Federally Funded Comic Books? You Betcha. Meet Squeaks!
- Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:44am by
Mike Opelka
- Print »
- Email »
Just when you think there are no new ways for the Federal government to waste your tax dollars, those creative geniuses in DC surprise us all.
Say hello to the money-munching mouse known as Squeaks!
Launched late last year, Squeaks created a little bit of a government-sponsored buzz;
Yes, of course, the history of printing is something that should be taught in our schools, but did the Federal government need to reinvent the wheel here? This space-exploring mouse is the star of a comic book printed by the GPO at a cost of $5.90 PER COMIC BOOK! If that doesn’t make your head spin, wait until you hear that the GPO sells the book for just $5.00, a loss of nearly one dollar for each comic book!
Are there no comic book companies left in the country that could have taken this project and execute it at a lower cost? Hello? Marvel and DC Comics would likely trip over themselves to get a hold of a large government printing contract.
This makes no economic sense. If the government needs cars, do they build them from scratch? No, we BUY them from people who make cars… they may require a few special options, but that is what manufacturers do for large clients. They customize a product while still saving money for the customer.
Perhaps I am jumping to conclusions here. Maybe ‘Squeaks’ is a unique situation…
From the GPO’s own web page;
Publisher: Government Printing Office, Publications and Information Sales
Description: Squeaks Discovers Type! is the story of a video game space mouse who helps an elementary school student Jake discover the invention of printing and its evolution through the ages so Jake can write a report. Squeaks is a collaboration between two U.S. Government Printing Office employees, Jim Cameron (Publication and Information Sales) and Nick Crawford (Creative Services). The story is perfect for introducing kids to the history of print. Illustrated in color, the art is outstanding and rivals anything you’ll find in a comic book store.
Nope, nothing special here. Just typical government waste.
A special tip of the cap to Fox Business’ John Stossel for mentioning Squeaks and the ridiculous government waste surrounding this comic book.
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 688 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 537 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 466 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 374 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 334 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 308 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 316 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 218 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 301 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 308 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (96)
RightUnite
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:33amWell, here’s another item that can be cut. SHUT DOWN THE MORONS.
Report Post »mom4times
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:30amAnd speaking of waste…..when they were mentioning about the possibility of a government shutdown….they spoke of non-essential employees being cut as well. Why don’t they just ax them already. Don‘t get me wrong I don’t like people to lose jobs but come on….there are WAY too many piglets and the mother is dried up!
Report Post »voicecheck1
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:25amEgyptians worship Cats don’t they ???
Report Post »voicecheck1
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:23amIs Squeaks married to an Egyptian ???
Report Post »SIHKS1120
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:20amhold on is it squeaks or shieks!!!!
Report Post »123gone
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:19amCongress should demand to know why a Government published Comic Book is not considered to be an example of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, and why charges should not be brought against those responsible.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:19amRelegated to the ash heap of insignificant 2012. There is nothing “comic” about a propagandist’s waste of my money. How ironic, a space mouse, when America isn’t going to be “in space” thanks to this administration.
Report Post »Note of interest:
NASA will release data from a two year study of the Ort cloud ( asteroid belt) from the WISE telescope this month. Anomalies were observed that “may” indicate the presence of another planet in our solar system, which “may” have been observed in initial scans of the Ort cloud by WISE. Release of this data should make “clear” what the anomaly was/is.
Me, IMHO…wormwood………..which is why America has no further business to do in space,
Bushie
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:19amThis administration is a comic book. Barry Obama must have been the template used for the rodent.
Report Post »voicecheck1
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:17amsomeone needs to make a comic book of a strong and knowlegable Cat, a Cat that wastes nothing , including a good meal ^
Report Post »texasfarmer
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:13amAnother business government should not be in.
Report Post »Just wait for his transsexual sidekick.
Gonzo
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:11amDoes the space-exploring mouse have to hitch a ride with the Russians like our astronauts do since Obama gutted NASA?
