if dollars were votes

[Burn baby, Burn]

if everyone voted with the strength of the ammount of money they make in a year, plus their current assets/liabilities, how would the election turn out

[DanielX]

if everyone voted with the strength of the ammount of money they make in a year, plus their current assets/liabilities, how would the election turn out

Essentially, the Republicans sweep everything but DC, a few urban areas, some suburban counties in the Northeast Corridor, and the far west coast.

Rural and Suburban wealthy are supermajority Republican, as they are chiefly businessmen and that sort. Urban wealthy is another story - it varies from city to city. In, for instance, Houston, the wealthy are big-time Republican, but in DC and San Francisco they're largely Democrat. Also, some suburban counties in the Northeast corridor have wealthy Democrats - particularly the DC suburbs, where even the wealthy either work for the government or for companies that do business with the government. Montgomery County, MD is an example. Also, the far west coast has some wealthy enclaves that are strongly social-liberal.   

[ag]

Not that simple. George Soros and Warren Buffet alone could swing some areas to Dems. Hey, you might have Nebraska, or, at least, Omaha, go Dem! I would almost bet Massachussets would become more Democratic, not less. 

[minionofmidas]

I would bet that Idaho and Wyoming become less Republican - but they're quite possibly the only states where that's true.

Okay, so I'm ignoring a couple of super-millionaire Democrats because I don't know where they live.

[Gabu]

Well, I know one thing, which is that Bill Gates would probably decide the entire direction of Washington.

[Burn baby, Burn]

I think this question is much different in canada then the US. canadian stats show that if you make 20K your more likely to vote conservative then if you make 10K, and if you make 30K, more then 20K. 40 over 30. 50 over 40. 60 > 50. 70 > 60. 80 > 70. 90 > 80. 100 > 90. 110 > 100. 120 > 110. 130 > 120. 140 > 130... by now, at 140K, the percent of Conservative voters tends to double... but the weird thing is, and I think this is a uniquly canadian thing, is people who make more then 150K a year vote 70% Liberal. dunno why, and neither do the pollsters, but it's constant.

[ag]

I think this question is much different in canada then the US. canadian stats show that if you make 20K your more likely to vote conservative then if you make 10K, and if you make 30K, more then 20K. 40 over 30. 50 over 40. 60 > 50. 70 > 60. 80 > 70. 90 > 80. 100 > 90. 110 > 100. 120 > 110. 130 > 120. 140 > 130... by now, at 140K, the percent of Conservative voters tends to double... but the weird thing is, and I think this is a uniquly canadian thing, is people who make more then 150K a year vote 70% Liberal. dunno why, and neither do the pollsters, but it's constant.

There actually may be some non-monotonicity in voting wrt to income in the US as well. There are not enough multimillionaires to show reliably in the polls, but there is anecdotal evidence that at the very top of the income distribution there are as many Dems as Reps, or more.  The polls (especially state-level) would be quite unrealiable as far as high income brackets are concerned (hard to sample enough of these guys, so the numbers are low and errors are enormous). Still, even at the slightly lower income brackets there might be wiggles: people with graduate degrees are not poor, and mostly vote Democratic.  True, it seems most in the 100,000+ range vote Rep, but I am not really convinced that once weighted by income that is still true - and it is definitely not true in every state.

[Gabu]

I think this question is much different in canada then the US. canadian stats show that if you make 20K your more likely to vote conservative then if you make 10K, and if you make 30K, more then 20K. 40 over 30. 50 over 40. 60 > 50. 70 > 60. 80 > 70. 90 > 80. 100 > 90. 110 > 100. 120 > 110. 130 > 120. 140 > 130... by now, at 140K, the percent of Conservative voters tends to double... but the weird thing is, and I think this is a uniquly canadian thing, is people who make more then 150K a year vote 70% Liberal. dunno why, and neither do the pollsters, but it's constant.

There actually may be some non-monotonicity in voting wrt to income in the US as well. There are not enough multimillionaires to show reliably in the polls, but there is anecdotal evidence that at the very top of the income distribution there are as many Dems as Reps, or more.  The polls (especially state-level) would be quite unrealiable as far as high income brackets are concerned (hard to sample enough of these guys, so the numbers are low and errors are enormous). Still, even at the slightly lower income brackets there might be wiggles: people with graduate degrees are not poor, and mostly vote Democratic.  True, it seems most in the 100,000+ range vote Rep, but I am not really convinced that once weighted by income that is still true - and it is definitely not true in every state.

This could be the case due to the fact that, above a certain threshhold, you have so much money that you honestly don't care about economic issues all that much, given that you'll probably still have more money than you can possibly spend.  I know that I certainly would be in that boat if I had, say, a seven-figure income.

