Getting elected doesn't go well when your policy is to kill your voters... With pandemic dominating U.S. election, older voters turning away from Trump https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-voters-turning-away-from-trump-idUSKBN26U113 Many older Americans have turned away from President Donald Trump this year as the coronavirus ravages the country, eroding an important Republican support base that helped propel him into the White House in 2016, Reuters/Ipsos polling data shows. Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden now split American voters aged 55 years and older almost evenly: 47% say they are voting for Biden on Nov. 3 while 46% back Trump, according to Reuters/Ipsos national surveys in September and October. That could be an alarming sign for the president, who trails Biden with 25 days to go before the election. Republicans have relied on the support of older Americans in national elections for years, routinely benefiting from a demographic that consistently shows up in force on Election Day. Trump won the 55-plus age group by 13 percentage points in 2016, according to exit polls. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, achieved the same margin. Reuters/Ipsos state polls also show Biden outperforming Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, among older voters in a handful of battleground states, where seniors make up an outsized proportion of the electorate. Winning those states will be critical to the outcome of the 2020 race: whoever takes the most battleground states will be on track to win the Electoral College and the White House. Biden is beating Trump among older voters in Wisconsin by 10 points and drawing about the same amount of support as Trump is with that demographic in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and Arizona, according to the state polls conducted in mid-September and early October. Four years ago, Trump won older voters in each of those states by 10 to 29 points. Half of the older voters in the five battleground states blamed the high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country - nearly 7.6 million cases and more than 210,000 deaths - on “poor leadership and policy decisions from President Trump,” the polls show. Randy Bode, 59, a Republican in Douglas, Arizona, who voted for Trump in 2016, said he was disappointed with Trump’s suggestion that people could protect themselves from COVID-19 by drinking bleach. “He shouldn’t be saying the things he’s saying” about the coronavirus, he said. Bode, who is now undecided, is also concerned about Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and how that would leave millions of Americans without health insurance during a health crisis. “He’s had four years to come up with a plan, and he hasn’t done it,” he said. A DETERIORATING BASE Trump’s standing with older Americans has deteriorated this year as the novel coronavirus swept the country, closing thousands of businesses and overwhelming the health care system that seniors rely on more than others. Sixty-one percent said this week in a national Reuters/Ipsos poll that they disapprove of the president’s handling of the coronavirus, up 12 percentage points from May. And Trump’s net approval for his response to the virus dropped among all Americans to its lowest level since Reuters started asking the question in early March. Among older Americans, 83% were concerned about the threat that the coronavirus poses to their personal health and safety. “Seniors were much more worried about COVID than younger Americans,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist whose firm has spotted a similar trend in its polling data. Trump’s campaign has been working to stop the bleeding, and last weekend he dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to campaign at The Villages, the conservative retirement community in central Florida. On Thursday, while still convalescing at the White House from his recent coronavirus infection, the president addressed America’s seniors in a video, calling them his “favorite people in the world” and pledging to make new virus-fighting drugs available to them for free. “You are vulnerable and so am I,” Trump said. “We’re going to take care of our seniors.” The Trump campaign pointed to an executive order he signed last year aimed at bolstering Medicare, the national insurance program for Americans 65 and older. “President Trump and his administration remain laser-focused on protecting our most vulnerable citizens, including our nation’s senior citizens,” said Ken Farnaso, a Trump campaign spokesman. Biden is also pitching directly to older voters, particularly in Arizona and Florida. His campaign has been running ads featuring a Florida couple who can’t see their grandchildren because of the pandemic. Other ads have focused on Trump’s threat to eliminate the payroll tax, which funds Social Security. Conant said Trump needs to figure out how to bring seniors back into the fold - and fast. “It’s crucial,” he said. “Trump will not win without strong support from senior voters.”
Biden wants to undo Trump's tax cuts. Wall Street is backing him anyway https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/09/investing/bank-earnings-preview/index.html As the nation's biggest banks prepare to report their latest earnings next week, these titans of Wall Street face a conundrum. Many financial services executives are supporting Joe Biden over President Trump — even though a Biden win could be a slight negative for the industry. Deregulation championed by the White House and Congress and low interest rates ushered in by Jerome Powell, Trump-appointed Federal Reserve chairman, have helped fuel a market rally in the past few years that was — at least until Covid-19 hit — very good for bank profits. But according to a recent analysis from S&P Market Intelligence, Biden's proposed tax plan could lead to a combined $7 billion increase in corporate taxes annually for the nation's top 10 banks. Executives from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) will certainly be asked about the election during next week's earnings calls with analysts and investors. And other top financial firms, including iShares owner BlackRock (BLK), US Bancorp (USB), BNY Mellon (BK) and State Street (STT), are also on tap to report their third-quarter earnings. Big banks can shrug off a bigger tax bill While a tax hike by Biden would hurt their profits somewhat, it may not be a disaster for financial firms. The S&P analysts noted that a higher corporate tax rate could actually boost bank valuations. That's because many big banks have deferred tax assets that represent future savings which can help offset higher rates. The value of these assets would actually increase if tax rates went up. What's more, Biden is unlikely to push for a significantly higher corporate tax rate, some experts say. "With the economy likely still struggling to recover from the pandemic-induced recession...moderate Democrats in conservative states..would push back on a significant tax increase," Isaac Boltansky, an analyst for Compass Point Research & Trading, wrote in the S&P report. A Biden win could also lead to a slightly higher personal income tax rate for the upper middle class and the wealthy. But you can't look at the tax picture without analyzing what the broader economy might look like with more stimulus coming from either Biden or Trump. "The strongest banks are going to be able to deal with any change in the tax or regulatory environment. And any new policies that strengthen the middle class should give consumers more confidence to take out more loans," said Elliott Savage, portfolio manager of the YCG Enhanced Fund, which owns shares of JPMorgan Chase, BofA, Wells Fargo and Charles Schwab (SCHW). More fees should boost bank profits too How high taxes will be in 2021 and beyond is just one piece of the profit puzzle. For many banks, expectations for continued low interest rates and the outlook for the broader economy are bigger issues. "Asset managers should do better than commercial banks. Financials that are more dependent on generating interest income from loans will find it more challenging," said Scott Knapp, chief market strategist of CUNA Mutual Group, in an interview with CNN Business. That's a big reason why many banks are looking to boost their advisory and other fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley, for example, announced Thursday it is buying fund manager Eaton Vance (EV) for $7 billion — just days after Morgan Stanley's purchase of E-Trade closed. Savage added that the top banks also are likely to attract more deposits from consumers in this environment. Leading financial firms are still perceived as safe places to park cash. "When the world seems scary, you want money in the largest and systemically most important institutions. The strong are getting stronger," Savage said. The market rebound since stocks bottomed in March should also help the biggest banks. And trading revenue could be higher, especially now that volatility has returned. Plus, the top Wall Street firms also are likely to post solid gains in advisory fees thanks to the boom in IPOs and SPAC deals. "This quarter should be more impressive than last quarter. Equity underwriting revenue will be a big win thanks to the strong IPO market. There's a better mix of fees," said David Konrad, a bank analyst with D.A. Davidson. And as long as the broader economy continues to improve, that's good for big banks, too. "The guidance from the top banks could be more optimistic because the operating environment is less challenging," said CUNA Mutual Group's Knapp.
You do know that food lines did happen under the Trump University dean? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...rus-aid-pandemic-economy-reopen-a9459431.html