Cartoon of the week #3

The above cartoon was created by Joe Heller of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The comic shows a U.S. solider leaving Iraq while confirming that his job is done. To the solider's left is Uncle Sam holding a U.S. Job Market chart which the reader should assume is dismal based on the econmic turmoil of the past 7 years or so. Uncle Sam is replying to the soliders statement by saying, "Funny you should say that." The punchline of this comic is that the solider's job is done in Iraq, but with a weak job market back in the U.S. the solider might not have a job when he returns home.

As many of you should already know the U.S.'s military envolement in the Iraq War has finally come to a close after about 8 long years. As our troops begin heading home it seems as if their greatest challenge will be to acquire a stable job in an economy that continues to move at a snails pace. Over the next few months I wouldn't be surprised if unemployment among veterans not only becomes a major issue on capital hill but also a key issue in the upcoming elections in 2012. It is also likely that by the end of the holiday season the drop in unemployment that the U.S. witnessed at the beginning of December will not only return to its original statistic, but it most likely will continue to rise with the loss of retail jobs stacked on top of the thousands of American troops who are returning from conflict.