Report Post »DeityEnterprises
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:04amDoes anyone else find it ironic that Squeek’s is the same color as the #1 thing our Government prints?
Report Post »melmatmic
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 12:21pmNow that you mention it. Maybe the paper is that special kind also. That would explain why they want to print it themselves. Then they buy up all the books, wash off the surface ink and have books of $100 bills.
Report Post »dcwu
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:01amShut it all down.
Report Post »Then let Congress restart it – one agency at a time, as need is determined.
Week 1 – Defense – yes.
Week 2 – Treasury – yes.
Week 3 – Education – NO.
Week 4 – EPA – HELL NO.
…
and so on.
mom4times
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:25amI like the way you think!!
Report Post »Tuckster32
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 3:51pmI love the way you think………….
Report Post »krikey
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:00amKids don’t read comic books… Dorky adults do…
Report Post »Rashomon
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:55ammay be $5.90 PER COMIC BOOK but they printed 10 billion books
Report Post »i want the truth
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:52amAnother reason why the gov’t. needs to just worry about The Constutition!!!! The Gov’t. can not run a business. Look at the mess it is in already!!
Report Post »Rassta
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:52amWhat a great way to spend tax money on a comic book, just another way for this admin. to show us how they can waste money on use less stuff. Let me guess the next fight is to unionise the comic book world. What a joke
Report Post »Rashomon
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:52amSqueaks looks more like a rat than a mouse.
Report Post »integrican
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 12:16pmSo does Obama!!!! ; )
Report Post »SLARTIBARTFAST
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:51amHow long before this mouse is turned into another Obama propaganda machine?
Report Post »drattastic
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:56amThat’s exactly what this is.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 8:53pmJust like in communist Russia, indoctrinate the youth..Hitler insured that all Germans had a radio so they can hear his propaganda.Hitler would be in awe of the Liberal propaganda machine of today…The Liberals were in awe of Hitler’s propaganda ministry and took notes. Now we are bombarded around the clock with propanda. He taught them well.
Report Post »Petire
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:50amWow… Looks boring. and The mouse isn’t even that cute…
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 8:48pmI bet he won’t get his own theme park!
Report Post »the_zazzy
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:50amI bet it would not contain any political ideology, either. Completely free of any Gore or Van Jones brain washing. Can’t wait!
Report Post »hersey10
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:50amFinancially this book operates as ALL govt programs do , upside down . Imagine how the “bullet trains” would operate financially .
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:49amThe stupidity just gets better and better.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
Leadthemtothelight
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:49amAre you kidding? Please tell me they didn’t. Look here is the simple truth. Our government left unchecked will waste money like it’s air. This must stop. Please call today to your state Senators and Reps and tell them that the checkbook is overdrawn. And that we the people have had to cut back and do more with less, tell them they are no different.
Report Post »tobywil2
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:49amA new way to lie?
Why do the wannabe tyrants continue to publicize a thoroughly disproven lie?
• The wannabe tyrants want to discredit the tea party organization.
• Since many people agree with the objectives of the tea party. They cannot, effectively, attack these objectives.
• According to the rules of propaganda, when you can’t attack the message discredit the message by attacking the messenger.
• To understand the wannabe tyrants tactics, consider the following quote from Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,
people will eventually come to believe it. The
lie can be maintained only for such time as the
State can shield the people from the political,
economic and/or military consequences of the
lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the
State to use all of its powers to repress dissent,
for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie,
and thus by extension, the truth is the
greatest enemy of the State.”
This is why the wannabe tyrants want to close down Fox News and control the Internet.
Access to the truth is the death knell to the “preponderance of propaganda”.
http://commonsense21c.com/
Report Post »Revere1
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:51amSqueaks Discovers Government Waste! should be their next book. The idea that the government should get into everything–even cartoons–is classic socialism: http://www.battlefield315.com/2011/03/socialism-explained.html There are no limits to government spending if they do everything.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:58amJim Cameron? Related to the director?
