2024 elections Congressional & State

[Winterborn]

We have a market economy here in the U.S., it is not a mixed one like China and Russia, etc.

Allowing people the freedom to make their own choices will always be more efficient than trying to force a regimented system on a diverse population (extra steps always increase inefficiency). The trick is giving as much freedom as possible while supplying a framework that business can operate in on a even basis.

It is basically the argument of socialism vs. capitalism.

And your last sentence is interesting. You believe one system is less corrupt than the other, whereas I believe that as long as there are people involved, there will be corruption (both sides are equally corrupt). That corruption goes both ways and what I believe the bigger issue is that while the public side has checks and balance due to competition, the administrative state does not have those checks and balances because it basically functions as a pure monopoly. Except it has the absolute power to punish those it deems contrary to their authority. History has taught us that absolute authority will corrupt absolutely. And what is more powerful than a bureaucrat that basically can't be fired and is not accountable to any outside organization?

We are a mixed, market economy like everyone else. It’s not even debatable. It’s similar to the We are not a democracy, we are a Republic” thought virus. The differences we are debating lie in the degree and mixture.

The check on the administrative state is democracy. That’s why democracy is so damn crucial. Suppression of democracy is what leads to authoritarianism be it from the left (communism/socialism) or the right (corporatism/fascism)

The market is only a check if it’s a truly competitive market. Monopolistic practices, government capture, oligarchy. Regulation is the safety check.

The middle is the way but it’s contingent on effective and fair government.

Mixed market economy is different than a market economy or mixed economy. Technically China is a Mixed Socialist Market Economy. The devil is always in the details.

I guess I disagree that the administrative state's check is democracy. Democracy has a check through the voting process on its representatives. People do not vote on who does the day to day activity in the government aka administrative state. They are hired though normal government process to fill a role. Their leaders may or may not be elected (or appointed) but they do not do the hiring and firing.

I agree that the middle is the way but that middle greatly depends on what boundary conditions are used.

[houndawg]

If you have a STEM degree you already know that these people are, generally, not suited for the kind of work that that requires decisions that aren't already rigidly guided by something like the laws of physics. The only Presidents that come to mind for me that were engineers were Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover

Stereotypes of a bygone era. STEM majors today aren't like the ones produced in the 70's and 80's. Folks with PhD's, sure a lot of them are still the bookish types, but the other ones are from far more broad-based learning than what happened in the past. Nothing wrong with pushing for more smart people to learn things that are hard to learn.

many people are saying...

Nothing wrong with that at all and its good to hear that our educational system continues to improve.

[BDKJMU]

89 year old Feinstein makes it official today, then apparently forgot she made it official..

“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,"

A few hours later:

“I haven’t made that decision. I haven't released anything.”

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/02 ... ng-n703585

And now she forgot ahe was gone for 2 months.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/di ... r-AA1bhjns
Democrat Senate majority: 49 functioning, and 2 vegetables..

[BDKJMU]

[kalm]

89 year old Feinstein makes it official today, then apparently forgot she made it official..

A few hours later:


https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/02 ... ng-n703585

And now she forgot ahe was gone for 2 months.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/di ... r-AA1bhjns
Democrat Senate majority: 49 functioning, and 2 vegetables..

That’s what I like most about you. Your kindness and compassion.

[BDKJMU]

And now she forgot ahe was gone for 2 months.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/di ... r-AA1bhjns
Democrat Senate majority: 49 functioning, and 2 vegetables..

That’s what I like most about you. Your kindness and compassion.

So it wasn‘t unkind the last 13 days, until today?

[kalm]

That’s what I like most about you. Your kindness and compassion.

So it wasn‘t unkind the last 13 days, until today?

Feinstein? I think it’s borderline elder abuse. And I’m not a fan of her at all.

I was referring to calling them vegetables.

[BDKJMU]

So it wasn‘t unkind the last 13 days, until today?

Feinstein? I think it’s borderline elder abuse. And I’m not a fan of her at all.

I was referring to calling them vegetables.

Which I did 13 days ago. You said nothing about it till today after I posted something about the WV senate race.

[kalm]

Feinstein? I think it’s borderline elder abuse. And I’m not a fan of her at all.

I was referring to calling them vegetables.

Which I did 13 days ago. You said nothing about it till today after I posted something about the WV senate race.

Oh. Well then…I take it back.

[houndawg]

so long, Joe, we hardly knew ya

[BDKJMU]

so long, Joe, we hardly knew ya

The last statewide Democrat in WV, for at least the forseeable future.

-Conk Gov
-Conk Lt Gov
-Conk AG
-All 3 US House of Reps conk
-Soon to be 2 conk senators
-State Senate 28 conks, 3 donks.
-State House 89 conks, 11 donks.
-Trump 2020 +39

[GannonFan]

so long, Joe, we hardly knew ya

The last statewide Democrat in WV, for at least the forseeable future.

