Midterm Elections

[Indy]

Proposition 127

Arizona voters have rejected a measure requiring regulated utilities to obtain 50 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources like solar or wind power by 2030.

Steyer poured millions into the proposed constitutional amendment — one that was fiercely opposed by the state's largest utility, Arizona Public Service. A group backed by the utility fought the measure, spending millions of dollars on ads, and rounding up a wide coalition of opponents.

The utility's parent company spent more than $25 million to oppose the measure, arguing it would raise consumer costs by as much as $1,000 a year per customer annually and hurt the reliability of the state's electrical grid.

Initiative supporters say Arizona hasn't taken advantage of its role as the sunniest state in U.S. to develop more solar energy. California's Legislature enacted a similar measure in 2015.

So the parent company, which is probably worth over a billion dollars, spent $25 million to oppose this proposition in part because it would raise consumer costs by as much as $1,000 a year?

Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me.

Utility companies are huge. The parent of APS (Pinnacle West) is worth about $10B. So year, to your point, 25M is a drop in the bucket. They are expecting a gross profit of nearly 2B this year. Profit. They basically spent 1% of their profits on this. And depending on how they spent it, it is probably tax deductible...

[Nodack]

Corporations spend big to defeat ballot measures
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... t-measures

Corporations and business groups spent hundreds of millions in this week’s midterm elections to defeat ballot measures that would have harmed their bottom lines.

Groups supporting or opposing ballot measures in states across the country spent at least $1.1 billion in 2018, according to data from the online political database Ballotpedia.

[Indy]

I am not sure how, but we need to find a way to remove corporate money spent to influence elected officials/public policy. Our representatives are supposed to represent us, not a corporation. CU really fucked us even more.

[Nodack]

I think I need to invest in advertising, especially around elections. We can’t feed the poor or pay the debt but we can find billions to spend on political ads every election.

[Indy]

I think I need to invest in advertising, especially around elections. We can’t feed the poor or pay the debt but we can find billions to spend on political ads every election.

Its so we can keep hundreds of billions in the hands of about 100 people.

[In2ition]

https://twitter.com/ChuckLane1/status/1064632965332901895 Interesting Exit Poll results. I too hope for a better economy.

[Nodack]

I wonder what % of Republicans said the economy was good under Obama at the end of his Presidency.

[Indy]

I lost over 100k in October.

[Cap]

I lost over 100k in October.

Don’t imagine the last couple of weeks have been very kind to you either. Or this morning.

[Nodack]

I have never seen as many people begging on street corners and freeway underpasses as I have in the past year around Phoenix. On some corners they are on opposite sides of the street hitting the same corner. Think the economy has been good overall for some people. Not so good for others. In my profession it’s generally the same year after year except for 9/11.

[Cap]

In my profession it’s generally the same year after year except for 9/11.

What, did people stop listening to music?

[Superbone]

I lost over 100k in October.

I hope you didn't sell. There's a big difference between actual losses and unrealized losses. This is just a natural correction. In time, the market will recover to higher than ever. This is a good time to buy. Just continue your dollar cost averaging.

[Superbone]

In my profession it’s generally the same year after year except for 9/11.

What, did people stop listening to music?

Who said they stopped? Maybe they listened to more.

[Indy]

I lost over 100k in October.

I hope you didn't sell. There's a big difference between actual losses and unrealized losses. This is just a natural correction. In time, the market will recover to higher than ever. This is a good time to buy. Just continue your dollar cost averaging.

I did not. I continue to buy.

[Indy]

I lost over 100k in October.

Don’t imagine the last couple of weeks have been very kind to you either. Or this morning.

I hadn't looked the last week or so... and I had gained back half of the october lost before looking today. damnit--back down even more now. Oh well--I have another 12-15 years before I retire anyway.

[Nodack]

In my profession it’s generally the same year after year except for 9/11.

What, did people stop listening to music?

A good portion of my gigs are Corporate parties. There were no corporate parties for awhile after 9/11. The ones on the books cancelled.

[Mori Chu]

https://twitter.com/ChuckLane1/status/1064632965332901895 Interesting Exit Poll results. I too hope for a better economy.

There are a few different points to unpack there.

(a) Yes, both parties are quite ridiculous when it comes to how they "feel" about the economy. Right at the end of Obama's presidency, Republicans in polls felt that the economy was doing quite poorly. Days after Trump was inaugurated, the same Republican folks in polls felt that the economy was doing great. And the Dems had a similar mirror-image reaction in their polls. That's just silly on both sides, and it's a well chronicled phenomenon in assessing mood about the economy while aligning it with partisanship.

(b) How well the economy is doing is based on many factors. Some important factors are doing quite well right now: unemployment is low, and the stock market is high. Other economic factors are doing less well: wages are low and stagnant and have not risen at pace with inflation; many people are underemployed; many unions are weak; many people report low job satisfaction; the stock market does not affect every American equally.

[Nodack]

The stock market today is lower than it was on Jan 1st.

[Mori Chu]

I think some of the Trump Bump dropped off when everybody realized that the companies were just going to use it on stock buybacks.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think some of the Trump Bump dropped off when everybody realized that the companies were just going to use it on stock buybacks.

He "ran" the American economy like a ponzi scheme, which isn't surprising at all for those of us who already knew he's a crook and a conman.