On Wall Street, are most of the people Republicans or Dems? I've always assumed GOP, but just wanted to be sure. Personally, I'm a big time Republican. As a kid who grew up in Scarsdale and now attends UMiami, I ALWAYS vote Republican, and love watching Fox News, and listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin whenever I have time.
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older people on the street are hard core rep (usually) and younger people are more libtertarian
Also try not to get your news from a bunch of tools... I get most of my news from John Stewart and sometimes I watch the gay guy from CNN
I agree, I'm also liberterian. However, when I vote I vote Republican. I don't watch CNN because it's a liberal talking channel.
I'm also a big Republican like you. Most of the tv news is liberal b.s. anyways. But the people on wall st. are for whoever is going to help there bottom line. There pockets.
The real problem is that the Republican party has gone off the deep end. There is no room left for moderate libertarians, balanced budget Republicans, and the Rockefeller types like there was 15 years ago. Those of us who would have voted Republican in a different political climate are forced to choose between higher taxes and a less interventionist foreign policy and freepers and fundies who don't know how to govern.
Give me a moderate like Olympia Snowe or a libertarian like Ron Paul and I'll start voting Republican again. I just want a federal government that pays its bills, maintains order, makes sure we don't have people starving when there's enough food, and otherwise stays out of my life and out of foreign countries.
Guys who vote Republican nowadays are either 1) old school, 2) mid-upper tier (rich enough feel the burden of higher taxes but not rich enough to not care), or 3) self-proclaimed libertarians. Younger guys at the top are actually pretty liberal and if you ever hit the hedge funds in Connecticut, it's mostly blue.
And dude, don't advertise the fact that you watch Fox and listen to Rush and clowns - this isn't NOT representative of the type of Rep. that you'd find on the street and it's nothing to be proud of. My entire floor would laugh at you.
So is This the Change you Wanted? =)
I think you will be disgusted and surprised by the liberalism that pervades wall street. It doesnt make any sense to me. We all work so hard for our money but then we turn around and support big government and higher taxes. I wont go on a rant but again the hypocrisy of it all drives me crazy.
troll
Im pretty sure he was kidding about the fox news thing... at least I hope.
From my experience it almost never comes up. Although this one ball busting VP last summer would shut up about how awesome she thought Obama was; jokes on her now. The liberalism is pretty irritating, and I don't get it either; the people I talked to always came off like they had the moral high ground when in reality it was closer to their head in their asses.
I would definitely say most people are more libertarian than fox news watching Republicans.
Yeah, Obama is definately a failure-it's amazing all the "smart" people who supported him. And, yes, I watch Fox News, along with CNBC, and HBO.
It's possible to vote Democrat, i.e. believe in the positive things Democrats are trying to enact/trying to choose the right thing for society as a whole, even if it may not necessarily be optimal for your wallet. Please elaborate on Obama as an unequivocal "failure"
I'm calling BS on BocaYankee. Nobody who listens to Rush contemplates buying pinky rings.
Worst take ever-Rush's audience is one of the most affluent, educated, wealthiest in all of talk radio. You know Rush is good friends with guys like Dan Snyder, George Steinbrenner, Gary Bettman, the Cigar Aficionado publisher Marvin Shanken, etc, don't you?
Assuming your posts' claims are correct, I would say it's the most economically diverse crowd on talk radio, not the wealthiest.
Also, libs don't participate in talk radio, but let's just say that Bill Moyer's Journal or Charlie Rose is probably a wealthier crowd than Rush on Fox. The average person who listens to the radio earns less than the average person with a graduate degree, and the average person who watches liberals Bill Moyers or Charlie Rose has a graduate degree.
Frequency of posts, extremely detailed yet irrelevant self descriptions, absurd signature. I think boca is secretly making fun of bankers. Entertaining, yes. Informative, maybe (never contemplated the fashion theory of pinky rings before today). A fraud...most certainly.
But seriously Obama is kind of a failure. The economy is in the doldrums, unemployment is unofficially at 17%, healthcare reform is not going to happen, government spending and the deficit is out of control, bipartisanship is dead, and the democrats are probably going to lose the house and senate in November. Now why don't you please elaborate on the "success" Obama has achieved thus far.
You can't be serious. Well, I guess you can, if you just soak up what certain misleading Republicans in the media spew. Sure, the economy is in the doldrums. Under which President did the housing market bubble and pop? Bush. You can't possibly imagine Obama, in 13 months, to be able to mop up the mess he inherited that is the U.S. economy. I won't go into unemployment, because that's a direct result of the crap that was thrown at him when he entered office. Health care reform is not going to happen? WONDER WHY! Maybe if republicans didn't filibuster everything that came to the floor this country could have some health care reform. Government spending and the deficit is out of control... it's certainly not where we want to be, but please consider the world in which the bailout did not occur. (And also consider the surplus the country had under Clinton which turned to a fairly sizable deficit under Bush... unnecessary wars...) Unemployment would be twice what it is today without much of the spending that has occurred. There are noble laureate economists who think we should be spending much more money than we are right now to prevent falling into the abyss. Bipartisanship is dead? YOU BLAME THAT ON OBAMA?! I refer you to "A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People". This book was written in 2006/2007, and is a non-partisan, statistics-based non-fiction book that shows objective evidence that the division in this country began, worsened, and peaked during the Bush years. Blaming Obama for this divided country is just ignorant. Yea, there's a chance the democrats might lose congress in November. A lot of people are impatient with the slow recovery and automatically blame it on the people presently in power (see: you). This crap we're in cannot be fixed in one year. It won't be fixed in one term. But please illustrate your solution to the economy, unemployment, health care, and the deficit. I don't claim membership to one party, but I do support what the democrats are trying to do at the present time.
OK, so I tried to refrain from nonsensical arguments, but it only took reagan a year and one half to fix carter's pile of manure. And i am not blaming obama for the bad economy, i am blaming obama for the 2 tril in debt, NOT DEFICIT, that he has already racked up, for a stimulus that will not be spent entirely until after the market has already hit 20,000 (exaggeration), and a funny way of speeking as if he were bipartisan, while having the most liberal voting record possible. The man was in congress for a few months, he never had a job in high school or college, but he went to harvard, so i guess he is qualified right? cumon, and btw, don't look to the president that a bubble bursts under (George W.) look to the one that it originates under (mr. lewinski), btw, bubbles are natural and aren't always a bad thing.....sorry for my rant, but it was necessary
BocaYankee's definitely a banker hating sack of shit. Go back to posting chunks of your unfinished PHD dissertation on the Charlie Rose's website.
Being affluent and wearing gaudy, rapper jewelry are two different things.
I call troll also.
PS. most TV news is crap. You would think with all the 24 hour news going on you would actually hear about elections in other countries, wars going on outside of Iraq/Afghanistan, different opinions, etc. Naaaa, you hear about Haiti for 10 hours, some BS celebrity story for 6 hours and a mix of fluff politic pieces.
Talking heads.
what kind of provincial rube actually goes around using the word "affluent"?
i know some really educated, low-key people who listen to rush.
Affluent:
2 : having a generously sufficient and typically increasing supply of material possessions
I am sorry if my vocabulary offends you, but it was an appropriate word.
BocaBurger, you never let me down. I hate to constantly rag on one person, but I haven't heard one single intelligent or logical comment from you yet. I've given you plenty of opps to fire back, but there's no substance there, man.
Hey, do you own a pair of Big White Shoes, and wear them with jeans? You all know they ones I'm talking about.
I try to stick with WSJ, Bloomberg, CNBC in the daytime (it seems to be more background filler these days, but I did like the Buffett interview this morning). I enjoy watching CNBC Europe and Asia. I stay away from CNN and Foxnews, just hate the opinion. Just tell me what's going on, and let me form my own opinions, please...
Boca,
Ant Dawg
Post of the year.
All bankers are racist republicans who hate the poor.
Watch real news.... C-SPAN
im pretty sure a lot of the big guys (CEOs) are actually dems. dimon, blankfein, and im pretty sure pandit all are. david heller (GS) and robert wolf (UBS) are also big democrats
My 2 cents:
(1) The uber rich (billionaires, CEOs) are liberal because they don't feel higher taxes and the only threat to their well being is social unrest. Being worth $1 billion with little threat of a Bolshevik uprising is better than being worth $2 billion and not being able to walk the streets. When subprime borrowers took a bus tour of Greenwich, these guys started sweating. My take away from the 2008 election, however, was that most of them are old school dems (ie - they supported Hillary). Obama's stocking his economic cabinet with Clinton-era advisors was a worthwhile concession to the Wall St. wing of the Democratic party.
(2) Traders are more often liberal because being a good trader requires a good degree of empathy. Being right in the long run or in 'theory' can run up a lot of losses in the short run; better traders accept momentary market psychology and make money off of it, while bearing in mind a longer term trend.
(3) Bankers are conservative because they crunch the numbers and see what tax burdens amount to.
(4) Everybody is a Republican on bonus day.
You'll run into a lot of opinionated, outspoken people in this industry. My suggestion is to avoid expressing a political opinion with work colleagues.
You'll find that a lot of (successful) financiers are liberals hoping for more efficiency in government.
i think democracy is dead. but the alternatives, while they may be a much better government, hold great risk (kinda like high-risk-high-yield investments). give me the right enlightened dictator and i'll give him a throne and my right to vote.
Lots of dems on the up and up at my firm... which is a very white-shoe shop. The old money is red, but the blue blood is just that...
As someone that frequents WSO. I'm beginning to find myself enjoying this site less and less. I can't believe the shallowness expressed in some posts. I am beginning to conclude it's a stunt to drive up traffic to the site. I just find it amusing that Boca's bullshit posts are making front page. I can't hate on you Boca, I'm glad you're working on your confidence online and in some instances finding fans that admire you. More power to ya.
Nonetheless, it brings sadness to me when I spend my lunch hour reading non sense. I come to WSO to read about real issues and gain perspectives from fellow analysts/associates/vps etc. Instead I'm reading about freakin gold chains and pinky rings. Yea it's funny, but really? is this the place for that? I don't know about you guys but it's a recipe for fewer hits from me.
As for the Rep. vs. Dem comparisons, whether you're one or the other, it doesn't matter. We all want to live comfortably and the more time you spend on politics (whichever side you're on) the further you get from your banking passion. I don't question any presidents integrity, even Bush's. I'm not saying presidents, senators or congressman aren't influenced by thier greed and personal agendas. All I know is discussing the fact you listen to Rush or CNN does nothing but express your inabilities to take news for what it is; information covered with Bullshit! Yea Rush might talk about some real issues here and there, the rest of the time, he's running his mouth because he knows they love it. It's sad. Even CNN, well, it is a News Channel anymore. Seems like it's a Blog channel to me. Source your news from various places. Don't consider personal opionions as news, that's not news. You're supposed to take the information and make the judgement yourself. You're not supposed to take the opinion or judgment and make news from it. That's gossip. I can't believe someone that actually considers banking as a potential career and attends UMiami is unable to critically reflect back on what he/she thinks or says. What a waste.
I hope WSO doesn't turn into a rant site. I find it too useful for this nonsense.
Back to the basics...
HKL, i'm guessing most people get enough work-oriented bs at work and are looking mostly to unwind when coming here. if there's something you really want to talk about, put up a topic. i'm sure serious people like you would flock to it like bankers to price discrepancies. i mean, what kind of debates were you expecting to find here? you can read edmundo's blog. he writes about "issues" and pretty well. some others here too. no need to go all out against anything other than your favorite topics. some people here have more diverse interests and get kicks out of the different things up here.
Boca is a troll. The name/alma mater dropping in his opening post make that pretty clear.
In addition to what GoodBread and others have said, the Scarsdale+GOP connection is incorrect. I doubt you are from Scarsdale because if you were you'd know it is mostly dem. Sure there are republicans in Scarsdale, as there are in most blue towns, but the statement "I am from Scarsdale thus republican" shows an unfounded leap in logic. There are other (similar) towns in southern Westchester that ARE GOP.
Keep on trollin' brotha
You are correct in that the MAJORITY of Scarsdale is Dem, but there are also quite a few GOP's there-and they are very active.
Troll and a hater...
This kid is like the guy from Princeton Review who called NYU the Dream School over all the top ivies after his own children got rejected from top ivies and ended up at NYU.
Just another hater who will be crying himself to sleep tonight.
I find the implicit assumption that school XYZ is necessarily and completely inferior to school set QRS is a little arrogant without at least justifying the position with facts.
Rule #1: You shouldn't judge schools until you've had a job and worked in industry for 18 months and met people who graduated from these schools and seen how they worked. Rule #2: After 18 months, target school students will learn to admit that smart folks go to school everywhere. Non-target school students will learn to admit that smart students may be more concentrated at the target schools. Rule #3: Schools are strong in different areas. Many state schools are very strong in engineering. And certain private schools are very strong in the performance and classic arts. Certain schools attract a lot of smart Catholic football fans (who enjoy ruining nearly everybody else's Monday morning, BTW). Rule #4: If you don't respect your competition, you give it a huge advantage.
In any case, it sounds like you go to an Ivy League. I hope you're posting this by accident and that you're not feeling inferior about the latest US News rankings. It would be particularly ironic if you posted this because NYU was beating your program in the rankings.
A guy who has experience at a BB. See the star next to his name- that means he actually has experience in industry.btw, i think boccaboy is trying too hard for him to be a troll.
.... may the flaming begin...?
Can you guys please stop high jacking threads? Stay on the subject! Where is the moderators?
HardKnockLife, our mission at WSO is to inform AND entertain. Thus, an occasional post to the home page will talk about Pinky Rings and Politics. Also, I think the topic of Politics, while contentious and prone to rants, is also very useful to those entering the industry and just starting out...there has already been some good advice in my opinion...
LOL, I call troll on Bocayankee too.
Yea that Reagan comment just isn't comparing apples to apples. And I was not saying Obama is unequivocally bipartisan, I was saying that the political divide in this country grew exponentially under Bush. Obama is not to blame for the divide. Obama may not be the most qualified president ever, but he is infinitely more qualified than George "1206 SAT, C's through high school, C's through Yale, my-family-set-me-up-for-ridiculous-success-and-I-still-was-a-terrible-president" W. Bush. The stimulus saved this country (for the time being).
Being smart doesn't make you a good president (or leader, for that matter). History seems to indicate that the best presidents were either very experienced at what they were doing or at least had the wisdom to listen to experienced people who will sometimes disagree with the rest of the group. Obama is doing better than Bush because he tries to factor in everyone's biggest concerns in his decision- thus avoiding the worst cases. Clinton did even better by listening to the other side and then stealing its best ideas.
To your original question - From the people I work with and know on the Street >60% GOP. You'd be surprised how open some people (from analysts to MDs) are about their political leanings.
Thanks Swap, that's about what I'd expect. It just doesn't make sense for me for those in high tax brackets to vote Dem.
Sure it does. Those people in high tax brackets are still doing better than 99% of the population. That combined with the absolute clown car that conservatism is (Bill O' Reilly, Rush, Glenn Beck, the religious right, basically anything that traces its roots to Buckley/Goldwater) easily explain why bankers may vote democrat. I don't equate conservatism with the GOP however. There are legit reasons to vote Republican, such as a liberal (in the classical sense) view of the economy. However, the majority of Republicans have strayed very far from fiscal restraint and a true belief in the power of free markets.
Austrian (libertarian).
I AGREE LESS GOV
Since when is Bill O'Reilly conservative?
I have been refraining from getting into this conversation because of my involvement in the Republican party that if you look at my previous posts, is fairly obvious.
Some of you say that NeoCons are arrogant / don't listen to advice. Since when is that any different that anyone else in politics? I think that the recent healthcare / cap and tax legislation shows that Democrats will try to ignore not only educated people but also their constituents. Almost 2/3rd of america is opposed to the healthcare legislations, and the Dems have the balls to try to pass it? Using reconciliation (it's not the "Nuclear Option as the great CNN says) rather than a real vote? Come on, the Democrats are super liberal now and choose to willingly ignore the voice of the people.
Do you really think the Dems idea of a second stimulus is necessary? The first one worked soooo well. THe fact is that this administration now going to outspend FDR. And the fact is that it has been shown that stimulus does not really work. The New Deal / Great Society has been shown to have hindered recovery / growth (respectively). And the stimulus that was done to Japan in the 1990's hasn't really helped them recover- even today. The fact is that the "stimulus" is not even sound in theory. The spend over $200,000 per job (most Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae) to lend out subprime loans to people without consideration of their credit history / income. This was further hurt by the insanely low interest rates- that started during Clinton.
Hannity and Glenn Beck are the only good people on Fox. That is when Beck shuts the f*ck up about his Goldman conspiracies.
Read "The Virtue of Selfishness". Altruism is never the answer, but altruism is sacrifice for the "common good" at the expense of oneself. If you get value from going to Haiti and helping out- go do so. Don't sacrifice your family, your health, or your job to do so. This was Rand's reasoning for marriage, charity, etc.
Excellent points-especially agree regarding Bill O'Reilly. People who say O'Reilly is conservative don't watch him-he's a moderate. I agree the ONLY hosts on FoxNews I like are Hannity and Beck, though I also like contributors like Dick Morris, Bernie Goldberg, etc.
oh...and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR20100…
I've watched enough Bill O'Reilly to know that he isn't steering anybody towards the Democrats. I could care less about whether he is a true "conservative" or not, I just think he shows the same intellectual dishonesty a lot of conservatives in the Goldwater/Buckley mold do.
wow. spoken like a true republican talking head MMBinNC. kudos to your GOP handler.
Wall St. is split about 50/50 democrat/republican in my experience. I am a libertarian in the Ron Paul-mode and I dont vote so it dosent really matter. I last voted for Bush in 2000 and was so disgusted by his foray into Iraq and massive government expansion that i will never vote for a establishment republican again. I have, however, been pleasantly surprised by how many real, Austrian-type libertarians there are on Wall St.
and TV news is a relic of the past so who really cares if its left or right?
+1 IlliniProgrammer
hahaha...the only Republican to vote for healthcare?
I think thats what we all want, Republicans and Libertarians that is. But the people in power often do not adhere to this in order to keep their job. GWB presided over the largest expansion of Medicare since the Great Society- but Obama and the crazy liberals that inhabit the top echelons of the Democratic party are even worse. I would love a Libertarian to run the government, but its not gonna happen. Ron Paul's foreign policy is flawed, and other Libertarians have no chance of garnering a lot of votes at this time. So instead I would rather vote for someone like Mike Pence (the best person in the GOP today) than a "moderate" who would simply be a fiscal liberal (to a point like GWB) and a social conservative....aka the polar opposite of what I like. I'm not a fan of the social conservatism on the governmental level, but I would rather accept that than the crazy spending that will actually destroy this country.
Nationally, Republicans have gone off the deep end. The Neocons, fundies, and freepers have taken over the party and chanted RINO until everyone else left. Now they are claiming that everyone who disagrees with them is a left-wing lunatic.
And we probably do need some sort of healthcare reform. I'd rather see government fund a cooperative system that empowers policyholders to make their own decisions about their coverage and devote research grants towards lowering the cost of existing care, but something's gotta give- healthcare costs can't rise at a higher rate than inflation indefinitely.
Obama's not gonna start a war with Iran unless Iran starts one with us or our allies first. That's the reason I voted for him over McCain. Healthcare will cost us $900 Billion over 10 years; Iran would have cost us several trillion. It would be nice if we had neither and healthcare hasn't passed yet, but I'll take healthcare over Iran. The problem isn't just the crazy spending. It's the crazy spending with no intention of paying for it. We did just fine from the '30s through the late '70s when the federal budget was a bigger percentage of GDP and tax rates were at 70%. I'm not saying we should return to that level of spending or taxation (and I don't think we will), but I'm much more concerned about deficits than taxes. It's better to have fiscally liberal spending policies AND tax policies than conservative tax policies and liberal spending policies. Democrats at least have the political license to raise taxes. This is what has brought both parties off the deep end (unfortunately, probably more the Republicans than the Democrats). It's the notion that the ends justify the means. When you scream bloody murder to keep your opponents from winning and they're not violating the Bill of Rights, you undermine democracy.Magni qui cupiditate occaecati est repellat aliquid suscipit. Cum incidunt sed voluptas quae. Ea consequatur amet ipsam quo et ut quo. Optio perspiciatis impedit omnis qui voluptatum unde.
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