| The Midterms 2026 02:35 - Nov 4 with 9734 views | The_Romford_Blue |
Even worse for the MAGA cult than anyone could’ve predicted so far.
Republicans getting absolutely slapped. There’s states in play now that nobody even forecast were winnable. Crazy. Trumps live tweeting is going to be quite good over the coming hours.
I’d worry if I lived in Iran right now though. He’s going to do something even more batsh*t than normal isn’t he? |  |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 16:03 - Nov 4 | lowhouseblue |
| The Midterms 2026 on 15:47 - Nov 4 by Wacko |
I don't really understand why you're arguing so strongly against this... the rhetoric against people like Obama and El Sayed, the targeting and unlawful removal of citizens based on their ethnicity, the support from groups who literally label themselves as fascist, all the other authoritarian acts mentioned by others here... (I also don't understand your last point, authoritarianism is a facet of fascism not something that's distinct).
Fascist regimes often get into power initially through democracy. Maybe in the US the democratic process has managed to fight it off before it takes hold. That doesn't mean we can't call out people with fascist intentions - even if they are unable to put their ideas fully into practice, or for that matter, openly admit to them. To say that we can't decide for ourselves if a group of people are fascist, based on the evidence provided, is... well...... |
it's just incredibly lazy. yes, we can list bad things about trump and the things he's done, but they don't amount to 'fascism'. yes fascists are authoritarian, but authoritarianism is not exclusively a facet of fascism. it's necessary but not sufficient for fascism. your final sentence, though written in jest, says it all really. the word is used colloquially to mean little more than 'very bad'. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 16:37 - Nov 4 | phillymark |
| The Midterms 2026 on 11:07 - Nov 4 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
Newsome is another Californian. Always think he comes across a bit sleazy and not very relatable. Doesn't bring a swing state with him either.
If Jon Ossoff sticks by his word and serves a full term then I think you are looking at people like JB Prtizker, Andy Beshear, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro. If Ossoff realises that he's the best candidate and runs, he wins. |
Far too early to be that bold. |  | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:19 - Nov 4 | nrb1985 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 12:27 - Nov 4 by CrockerITFC |
Part of me thinks Trump wanted the Republicans to lose badly, so he could try to convince the GOP that there was no other Republican successor to him that could deliver them a win in 2028 in a vain attempt to get them to overlook the term limit amendment and back him for his third term.
There's got to be a reason why he wouldn't adamantly claim the elections were rigged or contest any of the results when they were this detrimental. |
To your first point I think he will still do that.
To your second, once the margin of victory became apparent it's hard to claim it's rigged. | | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:41 - Nov 4 | Wacko |
| The Midterms 2026 on 16:03 - Nov 4 by lowhouseblue |
it's just incredibly lazy. yes, we can list bad things about trump and the things he's done, but they don't amount to 'fascism'. yes fascists are authoritarian, but authoritarianism is not exclusively a facet of fascism. it's necessary but not sufficient for fascism. your final sentence, though written in jest, says it all really. the word is used colloquially to mean little more than 'very bad'. |
So if it doesn’t constitute as fascism, what does in your opinion? People have been able to draw comparisons between the Trump administration (and also the recent Tory government, see Gary Lineker) with similar actions from the Nazis. Why can’t we identify these patterns and call them out before it’s too late? Trump has for example threatened to run again after this term even though he constitutionally cannot (just like Erdoğan is doing but will succeed simply by ignoring the constitution). Trump probably won’t succeed, but why can’t we put pressure on him now? If, like the other poster says, you’d rather I call it proto-fascism, then fine, but quite a lot of energy is being expended here on splitting this hair. I’m continuing with this discussion because I believe I do know the difference between fascism and “very bad”. | |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 18:06 - Nov 4 | Dubtractor |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:41 - Nov 4 by Wacko |
So if it doesn’t constitute as fascism, what does in your opinion? People have been able to draw comparisons between the Trump administration (and also the recent Tory government, see Gary Lineker) with similar actions from the Nazis. Why can’t we identify these patterns and call them out before it’s too late? Trump has for example threatened to run again after this term even though he constitutionally cannot (just like Erdoğan is doing but will succeed simply by ignoring the constitution). Trump probably won’t succeed, but why can’t we put pressure on him now? If, like the other poster says, you’d rather I call it proto-fascism, then fine, but quite a lot of energy is being expended here on splitting this hair. I’m continuing with this discussion because I believe I do know the difference between fascism and “very bad”. |
To be frank, I really don't think any energy spent on arguing the difference between authoritarianism and fascism (with regard to whether Trump and co are one or the other) is useful, in the context of us being a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America. [Post edited 4 Nov 18:13]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 18:17 - Nov 4 | You_Bloo_Right |
| The Midterms 2026 on 18:06 - Nov 4 by Dubtractor |
To be frank, I really don't think any energy spent on arguing the difference between authoritarianism and fascism (with regard to whether Trump and co are one or the other) is useful, in the context of us being a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America. [Post edited 4 Nov 18:13]
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" ... a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America."