Report Post »What leaches, feeding off of government dollars. I collect and read comic books, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and DC has kept their price to $2.99. Very few of either other company charge $5.00 or more for their books. This waste of time and tax money needs to be stopped. This guy can do this on his own dime, not ours. Children do not need this.
I am going to write my US rep. and ask that they defund this.
PavZilla
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:05amAre they going the cartoon route since so many kids can’t read?
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:08amWho approved this waste of tax dollars and how quickly can we remove their entire agency from the Budget.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:19amThere is truly no end to what the Government will do in order to spend and waste money. I have never understood why the Government runs things at a loss instead of a profit. This just blows my mind. Such an unnecessary waste. Let’s see if we can get this thing stopped before it does become a propaganda machine. I just never would have thought of the Gov. going into the comic book business. This is totally insane.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:25amAnonymous
Maybe since you collect comics, you should buy one of these fast as a collectors item because surely we will get this idiotic idea closed down immediately.I would just like to know who approved such a thing.They should be thrown out of office. This is just a small project but a stupid and costly one.
Report Post »delhoghe
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:31amTOBY……do most Tea partiers quote Goebbels ?
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:35amGood post Toby! I don’t think it matters one whit, whether the gov’t shuts down, and then votes no to raise the debt limit and we have soverign debt default on top of a gov’t shutdown – we know who has done this, we’ve taken names and places, and these people who have taken down our country will PAY! if you’re not prepared NOW, you may not have any time left, things have been sped up, due to the fine job one American Hero has done, and that would be Glenn Beck. He has singlehandedly, and his good teams, exposed the lies, and has given us hope for the future. We are in for a really bumpy ride, buckle up…
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:38amHey delhoghe, most of us on the Blaze can quote MANY people right off the top of our heads…I wonder if you can even recit the Pledge w/o re-reading it first, that is if you have ever read it, LOL!!!
Report Post »JESUS-IS-LORD
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:41amoh look, he has the illuminati eye thing happenening.
Report Post »also he’s from space which is too long for me to explain why they do that.
this is some BS from the mason empire of course.
Amren
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:49am@Delhoghe,
Report Post »At least we know who Goebbels is. And, we better know what he said, since the Left is trying to re-use his ideas. It all comes down to the quote from Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
Unfortunately, it seems that there are many in our “government” that would like us to repeat all the old mistakes of Socialism, Communism, Despotism, etc..
The American people should be thanking God for the Tea Party. They have re-ignited the Patriot spirit in America. They have “forced” our government officials to actually READ the document they are ALL sworn to protect.
So don’t go trying to stir things up with comments like yours. We have educated ourselves so that we can recognize the enemy when we see him.
thepatriotdave
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 12:34pmThis is maddening. Democrats go on TV spouting about how budget cutting is going to take food out of Grannys mouth and how we will have old people dying in the streets across this country, yet they waste millions on this crap.
I’m convinced that progressive democrats are sick, brain-dead, demented, and extremely selfish people. And I‘m not convinced they are actually ’people’.
What is it? (photo)
Report Post »http://www.americasteapartynews.com/freedomjamboree.php
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 12:52pmHey SARGE,
Report Post »Where did you see the illuminati eye? Do you mean the “all-seeing eye” inside of a triangle, from the dollar bill? I didn‘t see that and can’t find it.
All I can find is a spot on one of Squeak’s eye, which I don’t think means anything.
Joseff
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 4:48pm@Tobywil2, I agree with everything you say here, but unless there is some message in the comic itself that I don’t see, I can’t see how your post is relevant to the story.
Joe
Report Post »the_zazzy
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 7:00pmDid you notice that the purple and green mouse are living harmoniously? We could really learn a lot from Squeaks and Freaks!
Report Post »waggie
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 7:59pmAre you kiddin me? Another example of our hard earned tax dollars at work!
Report Post »BidBerthaDotCom
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:45pmGee, I hope the looming guvmint shutdown doesn’t shutter this important taxpayer-funded program. How will we survive without it?
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:17pmMouse = small RAT = DemocRAT = PROPAGANDA…
Report Post »