Jed Is Running for State House

[Eponine 1,670]

6 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

I see both sides of this argument, while I would be ecstatic with liberal laws like they have in CA, their are millions more who wouldn't. Doesn't mean that my vote should be worth 100x more than that of someone in CA, which is essentially what the EC does, it makes votes in small states worth exponentially more than that of those in large states. 

This is the thing, though - counting each vote independently instead of going through the EC means that EVERYONE counts. So the Republicans in NY, CA, etc would count way more than they do now. And Democrats in red states would count. Then everyone gets a voice and they don't get tied to their state. It doesn't necessarily mean everywhere is going to end up liberal, it would mean that everyone counts equally.

[scoutsadie 8,741]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:47 PM, Peaches-n-Beans said:

Actually the christmas decorations didn't bother me. Because It could also be that, their whole family was gone for christmas, it was extremely stressful, so maybe they wanted to enjoy them a while longer then other people would have because they didn't get to during the season. I know my dad is doing this this year because he and my mom are splitting up and this year my mom, sister, and I are going to be visiting my mom's family during christmas, and my sister and I won't see my dad until after. 

Oh P-n-B, that sounds tough for your family. I'm sorry. 

[Idlewild 26,687]

In his birthday greeting Jed says his twin is his campaign manager. Have they run campaigns for other people? They both seem so very young. 

[BadMurphy 1,214]

Remember when Jed almost ruined all Joy’s wedding flowers because he drove past the exit with a much needed gas station? He’s such a capable young man, you can really depend on him!

Edited December 30, 2019 by BadMurphy

[patsymae 5,641]

There's really a couple of issues here.

One is the electoral college, which I agree has outlived whatever usefulness it has. It does very, very much distort the will of the people.

Another is representation. I'm actually fine with the House being apportioned by population but every state, even the ones with very few people, having two senators. If things worked the way they are supposed to, that would balance out nicely.

But the key here is things working the way they are supposed to, which they are not because of gerrymandering--state districts as well as federal ones (and the state ones are turning out to be a serious problem) and disenfranchisement. It's always been around, but this is the last great effort of the white dinosaurs (and I'm an old white person) to hang on to their privilege for deal life. And convince the young white impoverished that this is their last great hope to become privileged old white dinosaurs one day.
The primary system is flawed, the news coverage (and I am a career journalist so this hurts to say) feeds into it, the system is rigged both by gerrymandering and by disenfranchising areas likely to vote for Democrats.
But really, at the heart of it, IMO, is just a very, very sick society that doesn't want to even be a society, just a collection of individuals and "communities" (not geographic, but the X community and the Y community) with agendas. And when those individual interests are not balanced with any idea that self-interest is supposed to be "Enlightened" self-interest (no man is an island, etc.) we're basically just fucked.
I knew in the '80s that the US would lose its hegemony and much of its tenuous cohesion, but I thought It was going to happen more slowly--like the decline of the British Empire. Did not see this coming and not sure there is a remedy.

[Bad Wolf 49,493]

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for everything else that's been tried. Winston Churchill

[patsymae 5,641]

30 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for everything else that's been tried. Winston Churchill

And yet UK and USA are working hard right now to destroy it.

[scoutsadie 8,741]

On 12/30/2019 at 7:22 PM, patsymae said:

There's really a couple of issues here.

One is the electoral college, which I agree has outlived whatever usefulness it has. It does very, very much distort the will of the people.

Another is representation. I'm actually fine with the House being apportioned by population but every state, even the ones with very few people, having two senators. If things worked the way they are supposed to, that would balance out nicely.

But the key here is things working the way they are supposed to, which they are not because of gerrymandering--state districts as well as federal ones (and the state ones are turning out to be a serious problem) and disenfranchisement. It's always been around, but this is the last great effort of the white dinosaurs (and I'm an old white person) to hang on to their privilege for deal life. And convince the young white impoverished that this is their last great hope to become privileged old white dinosaurs one day.
The primary system is flawed, the news coverage (and I am a career journalist so this hurts to say) feeds into it, the system is rigged both by gerrymandering and by disenfranchising areas likely to vote for Democrats.
But really, at the heart of it, IMO, is just a very, very sick society that doesn't want to even be a society, just a collection of individuals and "communities" (not geographic, but the X community and the Y community) with agendas. And when those individual interests are not balanced with any idea that self-interest is supposed to be "Enlightened" self-interest (no man is an island, etc.) we're basically just fucked.
I knew in the '80s that the US would lose its hegemony and much of its tenuous cohesion, but I thought It was going to happen more slowly--like the decline of the British Empire. Did not see this coming and not sure there is a remedy.

Sadly, I think you are spot on.

[Idlewild 26,687]

On Twitter Jed is thanking local businesses for their support. Support for what? Has he established any actual policies that he could influence and achieve? We know he’s pro life, pro guns & against taxes - but what is he proposing to do if elected?

it will be interesting to see if he attacks his opponent or just relies on his pro Trump stance. 