[Burn baby, Burn]

I've seen studies that show that the people who start poor, work thier arse off, and become rich, are more economically conservative then anyone else. those who start life being well off (AKA these people's kids) are just as likely to be left-wing as the regular people.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I've seen studies that show that the people who start poor, work thier arse off, and become rich, are more economically conservative then anyone else. those who start life being well off (AKA these people's kids) are just as likely to be left-wing as the regular people.

There aren't too many poor to very rich people. However, if you look at people who went from not that rich to very rich, there are some definite counterexamples like Warren Buffett and Georeg Soros.

[Burn baby, Burn]

I've seen studies that show that the people who start poor, work thier arse off, and become rich, are more economically conservative then anyone else. those who start life being well off (AKA these people's kids) are just as likely to be left-wing as the regular people.

There aren't too many poor to very rich people. However, if you look at people who went from not that rich to very rich, there are some definite counterexamples like Warren Buffett and Georeg Soros.

at McDonalds, I got paid minimum wage, and had to work as hard as possible, all day, and if I didnt I got yelled at. at my current job, yesterday, I got yelled at for having a durty uniform, and today, I got a $1/h raise without even meaning to ask for one. I'm a security guard, I sit in a chair and read a book all day. I get $9.50 an hour.

the people who made their money at jobs like McDonalds, where you are always on and barly get money, tend to be mroe right-wing, while those who make thier money at easier jobs, tend not to be. That's why alot of Lawyers are left-wing

[bgwah]

I think Paul Allen would be a Democrat, but I could be wrong. Bill Gates should be Democratic but he might vote Republican.

[Alcon]

I think Paul Allen would be a Democrat, but I could be wrong. Bill Gates should be Democratic but he might vote Republican.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are both Republicans, but I think they are probably very libertarian.

[opebo]

if everyone voted with the strength of the ammount of money they make in a year, plus their current assets/liabilities, how would the election turn out

Essentially, the Republicans sweep everything but DC, a few urban areas, some suburban counties in the Northeast Corridor, and the far west coast.
 

You nutcase, if people voted their economic interest there wouldn't even be a GOP - it would get abou 2-3% of the vote.  The Democrats would get say about another 30%, and the rest would go to the Socialist Party.

[DanielX]

if everyone voted with the strength of the ammount of money they make in a year, plus their current assets/liabilities, how would the election turn out

Essentially, the Republicans sweep everything but DC, a few urban areas, some suburban counties in the Northeast Corridor, and the far west coast.
 

You nutcase, if people voted their economic interest there wouldn't even be a GOP - it would get abou 2-3% of the vote.  The Democrats would get say about another 30%, and the rest would go to the Socialist Party.

You misinterperet. I was talking about one dollar, one vote. And guess who are the wealthy? Businessmen, largely.

Of course, if people really did vote their long-term economic interests (and not on political hype) they'd vote solid libertarian .

[opebo]

if everyone voted with the strength of the ammount of money they make in a year, plus their current assets/liabilities, how would the election turn out

Essentially, the Republicans sweep everything but DC, a few urban areas, some suburban counties in the Northeast Corridor, and the far west coast.
 

You nutcase, if people voted their economic interest there wouldn't even be a GOP - it would get abou 2-3% of the vote.  The Democrats would get say about another 30%, and the rest would go to the Socialist Party.

You misinterperet. I was talking about one dollar, one vote. And guess who are the wealthy? Businessmen, largely.

Oh, I apologize then.  Under that propostion your analysis is an excellent one!

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Well, this is the part I find a bit nutty, but I understand your point of view.

[Erc]

I think most people would be surprised by how well the Democrats would do.

[tarheel-leftist85]

I think most people would be surprised by how well the Democrats would do.

Very true, nowadays at least.

[bgwah]

I think Paul Allen would be a Democrat, but I could be wrong. Bill Gates should be Democratic but he might vote Republican.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are both Republicans, but I think they are probably very libertarian.

Bill Gates' dad is quite liberal. Are you sssuuurrreee he's a Republican?

[Alcon]

I think Paul Allen would be a Democrat, but I could be wrong. Bill Gates should be Democratic but he might vote Republican.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are both Republicans, but I think they are probably very libertarian.

Bill Gates' dad is quite liberal. Are you sssuuurrreee he's a Republican?

Apparently not.  He donates to opposing PACs for some reason.

[jimrtex]

Bill Gates' dad is quite liberal. Are you sssuuurrreee he's a Republican?

Apparently not.  He donates to opposing PACs for some reason.

My understanding is that he was pretty apolitical until the antitrust litigation got serious.