2026 Mid-Term Elections

[Toni]

Google points to an X post citing stock sales of $15.7B in 2020-21 and $13.6B in 2023. The post appears to assume the entire amount was taxed as long-term gain.

Plenty of money to fund his yacht and other hobbies. So, no need to to borrow anything as part of "buy, borrow, die". Why do you then assume he did?

Because that’s how billionaires minimize taxes.

So they are guilty without proof.

No. This is a well known strategy that wealthy people do not try to hide. They hire expensive accountants and Stoney’s in order to help them minimize their tax burden.

I don’t fault them for seeking to minimize their tax liability. Most people do the same.

I am refusing to pretend that they don’t do this, that they do not directly or indecently lobby legislators and local governments ts to minimize their tax burden. Or that society does not pick up the tab.

But then I don’t worship ultra wealthy .

It's a sane strategy if you want more than comes in from other sources. That doesn't mean they don't get enough from other sources to want it.

When is more enough?

 

[Bomb#20]

The definition came from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. I'll take their "brain damaged idiocy" over some stranger on the internet with absolutely no proof of actual training in the subject.

"some stranger on the internet with absolutely no proof of actual training in the subject". Sweet. You know that's an ad hominem argument, don't you? The prosecution rests.

When you questioned the qualifications of the people that created the definition you made qualifications part of the subject.

I did nothing of the sort -- I didn't say a word about their qualifications. I only proved they were wrong. People can have arbitrarily fine qualifications and still be wrong. You'd have no patience for claims of Papal infallibility; why are you talking as though the rest of us should believe in Cornell Law School infallibility?

When you called the quote I provided "brain damaged idiocy" you most certainly discussed qualification. No one would take someone's word on an issue if they were known to be a braid damaged idiot.

No one said they were brain damaged idiots; I said what they claimed was brain damaged idiocy. You've called my arguments stupid a number of times. Were you actually calling me stupid?

Moreover, you shouldn't be taking their word on an issue whether they're brain damaged idiots or not. You should apply skepticism and critical thinking to their claims, just like anyone else's, and work out for yourself whether what they claim makes sense. Why would you substitute their judgment for your own?

In any event, we have no context for your Cornell quote. The Cornell link you provided does not contain it. Where did you get it? For all we know, it isn't even anybody at Cornell Law School's own opinion. Maybe they said they got it from some economist. Maybe they were saying that's the legal definition in Mississippi. Without context we have no way of telling whose brain is responsible for that brain damaged idiocy.

It's an actual description of you to us all here.

Yes, that is exactly what it is. Your description of me is 100% correct. So? Are you under the impression that a denigration of someone's qualifications has to be incorrect in order for it to be an ad hominem argument? You were pointing out a characteristic of me, not of my argument.

It brings up the question of why we should accept your interpretation over Cornell's law school.

You shouldn't "accept" it; you should examine it and decide for yourself that it's correct, because it's logical. There's no need for you to consider me at all. What is there in my counterexample that you disagree with? Do you think an offer of a million dollars for your kidney would not increase your total opportunity for consumption and saving? Do you think such an offer really would be income? Do you think a definition can logically imply a falsehood and still be correct?

You're starting to remind me of Lumenproletariot.

You know that's an ad hominem, right?

 

[Tigers!]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

 

[laughing dog]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

In my state, while the state organizes the infrastructure, localities run the voting and the counting of ballots. At the local level, a local official us in charge but election judges (trained volunteers) operate the polls. I am an election judge. We vet voters or help them register to vote, give instructions, hand ballots, help those who need help with the machines, and when the poll closes, make sure every ballot is accounted for (cast or destroyed). We are paid the minimum wage.

No electioneering is permitted within 100 feet of the poll. If there is a problem, we are supposed to resolve it without police but they can be called. Never seen it happen.

Each state is different.

 

[Bomb#20]

Ah, so every single democratic republic that has ever existed was incompatible with the principles of a democratic republic.

No, but there are really no effective democracies where half the country’s population of hundreds of millions of people hold less combined wealth than the wealthiest 57-350 individuals. (From perplexity - I asked it several ways and the sources varied but all were similar.)

What countries do you consider to be effective democracies?

I don’t think you can let a handful of unelected people control/own most of every thing in a country of hundreds of millions, and really call it democracy.

Dude, you're munging two different concepts in your head. A handful of people owning more than half the population hold is nothing at all like a handful of people owning more than half of every thing in the country. Half the population own about $4.2 trillion. 57-350 individuals own more than that, say, $4.25 trillion. The total wealth of all of us is about $170 trillion. That handful would have to own $85 trillion, i.e., they'd have to be twenty times richer than they are, to own most of every thing in the country. You forgot about the $162 trillion owned by the other 49.9999% of the population.

