15 July—It’s not just editorial—i.e., political—cartoons that offer cynically profound commentary based on a cartoonist’s observation and experience. And wit, of course. Comic strips do it too. Take yesterday’s Hagar the Horrible strip, for instance. In the first panel, the black-hooded tax collector tells Hagar, “The king has abolished taxes!” In the other panel, the tax collector elaborates,”They’ve been replaced with a ‘Do What’s Good For You’ DONATION!” And Hagar enthuses, “I’m stealing that line!”

Politicians all over the world have in fact stolen that idea, if not that very line. Right here at home, for example, Connecticut’s Democrat trifecta calls the mandated tax you can’t opt out of that funds government policies like renewable energy incentives and low-income assistance a Public Benefits Charge. Call it what they will, the notorious Public Benefits Charge is nothing but an onerous tax.

Another Connecticut tax deceptively called something else is the infamous Passport to the Parks fee that’s added—applied automatically, like it or not—to all non-commercial vehicle registrations and related transactions. It allegedly gives all vehicles with Connecticut non-commercial license plates (i.e., markers) free access to state parks and forests. Make that “would give” because most motor vehicle owners who are forced pay the tax on a tax never ever go to state parks or forests. And a mandatory fee is a tax no matter what it’s called.

Moving away from deceptively mischaracterized taxation, we come to Classic Peanuts. In yesterday’s offering, originally published in 1979, in the first panel, Linus asks Lucy, “Did you hear that Charlie Brown is in the hospital?” Lucy in the second panel asks, “He is?” Linus in the third panel: “What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that a friend has gone to the hospital?” And Lucy, unapologetically and typically honest in the fourth panel, answers, “I’m glad it wasn’t me!”

Does Lucy speak for you too?

Back to editorial cartoons, then, one by Dave Granlund features a despondent postman lamenting in four panels: “We’ve lost business to FedEx . . . and lost business to UPS . . . lost business with letters by FAX . . . plus lost business to letters by e-mail. In the fifth panel the postman perks up: “This calls for a plan to win back customers!” And in the sixth panel he rejoices: “We’ll hike the cost of postage again!!”

Of course. What else would you expect from the government?