-Conk Gov
-Conk Lt Gov
-Conk AG
-All 3 US House of Reps conk
-Soon to be 2 conk senators
-State Senate 28 conks, 3 donks.
-State House 89 conks, 11 donks.
-Trump 2020 +39

Just the trend we've seen nationwide - the red states get redder and the blue states get bluer. Gerrymandering by both parties has been extremely effective and states with clear majorities are never going to swing to the other party, at least not any time soon.

[houndawg]

Private profit from lending? Come on, that article you posted was great for throwing out percentages, but what it didn't say was that private loans make up about 5% of the total market of student loans, by dollar amount. Sure, it's not nothing, but it pales in comparison to the federal student loans. If the smaller one is "substantial", can we call the government student loans "gargantuan"?

Next, your GI Bill callback (I love when you jump back to the halcyon years of the 1940's and '50's - it's almost a dog whistle that you're making stuff up again) is a red herring if there ever was one. The GI Bill certainly played a part in boosting productivity and output, but even more so was the fact that we just came out of the Great Depression and, for a good decade at least, we were the only real industrialized nation of any size that was still left standing and intact after the war. We had little competition because the competition was picking itself out of literal rubble.

In addition, the GI Bill corrected a problem that doesn't exist anymore - a lot of those GI's got an education which was great, because so many of them and their generation didn't even finish high school back then. We all have stories of grandparents (and I guess great grandparents for the young guys now) who were forced to leave school sometime after age 12 because they had to help make money to put food on the table. It was widespread and it was a major detriment to the education of those kids who had to leave school so early. The GI Bill worked to fill that gap in their schooling - sure, it was mostly at the college level, but many of those GI's didn't need high school diplomas to use the GI benefits at colleges (then as now, colleges never turned down free money from the government) and the GI Bill gave that them education. Today, although there are folks that don't finish high school, it's miniscule to what it was back then. We're already getting the benefit, and much more so, than what the GI Bill gave us.

And lastly, you keep saying "targetted" government spending - just spend it better. On what though? What schooling post 12th grade does everyone need? There's a reason we stop at 12th grade (and why many other industrial nations don't even go that far for everyone) - eventually, there's very little ROI on everyone getting some additional education. It's why parents tell their kids to major in something they can be employed in and preferably make decent money in once they graduate. There are many majors that don't do that, no matter how much you spend government money on those majors. What's the point of pouring more money into things that already don't have an ROI on? If there's something super important that we're not getting into kids now, we should focus on that HS cirriculum rather than pumping money into the college market, which is really what we've already been doing for at least 20-30 years now.

Which one of these 2,000 points should I respond to?

Go back and read my posts and you’ll find I’ve already answered some of these questions.

Our peer countries are somehow figuring this out. I’ll add there should be more to higher Ed than subsidized job training…at least for those seeking it. Hell there needs to be more humanities, personal finance, and civics long before that.

Why do you hate a well and roundly educated workforce?

They need to be able to find their way to the factory and puch a time clock - don't need no pointy-head book learners

[Pwns]

Ron DeSantis isn't good at this.

[BDKJMU]

Get ready for the left to go all Uncle Tom on her.

“When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me. They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me.”

“For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community. For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% of the black community. And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one.”

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/202 ... ty-n774841

[BDKJMU]

89 year old Feinstein makes it official today, then apparently forgot she made it official..

A few hours later:


https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/02 ... ng-n703585

And now she forgot ahe was gone for 2 months.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/di ... r-AA1bhjns
Democrat Senate majority: 49 functioning, and 2 vegetables..

And now the conks have one of their own. I can’t decide what’s worse- Cocaine Mitch staring off into space for 25-30 seconds, or Biden’s almost daily gibberish..


Feinstein 89
McConnel 81
Biden 80

I see a pattern here…

[UNI88]

And now she forgot ahe was gone for 2 months.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/di ... r-AA1bhjns
Democrat Senate majority: 49 functioning, and 2 vegetables..

And now the conks have one of their own. I can’t decide what’s worse- Cocaine Mitch starting off into space for 25-30 ssconds, or Biden’s almost daily gibberish..


Feinstein 89
McConnel 81
Biden 80
trump 77

I see a pattern here…

FYP

Your response: tDS, tDS, tDS!!!

[GannonFan]

Just too old. You shouldn't be in a job where you're going to be 80 years old before you're done. The evidence has been pretty clear on that with the examples we've had.

[houndawg]

so long, Joe, we hardly knew ya

The last statewide Democrat in WV, for at least the forseeable future.

-Conk Gov
-Conk Lt Gov
-Conk AG
-All 3 US House of Reps conk
-Soon to be 2 conk senators
-State Senate 28 conks, 3 donks.
-State House 89 conks, 11 donks.
-Trump 2020 +39

Between them that should be enough for a full set of teeth!

[BDKJMU]

The last statewide Democrat in WV, for at least the forseeable future.