Moreover, you're extrapolating invalidly from "own" to "control/own". The fifty percent who own only 2.5% of the things have far more than 2.5% control over the things, because ownership isn't absolute and the government has an enormous amount of say over what owners do with their property. And the bottom fifty percent get to vote on who the government is, same as the top 50%.

 

[Tigers!]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

In my state, while the state organizes the infrastructure, localities run the voting and the counting of ballots. At the local level, a local official us in charge but election judges (trained volunteers) operate the polls. I am an election judge. We vet voters or help them register to vote, give instructions, hand ballots, help those who need help with the machines, and when the poll closes, make sure every ballot is accounted for (cast or destroyed). We are paid the minimum wage.

No electioneering is permitted within 100 feet of the poll. If there is a problem, we are supposed to resolve it without police but they can be called. Never seen it happen.

Each state is different.

Sounds somewhat similar to Australia. I have been an OIC (Officer-In-Charge) in Victoria for the past 5 Commonwealth elections. I am paid for my effort on the day though not the time beforehand.
In Australia the Electoral Commissions, state and federal, run the elections, provide the infrastructure, organise the staff, run the voting, count the ballots, account for the all ballots. Nearly all polling station staff are paid (just for the day). We do not use machines for voting. The rules apply across the whole of Australia. No creativity or deviation is permitted.
Registration is not done on the day though voters who are not on the rolls or the information is incorrect are allowed to vote on the day as long as they are a citizen. But these ballots are checked separately for validity. Called a provisional ballot.

 

[Tigers!]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

In my state, while the state organizes the infrastructure, localities run the voting and the counting of ballots. At the local level, a local official us in charge but election judges (trained volunteers) operate the polls. I am an election judge. We vet voters or help them register to vote, give instructions, hand ballots, help those who need help with the machines, and when the poll closes, make sure every ballot is accounted for (cast or destroyed). We are paid the minimum wage.

No electioneering is permitted within 100 feet of the poll. If there is a problem, we are supposed to resolve it without police but they can be called. Never seen it happen.

Each state is different.

Are the results as they come in released publicly? By that are the voting results in say, New Jersey made public even though Hawaii's polls have not closed?

 

[laughing dog]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

In my state, while the state organizes the infrastructure, localities run the voting and the counting of ballots. At the local level, a local official us in charge but election judges (trained volunteers) operate the polls. I am an election judge. We vet voters or help them register to vote, give instructions, hand ballots, help those who need help with the machines, and when the poll closes, make sure every ballot is accounted for (cast or destroyed). We are paid the minimum wage.

No electioneering is permitted within 100 feet of the poll. If there is a problem, we are supposed to resolve it without police but they can be called. Never seen it happen.

Each state is different.

Are the results as they come in released publicly? By that are the voting results in say, New Jersey made public even though Hawaii's polls have not closed?

In my state, the results are publicly released by precinct after the polls are closed. Some precincts are quick to verify the ballots and report quickly. Others take more time. Official federal results are not supposed to be released until voting closes everywhere in the US, but local and state votes are released.

 

[Elixir]

What countries do you consider to be effective democracies?

Good question. If one of the criteria for being judged effective is durability, probably none. The representative republic kind of thing seemed to be working in the US, and it was becoming quite a bit more egalitarian for a while there. At least to me.

Effective and democratic may be inherently opposed, when it comes to more than a large family sized population. What have been the most durable forms of government and which are most effective at keeping large numbers of people happy?

I don’t know. I hear the government of Bhutan presides over an exceptionally happy and content population … they call it a democratic monarchy or something. But it has advantages of geographic isolation and comparatively small population , and has only been using this “separation of powers” model for less than 20 years.

As far as the most durable forms… I think historically, whatever government was working while people were well fed, tended to be the most durable. no matter if it was a cruel dictatorship, a benevolent monarch, an assembly of elders … durability correlated with food for the subjects.

What’s your answer @Bomb#20 ?

 

[Elixir]

Half the population own about $4.2 trillion. 57-350 individuals own more than that, say, $4.25 trillion. The total wealth of all of us is about $170 trillion.

Right. Total owned by the poorest 50% of Murkins is exceeded by the wealth of a relatively small handful of Kleptocrats and businessmen. Not tenable long term for a representative democracy IMO. But a good start on a slave supported dictatorship economy. And I suspect that on average, those last longer, as long as their leaders don’t get too delusionally ambitious.

