US Elections 2024 - the most consequential election again!

[SAPPORO]

The election may just come down to Desis living in the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Please share your misgivings about her candidacy and we can discuss and get more clarity. I will even make her say her own name right since I recently found out a close relative in India is a friend of her aunt in Chennai. It's "comma" and La but based on how the Desis (including her mom) say "Comma " "ka-muh" and not how Americans say it "kaa-muh.". Don't worry she will get along fine with Modi with big hugs and all - after all her name means lotus - lotus for POTUS!

[RBee]

Everyday I see ads of Obama asking to donate to Kamala’s campaign fund!!

Unless they are planning to spend it all on 3 battleground states, hasn’t she collected enough to last the election cycle as there are just 69 days remaining till the election?

[SAPPORO]

Everyday I see ads of Obama asking to donate to Kamala’s campaign fund!!

Unless they are planning to spend it all on 3 battleground states, hasn’t she collected enough to last the election cycle as there are just 69 days remaining till the election?

Obama knows the best- he had to raise and spend $730+ million in 2008 on a one-sided contest. Inflation adjusted it's more than 1 billion and Kamala is only halfway there.
https://www.opensecrets.org/pres08

[JINSAKAI]

Everyday I see ads of Obama asking to donate to Kamala’s campaign fund!!

Unless they are planning to spend it all on 3 battleground states, hasn’t she collected enough to last the election cycle as there are just 69 days remaining till the election?

KH has plan to spend more by taxing unrealized capital gains ( though that’s least of my concerns and not applicable to me)

[SAPPORO]

Everyday I see ads of Obama asking to donate to Kamala’s campaign fund!!

Unless they are planning to spend it all on 3 battleground states, hasn’t she collected enough to last the election cycle as there are just 69 days remaining till the election?

KH has plan to spend more by taxing unrealized capital gains ( though that’s least of my concerns and not applicable to me)

We are in the wrong place with only 8000 crores involved. Incredible India! 160,000 Crores for campaigns that last only for a few weeks as compared to a few years in the US>
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... s?from=mdr

[RBee]

8000 crores ~ 1 billion in US is a wrong cost compared to real cost.
There are so many volunteers at school/college/work/community level, who work behind the scene without any pay just to keep the democracy alive.
If these were paid to what they earn in real careers, the cost will cross 10 billion easily.

And then there are corporate fund raising , community fund raising events etc where people have paid money to attend (and that money is not counted towards election cost) but only their donations !!

So in USA, election cost nearing or exceeding 160,000 crores which is ~20 billion is expected and this for just 161 million electoral population versus 900 million who voted in 2024 India’s general elections!

[SAPPORO]

8000 crores ~ 1 billion in US is a wrong cost compared to real cost.
There are so many volunteers at school/college/work/community level, who work behind the scene without any pay just to keep the democracy alive.
If these were paid to what they earn in real careers, the cost will cross 10 billion easily.

And then there are corporate fund raising , community fund raising events etc where people have paid money to attend (and that money is not counted towards election cost) but only their donations !!

So in USA, election cost nearing or exceeding 160,000 crores which is ~20 billion is expected and this for just 161 million electoral population versus 900 million who voted in 2024 India’s general elections!

There is PPP, there is relatively better transparency in the US wrt campaign contributions and there are dozens of other political parties in India. The numbers were only for BJP. Be that as it may, to your point about the difference in electorate, at least people get directly paid in India instead of getting bombarded with the same ads for at least a year in the US

[mcr]

Candidates spend 30-40 crores in a MLA election in Karnataka. Taking an average of 35 crores, considering at least 2 major party candidates in each of the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka it comes to 15680 crore rupees which is almost 2B USD!
While most of the money in US elections are spent on TV ads, here in India (at least here in Karnataka) it is mostly direct cash transfer to voters!
I would say more than half of the 2B USD that is spent by the candidates goes directly to voters. It is a normal practice for the candidates to pay 1000 to 2000 Rs. per vote in a MLA election. Money is given to poor, rural voters who makes up the majority in any constituency.

[SAPPORO]

JD! JD! JD!
JD thinks that the solution to childcare expenses is grandparents - totally spoilt by Indian MIL that took a 1-year sabbatical to do diaper changes. Not sure I can sign up for that and not sure normal average Americans have that luxury.
He also thinks the school shootings are a "way of life" - maybe his in-laws can step in and influence him about this saying "beta, why should a baccha (kid) have a gun in the first place, know! Back in India, we only gift toy guns to our kids and not AR-15s"!

[freeebird]

https://youtu.be/TKS7DtBa4fU