[PennySycamore 57,188]

@Idlewild,  I think he's just thanking them for donations to his campaign.

[Idlewild 26,687]

29 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

@Idlewild,  I think he's just thanking them for donations to his campaign.

Ah thank you. Carrying on the family tradition- grifting! 

[GuineaPigCourtship 4,936]

5 hours ago, Idlewild said:

Carrying on the family tradition- grifting!

No wonder all the fundies want to go into politics!

[socalrules 15,411]

Don’t candidate’s have to regularly report how much they have received in campaign funds? I would love to know much he has received people not named Duggar.

[purple_summer 4,249]

8 hours ago, socalrules said:

Don’t candidate’s have to regularly report how much they have received in campaign funds? I would love to know much he has received people not named Duggar.

I don’t think you can go to the state race level, but you can find that info here https://www.opensecrets.org/states/cands.php?cycle=2020&state=AR

[nutmeg 41]

From Arkansas SecState, here's his contributions and expenditures.  Looks like the campaign's in debt.

https://financial-disclosures.sos.arkansas.gov/index.html#/exploreDetails/345316/214/177738/20780/0

[Born Skeptic 665]

delete

Edited January 9, 2020 by Born Skeptic

[Xan 44,179]

11 hours ago, nutmeg said:

From Arkansas SecState, here's his contributions and expenditures.  Looks like the campaign's in debt.

https://financial-disclosures.sos.arkansas.gov/index.html#/exploreDetails/345316/214/177738/20780/0

He probably did an initial infusion of cash from Jim Bob so he's run out of donor money but not in the red yet.

As for expenditures -- he paid $3000 to the Republican Party of Arkansas for, I suppose, the filing fee.  He paid a Hutchinson-affiliated strategy group $1000 for political advice (not that I can see they've done anything), and he paid $1,800 to a web design firm owned by Robert Staddon.  The Staddons have been discussed on here before.  They're a fundie family and Robert is a pal of Pecan's.  Those fundies sure love to line each other's pockets.

[Idlewild 26,687]

Is he paying his brother to be his campaign manager or us that covered by Duggars Inc? 
I’ve been watching reruns of The West Wing. I don’t see any Josh Lymans in the Duggar family! 

[Idlewild 26,687]

In between retweeting Brietbart crap Jed has now posted a barely literate tweet about some sort of charity challenge. I can’t log into firstgiving- is this a legit thing or a Duggars get a cut thing? Xx

[SorenaJ 7,763]

Wow. If Jed wants to be a politician he really needs to proofread his tweets. 

If the pro-gun, anti-abortion etc crap didn't make him lose credibility with me, then that that awful SOTDRT spelling sure did. 

[HerNameIsBuffy 124,939]

6 hours ago, Idlewild said:

In between retweeting Brietbart crap Jed has now posted a barely literate tweet about some sort of charity challenge. I can’t log into firstgiving- is this a legit thing or a Duggars get a cut thing? Xx

Can you post a screen shot?

[Idlewild 26,687]

44 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Can you post a screen shot?

 

[HerNameIsBuffy 124,939]

1 minute ago, Idlewild said:

 

Yeah - this child needs to be in government. /s

Am I the only one biting my tongue to not make the easy joke about a Duggar male jumping in Beaver lake?  I'm defrauded!

 

[purple_summer 4,249]

7 minutes ago, Idlewild said:

 

Yike

[ModestisHottest 559]

On 12/12/2019 at 3:30 PM, NachosFlandersStyle said:

Iowa is actually  slightly underrepresented in the electoral college, although with its outsized caucus power it doesn't feel that way. http://theconversation.com/whose-votes-count-the-least-in-the-electoral-college-74280

As a sort of ranty aside, I mostly grew up in IA and have lived and worked there on and off over the years. My feelings about the caucus are complicated. I'm a political junkie and it's very exciting for me personally--it's even gotten me a few jobs. I also think there's some intangible cultural benefit to putting smaller states in the national spotlight every now and then. But it's inherently unfair that most campaigning happens in the same few states every time, and not only that, it's hard to say if Iowa actually gains anything materially by going first. We're not that great at picking winners. I don't know if it gets us any favorable policy outcomes except maybe handouts to ethanol manufacturers. The campaign season is stressful for a lot of people and most of the money is spent on ad campaigns that drive everyone nuts. I've even heard arguments that state and local politics suffer because of the focus on the presidency.

I'm not sure how true what I'm about to say is because I'm not sure how much of a boost the Iowa winner gets but it really got me thinking.  Someone on TV (probably MSNBC let's be real) mentioned how since Iowa has very few people of color, the Iowa caucus boost is really giving a leg-up to white people's favorite candidate.  If a state like S. Carolina were first (where the Democratic electorate includes a lot more people of color) we'd be amplifying their voices instead.  So far, it does seem to be playing out this way since, according to the polling I've seen, both Sanders and Buttigeig are not attracting as much interest from people of color as other candidates.  This was just something I hadn't thought of and found to be an important thing to consider! 

Edited February 7, 2020 by ModestisHottest
edited for clarity