-Conk Gov
-Conk Lt Gov
-Conk AG
-All 3 US House of Reps conk
-Soon to be 2 conk senators
-State Senate 28 conks, 3 donks.
-State House 89 conks, 11 donks.
-Trump 2020 +39

Just the trend we've seen nationwide - the red states get redder and the blue states get bluer. Gerrymandering by both parties has been extremely effective and states with clear majorities are never going to swing to the other party, at least not any time soon.

The below illustrates some truth to that. I was suprised to see that ALL 50 state governors have a net postive approval rating, most by far. Though 7 of top 10 are conks, 7 of bottom 10 (and 4 of bottom 5) donks (have to click on tweet to see bottom 18)..

…The reason why is simple: Democratic governors tend to run blue states, while Republican governors run red states. They are in their positions because most of the population in these areas agree with their politics. Otherwise, they would not have been voted into office.

The same trend is true when it comes to Congress. While the legislature overall is less popular than a Big Mac at a vegan convention, people’s perceptions of individual lawmakers when it comes to party affiliation are much different..

https://redstate.com/jeffc/2023/07/26/e ... at-n782653

[UNI88]

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024

1. West Virginia, Incumbent: Democrat Joe Manchin
2. Montana, Incumbent: Democrat Jon Tester
3. Ohio, Incumbent: Democrat Sherrod Brown
4. Arizona, Incumbent: Independent Kyrsten Sinema
5. Nevada, Incumbent: Democrat Jacky Rosen
6. Wisconsin, Incumbent: Democrat Tammy Baldwin
7. Pennsylvania, Incumbent: Democrat Bob Casey
8. Michigan, Incumbent: Democrat Debbie Stabenow (retiring)
9. Texas, Incumbent: Republican Ted Cruz
10. Florida, Incumbent: Republican Rick Scott

7 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 Independent

[BDKJMU]

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024

1. West Virginia, Incumbent: Democrat Joe Manchin
2. Montana, Incumbent: Democrat Jon Tester
3. Ohio, Incumbent: Democrat Sherrod Brown
4. Arizona, Incumbent: Independent Kyrsten Sinema
5. Nevada, Incumbent: Democrat Jacky Rosen
6. Wisconsin, Incumbent: Democrat Tammy Baldwin
7. Pennsylvania, Incumbent: Democrat Bob Casey
8. Michigan, Incumbent: Democrat Debbie Stabenow (retiring)
9. Texas, Incumbent: Republican Ted Cruz
10. Florida, Incumbent: Republican Rick Scott

7 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 Independent

The independent is donk caucusing, so more or less a donk seat.

I had 7 of those 10 back in Jan- 5 donk, 1 donk caucusing, 1 conk.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 2#p1422112


The 3 I didn’t have:
-Casey, PA. Think Donks gained 4 to 5 points with early, mass mail in ballotting. Fetterman is mentally handicapped can’t string together 2 complete sentences without speaking garbled gibberish, gave the worse televised debate performance of our lifetimes 2 weeks before election day, but it didn’t matter, as the majority of his votes were already in. Casey could not campaign or say anything vs McCormick, a far better candidate than Oz, and Casey still wins.

-Baldwin, WI: Not familiar with WI other than it being one if the most purple states, but she won by 13 last time.

-Cruz: TX went more red in 2022..

[BDKJMU]

[GannonFan]

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024



7 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 Independent

The independent is donk caucusing, so more or less a donk seat.

I had 7 of those 10 back in Jan- 5 donk, 1 donk caucusing, 1 conk.
https://www.championshipsubdivision.com ... 2#p1422112


The 3 I didn’t have:
-Casey, PA. Think Donks gained 4 to 5 points with early, mass mail in ballotting. Fetterman is mentally handicapped can’t string together 2 complete sentences without speaking garbled gibberish, gave the worse televised debate performance of our lifetimes 2 weeks before election day, but it didn’t matter, as the majority of his votes were already in. Casey could not campaign or say anything vs McCormick, a far better candidate than Oz, and Casey still wins.

-Baldwin, WI: Not familiar with WI other than it being one if the most purple states, but she won by 13 last time.

-Cruz: TX went more red in 2022..

Casey will easily win PA again if the GOP can't come up with a good candidate. Oz wasn't terrible, but wasn't good either. It didn't help that the GOP in the same election, was running Mastriano, a whacko, for the gubenatorial election. Oz needed some coattails from that election and instead he lost votes because of it.

Casey isn't a superstar and he doesn't do a whole lot in the Senate - he's still basically just the son of his far more popular father. But he's a well-established incumbent and Dems, and plenty of independents, have gotten use to voting for his name. McCormick didn't wow the GOP base to even beat Oz in the primary in 2022, so if he's the candidate again in 2024 it's far from a sure thing.

[GannonFan]

It's like the stepped-up care section of a nursing home. It's a travesty that we're trotting out old people like this in jobs that really should require a fair more cognitive person. Whether it be Feinstein, Biden, McConnell, or Trump, or any other handful of just too old people, we have way too many folks in these positions who really shouldn't be.