 

[bilby]

the robbers arrested for robbing poor people would have gotten better at stealing if they weren't locked up,

This seems unlikely; Many criminals learn their trade in prison.

Locking up a criminal protects people at all economic levels regardless of who the actual crime victim was.

This is also highly debatable. The value of prison as a means to lower crime seems dubious at best; It's one of those Eighteenth Century utopian experiments, like the United States of America, that works far better in theory than it does in practice.

Oh well, in that case, I guess we'd better just send them to Australia.

Well admittedly that one did work much better in practice than it should have in theory.

 

[unapologetic]

Are the results as they come in released publicly?

You never get running totals.
Votes are not even counted till the polls are closed.
The partial results you see on the news on election day are "exit polls". Reporters asking people how they voted as they leave. Each news organazation has slightly different results. None are 'official'.

 

[unapologetic]

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

From the state website:
"The U.S. Constitution gives States the primary authority over election administration. Here in Pennsylvania, the Department of State works with our county partners to administer fair, free, safe, and secure elections."
Our county has a "Director of Voter Services"
Each poll has 2 Dem 'inspecters' and 2 Rep 'inspecters'. Rrgistered as voters in that polling distrect.
Volunteers, but paid for 'traning' and election day, (roughly 12 hour shift) Max $120 per day.
"Government officials and government employees are not allowed to serve as poll workers."
There are over 9,000 polls in PA.
Guidance Concerning Poll Watchers

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

That is part of the poll watcher's actual job.

 

[Harry Bosch]

This whole argument is based upon people being paid in stock shares so they don't have to pay income tax. I have no idea where you are coming from.

If you are paid in stock, you still have to pay tax on it. You are confusing unrealized gains on stock that you already own, vs. receiving stock as compensation.

There are ways to structure generous stock packages so that no tax is due at time of grant.

But you don't get to use the money without paying the tax.

Ever hear of the phrase "a tax deferred is a tax not paid"?

Retired people with RMD's coming due sure wish this were true!

Eh... taxes on RMDs are for suckers. Roth IRA all the way for me!

IMO, the best retirement vehicle for workers is an HSA. HSAs are super Roths in that they lower taxable income; and all gains are never taxed. I would say that depending on the 401k plan, the next best is a 401k that comes with a match. The last time I was a wage slave, my company doubled matched every dollar that I put in my 401k. But Roths are very good also. Totally agree with you. I'm studying rolling over some of my IRAs each year into a roth, and paying taxes for the longer term benefit.

The story on my Roth IRA is fairly interesting. Like you, when I was a wage slave, I had a 401k and my employer would match my contribution 50%. Very nice. I quit being a wage slave about the same year that the Roth IRAs came to be (1997, I think?). They had a one time deal where you could rollover into a Roth and pay the taxes evenly distributed over a four year period. So, I did that with my 401k. At the same time, I still had a 20% Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC)* for when I bought my townhouse. Couple that with the lower income I was making for the next few years (I lived a life of leisure mostly for a few years after being the wage slave), I worked it out so I paid no Federal taxes at all for those 4 years (a little bit in CA state taxes though). Bottom line, I never paid a single dime of taxes on that Roth IRA, and it has grown a lot since it started in 1997. The planets were aligned for me back then! The only thing that sucks is that I made a few bad investment choices. Shoulda just kept the thing in an index fund from the get-go.

* a program for first time homebuyers that allows you to deduct 80% of the mortgage interest from your taxes, and take 20% of that interest as a direct tax credit. No limit on how big the credit can be.

You should be in great shape! Yes, I've kept all our retirement money in Vanguard index funds. Mostly S&P. I've never sold. I'm just now moving to a 50-50 split, equities to bonds. But we've weathered many downs. You don't lose until you sell. But of course, we haven't had as many super highs either. But I agree with your earlier assessment, Roth's are the bomb. Every younger worker should maximize them.

Yeah, I'm not too worried. Sounds like you're doing OK too. I'm all in index funds (S&P 500 and QQQs) and cash at the moment. Playing it kinda safe as I move into retirement (signed up for Medicare 3 days ago!). The massive federal debt and the world situation has me a little worried. Maybe time to buy some gold bars and bury them in the backyard too!

