New York Post Racist Cartoon?

The New York Post has come under fire for a cartoon they recently published of two police officers standing over a dead monkey while commenting on the need for a new writer for the next stimulus bill. Is this cartoon racist? As so many in the black community, who have come together to lobby this indictment, would say.
Now at first glance I found this cartoon to be in poor taste, but was not offended by the so called racist content. I immidiately related the cartoon to the recent shooting of a chimp by police in Connecticut. Rather than a critique on President Obama's race, this is a critique on the quality of the stimulus bill that has just been passed.
Now I can understand why and how people have taken this cartoon as racist, given the tenor of use of a monkey to caricature black people throughout American history. But is that the point of this cartoon? I think not, I do not look at this cartoon and see a racist caricature of the President, but rather a distasteful critique on his stimulus package.
Now I am a young black man who has experienced a lot of racism in my life. I understand the tendency to want to protest every perceived slight, but we have to be honest with ourselves about intent. Was the artist's intention to make a racist caricature or simply make light of politics via a recent headline?