Republicans for having a three-step plan for energy – “Step 1: drill. Step 2: drill. Step 3: drill” – Ramirez said Obama has a three-step plan of his own:

“Step 1: lie. Step 2: lie. Step 3: lie.”

Ramirez, a former L.A. Times cartoonist whose work now appears at Investor’s Business Daily, shared some of his favorite political cartoons – including one from this past week – and his thoughts about how misguided he believes the current administration is.

One need look no further than the gas pump to deduce that Obama’s policies are hurting the American people, Ramirez said. When the president took office, gas was $1.83 a gallon. Now, it’s more than $4.30.

And that is exactly what Obama and his supporters want, Ramirez said, so they can force people toward renewable energy – even if it’s a message they’ve been backpedalling from in an election year.

“The president jokes there are a few spots where we’re not drilling. ‘We’re not drilling at the National Mall. We’re not drilling in your house.’ That’s only funny to someone who flies to basketball games in Ohio,” Ramirez said.

In fact, the increased production began before the president took office, Ramirez said. But there are many reserves Obama refuses to consider, in North Dakota, in Colorado, in Wyoming, ANWAR in Alaska.

“Keystone Pipeline. Do I need to say more?” Ramirez asked.

Ramirez said he is not opposed to alternative energy sources. But he believes a robust economy would invest far more private money than the feds ever could or should.

The national debt is also something that weighs heavily on him and often crops up in his political cartoons. With a current national gross domestic product of $15.2 trillion and a projected national debt of $27-$28 billion in 20 years, “this is a multigenerational debt, and it’s unsustainable,” he said.

Ramirez also bounced around titles for his next book. His publisher has ruled out “Conservatives Are from Mars, Liberals Are from Uranus,” he said. So he offered:

• Give Me Liberty or Give Me a Government Bailout
• Obamination
• W Made Me Do It
• Obama: The 57-State Apology Tour
• Hope We Can Bereave In
• Yes We Keynesian
• The Nightmares of our Forefathers

Then he flipped through some cartoons. Among those provoking applause was one that featured a question and answer on a chalkboard:

Q: What do you get when you do the same thing over and over and expect different results?”

A: California.

Ramirez also encouraged Republicans to work together. Although there is no perfect candidate or politician, if you agree with someone on 80 percent of the issues, that’s close enough, he said.

With that in mind, he said he likes Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, and touted the candidate's 70 percent success rate in turning companies around at Bain Capital.

“He’s created more jobs at Bain Capital than Barack Obama has in four years with the entire federal government behind him,” Ramirez said.