Perhaps our posts should be moved to another thread under personal finance or something. Good for you. You are a few years older than me. I'm 60, so not eligible for medicare for five more years. So worried about healthcare. My cobra would be about $2,200 a month for my wife and I. If anyone knows of cheaper way to finance health care please let me know! Totally agree that the world seems to be falling apart. I could see the war in Europe continuing for another 10 years; China invading Taiwan; maybe Japan in the future; middle east, and etc. Depressing. And yet, our budget deficit is out of control. SSN cuts are coming. I'm not counting on SSN at all. We plan to live off portfolio, 4% withdraw per year. Gold bars not a bad idea!

 

[southernhybrid]

I'll ask a question about the 2026 mid-terms elections in this thread (just for laughs.)

Who organises the polling stations in the state and federal elections?
Is there a separate body to do this?
Who funds the polling stations? And who mans (sorry persons) them? Volunteers, paid?
Does each state make it own rules concerning location, distribution of polling stations?

Can those who may have an interest is reducing/preventing voting be stopped from doing so?

If you're interested, I'm going to post a link that answers all of those questions regarding voting in Georgia. At least poll workers are paid here, but anyone can watch what's going on, or be a volunteer poll watcher. We need an ID to vote, but everyone in my state has one because doctors won't even see you without a valid state ID. Homeless people might not always have one, but you must have an address to vote and to be honest, I doubt many homeless people want to vote. We have 3 weeks of early voting in Georgia and it's very easy to register to vote although I recently heard that the republicans are trying to only allow trained people to help others vote. Anyone can go or take someone to the local place to register. I helped a friend of mine do that. Anyway, my link goes into lots of details, probably more than you want to know.

https://sos.ga.gov/page/elections-faq

 

[Derec]

Right. Total owned by the poorest 50% of Murkins is exceeded by the wealth of a relatively small handful of Kleptocrats and businessmen.

Which of them do you consider "kleptocrats" though?

And we have to dig deeper into this statistic. Many of the bottom 50% are not exactly poor, but are just young adults starting out. They are not going to have much in terms of net worth even if they are on a path toward success. Think young people in college having a negative net worth because they owe student loans but don't really have assets. Hell, take a 30-something medical resident or fellow. Deep in student loans, not making big bucks yet. So he or she is counted among the bottom 50%, but will soon make a lot of money and be able to build substantial net worth.

Not tenable long term for a representative democracy IMO. But a good start on a slave supported dictatorship economy. And I suspect that on average, those last longer, as long as their leaders don’t get too delusionally ambitious.

The Soviet Union did not have any billionaires. It did not have a huge pay discrepancy between the company directors and lowest paid workers. And yet, would you call USSR a "representative democracy" or a dictatorship?

 

[Derec]

Are the results as they come in released publicly? By that are the voting results in say, New Jersey made public even though Hawaii's polls have not closed?

The results of elections in the states are released as they become available. The exit polls are allowed to be published by news outlets when the polls in that state close. The actual counting is updated as the state election authorities release them - it's usually a trickle throughout the night.
The news outlets may "call" (i.e. announce the presumptive winner) immediately after polls close if the race is not close, or wait until sufficient number of ballots have been called. Particularly close races may not be called for days, and since news outlets decide for themselves when to "call", there have been cases where they had to reverse themselves.

Now, for House and Senate races, as well as for state and local offices, those are all separate races so it does not really matter. But this happens also in the presidential election. East Coast states have their results published and winners called even while the West Coast is voting. The elections here are not by nationwide popular vote, but state by state with statewide winner taking all (except ME and NE) of that state's electoral votes. So news outlets will also have a running tally of electoral votes won so far.
This is what it looked like early in the election night 2024:

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yes, and it should be noted that in the US, there are a terribly large amount of things to vote for, so deciding not to vote on the West Coast because voting results start coming out on the East Coast is ridiculous. US/State/City officials, state referendums, dog catchers, village idiots, all on the ballot.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Right. Total owned by the poorest 50% of Murkins is exceeded by the wealth of a relatively small handful of Kleptocrats and businessmen.

Which of them do you consider "kleptocrats" though?

And we have to dig deeper into this statistic. Many of the bottom 50% are not exactly poor, but are just young adults starting out. They are not going to have much in terms of net worth even if they are on a path toward success. Think young people in college having a negative net worth because they owe student loans but don't really have assets. Hell, take a 30-something medical resident or fellow. Deep in student loans, not making big bucks yet. So he or she is counted among the bottom 50%, but will soon make a lot of money and be able to build substantial net worth.

But the exception... THE EXCEPTION!!!!

 

[Derec]

Today there are primaries in several states.
There is the contentious California governor race, the NJ-12 race where a former associate of an Islamic terrorist leader is leading the Democratic field, as well as races in Iowa, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota.