Voting your pocketbook

In My Humble Opinion
1

The other day on the golf course, my buddy asked me why I did not vote for the candidate/party that would result in more money in my pocket.

He seemed genuinely befuddled by my comment that I wouldn’t consider voting contrary to my policy preferences/beliefs, simply to end up with an extra $5-10k in my pocket.

Basically I told him I wasn’t all that concerned with the government collecting taxes from me, but am far more concerned with what it is spend on. I make a pretty good income and am very comfortable living a relatively frugal lifestyle. I am not all that interested in buying “things,” so saving/spending even $10K or more would not really change my lifestyle all that much. Even greater expenses/savings would pretty much just mean I’d need to work another year or so before retiring.

So - whatever your political leanings - how much, if any amount, would it take for you to vote for the “other” party?

(I don’t know if it would be more interesting/useful to discuss this in terms of dollars or percentage of income.)

I guess I might as well say up front that I have long thought there was something not quite right about folks who live pretty comfortably using tax savings as their primary voting issue. If a party represents your beliefs AND ALSO will give you more money - fine. Of the folks I meet, it is very common to hear people say things like, “Whichever party is elected will have very little impact on my life. But the tax savings I can count on.” But voting contrary to your beliefs simply for extra cash - or giving tax savings priority over all other issues - strikes me as pretty venal.

2

I vote my beliefs. I don’t know how much money it would take me to vote against them. But I’m not 100% sure that’s what you’re asking.

3

I think that’s venal, as well. I make good money, got no beef with how much tax I pay, just want to see it spent wisely.

4

Money is pretty much toward the middle of my priority list, in terms of voting and day-to-day life. I’d worry about (not much trust) anyone who was purely interested in the financial bottom line.

5

Currently, there is an exclusion for income earned while overseas up to almost $90,000, which basically means that while I fill out a return to the IRS, I only pay taxes to the Japanese government(s). If one candidate pledged to do away with this exclusion completely (effectively doubling my tax bill to about 50-60% of my income), then personal interest would probably take precedence over the greater good.

If that candidate still won, personal interest would take precedence over patriotism and I’d be applying for Japanese citizenship the next day.