Do I want Noem as our congressperson? Hell no! In fact I would prefer an indy in that position that does not have to tow the party line. The liberal in me likes Jeff Barth. He is about as liberal as you can get, he is even a little on the nanny-stater side.
He is all about raising taxes to spend on social programs. I don’t have a problem with that, as long as the money is spent wisely. But the fiscal conservative in me doesn’t care much for Mr. Barth.
He recently wanted to raise taxes so he could give raises to county workers. Here’s the deal, I agree they deserve a raise, but don’t we all? What goes around comes around, and while the rest of are taking it in the shorts, the county workers have to also. That’s just how the cookie crumbles. They chose to work in the public sector, the pay should be reflective of society as a whole.
But the thing that worries me the most about Jeff is his chances of beating Noem. In fact I would give her 65-70% of the vote. I hope the Dems dig up someone young, smart, progressive, moderate, and with deep pockets before the primaries. Jeff isn’t going to cut the mustard.
Maybe one of those Weiland kids ain’t busy over the next year?
I agree, 75% tax on tips earned by waitstaff. I’d increase your wage to meet minimum. You brought me my food and drink so does the gal at McD’s, did you really earn a tip? A fucking monkey could bring food if taught right. Would you vote for me if I ran on that platform?
Don’t get me wrong, I tip 20% for good service but is it really earned or am I just being generous? I don’t tip at McD’s, should I?
I would love it if my job was ‘just bringing you food’ it would make things a lot freaking easier 🙂 Besides, this isn’t about tax increases, it is about a weak candidate who does not have a snowball chance in Hell of beating Noem. I am just wondering when the SD Democratic party is going to wake up and realize why they continue to get beat to a pulp. They gotta start playing hardball.
“Hardball” is not a strong component of the basic nature of the liberal perspective.
You ain’t a kidding. You can still be fair and tough at the same time. There is nothing wrong with flexing a little muscle. You would think by now the SD Democratic party would figure out being pushovers is getting them nowhere. It’s time to start fighting these kook bags running the state in that ‘other’ party.
He didn’t sound like a Dem last week when he told the sheriff’s dept “I don’t care what your contract says, we’re cutting your pay 5%.”
Like I said, he wanted to increase property taxes so he could give pay raises and that didn’t pass the rest of the commission. I still think they could have avoided cuts to pay by cutting other things.
It is funny how people consistently complain about the Republican party – but yet as some of you have said – your candidates, for the most part, are uninspiring at best. The Dems didn’t even run a candidate against John Thune. How stupid can you be? Go out there and find some young buck that is interested and get them going. That is partially how Stephanie got her start. I am a Rep, but have voted Dem in a couple of elections, but I just sit back in laugh. It was entertaining to watch the pancake feed and watch Ben N. rant and rave about Boehner and Noem. Sorry – your problem isn’t high end fundraisers – your problem is good candidates and in a red state – you have to work harder to find them. If Mr Ben is going to be your classic complain about what the Reps are doing and your day is spent finding flaws – you are going to continue down the same road. Regardless of what party people are affiliated with – I think everyone is looking for good canadidates. Please doing something different and go find them because where we are at right now nationally stinks.
SHS is a great example, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to beat Janklow, and she may fail, in which she did, but she put herself out there. And what if a young Dem running against Noem fails? At least they tried. I will defend Ben though, he is usually quick to snap back at the Repugs when they say stupid shit about the Dems.
The Weilands, ugh.
Barth, Barf.
The idea of one person running against another is to point out their “flaws.” It gets complicated though when Rove and the Koch brothers start throwing in their bags of money.
Step 1. l3wis converts his voter registration to Democrat. (Since extreme liberal isn’t a registered party in SD, Dem will have to do).
Step 2. l3wis registers to run against Barth in the primary and if successful – against Noem in the general.
Step 3. l3wis offers to debate Noem on everything from wasteful government spending to the type of gel required to sustain “Mitchell hair” while trapped in a room with 434 people who expel nothing other than hot air. Hilarity ensues.
Step 4. Noem wins the general election by a landslide (this is GOP country after all), however the YouTube clips of the debates and quotes from l3wis pointing out her hypocrisy and lack of intelligence as well as inability to articulate a point that isn’t taken directly from a talking points memo prevent her from ever running for higher office.
Step 5. l3wis makes his rounds on the talk show circuit and enjoys is 15 minutes of political fame ala Alan Grayson. Interviews range from Bill O’Reilly to Stephen Colbert. More (primetime) hilarity ensues.
Step 6. l3wis uses his new found fame to seek a seat in the SD state senate. Name recognition, as well as an electorate that just doesn’t care anymore helps him to win the seat. Even more hilarity ensues.
Step 7: l3wis drafts a bill to repeal the state sales tax on food and replace it with a sales tax on advertising and a 2% income tax on anyone making more than $500k per year. The bill fails to make it out of committee.
Step 8: l3wis becomes disgrunted with the realities of the political system and decides to not run for reelection. Instead, he opens a bar in downtown Sioux Falls called “DaCola Spirits”. A framed picture of Soda resides above the bar and the walls are covered with various pieces of local art… all of which are for sale. Poetry readings are held weekly, and various bands that nobody has ever heard of are allowed set time on the weekends. Anyone caught wearing an employee badge from a local bank or credit card company is charged a 200% price premium on all drink orders.
The bar is a raging success and he lives happily ever after.
The end.
The only thing I would change is I would have poetry readings two days a week. Mondays and Wednesdays.
I usually do not think that this guy “Costner” is funny…..
but, that last comment of his is hilarious!!
I thought it was pretty good too. Oh how I would love to run for office, but my liquor store account is already maxed out.