Say what now?!
You mean Trump's Press Secretary du jour is not monitoring every TWTD post?
Ham out!! |  |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 18:35 - Nov 4 | J2BLUE |
| The Midterms 2026 on 18:06 - Nov 4 by Dubtractor |
To be frank, I really don't think any energy spent on arguing the difference between authoritarianism and fascism (with regard to whether Trump and co are one or the other) is useful, in the context of us being a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America. [Post edited 4 Nov 18:13]
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Especially as you then have to debate if it's full blown fascism, quasi-fascism, proto-fascism, I Can't Believe It's Not Fascism, Fascism Zero, neo-fascism or Fascism: Best of Both. |  | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 19:10 - Nov 4 | NthQldITFC |
| The Midterms 2026 on 18:17 - Nov 4 by You_Bloo_Right |
" ... a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America."
Say what now?!
You mean Trump's Press Secretary du jour is not monitoring every TWTD post?
Ham out!! |
I am KKKaroline, but I have retired now. |  |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 11:52 - Nov 5 | DJR |
Perhaps the best thing about this result is the comeuppance for the millionaires, billionaires, tech barons, law firms, media organisations and politicians who pandered to Trump. And maybe it will lead to some welcome regulation of AI.
https://www.theguardian.com/te |  | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 12:45 - Nov 5 | nrb1985 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 11:52 - Nov 5 by DJR |
Perhaps the best thing about this result is the comeuppance for the millionaires, billionaires, tech barons, law firms, media organisations and politicians who pandered to Trump. And maybe it will lead to some welcome regulation of AI.
https://www.theguardian.com/te |
You may wish to have a look at how those tech stocks (ex Musk) performed yesterday.
Fairly good argument to say slowing in AI spend will be incredibly profitable for them - in the near term at least. | | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 13:10 - Nov 5 | iamatractorboy |
| The Midterms 2026 on 18:17 - Nov 4 by You_Bloo_Right |
" ... a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America."
Say what now?!
You mean Trump's Press Secretary du jour is not monitoring every TWTD post?
Ham out!! |
If Phil could grow a nice blonde do he'd have half a chance. | | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 13:44 - Nov 5 | DJR |
| The Midterms 2026 on 12:45 - Nov 5 by nrb1985 |
You may wish to have a look at how those tech stocks (ex Musk) performed yesterday.
Fairly good argument to say slowing in AI spend will be incredibly profitable for them - in the near term at least. |
Whatever happens, people like that are never going to need a begging bowl, and I suppose they have no real shame anyway.
But things have come to a sorry state when Anthropic's IPO concedes that advanced systems could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.” [Post edited 5 Nov 14:08]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 14:47 - Nov 5 | nrb1985 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 13:44 - Nov 5 by DJR |
Whatever happens, people like that are never going to need a begging bowl, and I suppose they have no real shame anyway.
But things have come to a sorry state when Anthropic's IPO concedes that advanced systems could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.” [Post edited 5 Nov 14:08]
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I agree with your sentiments.
On anthropic specifically however, they have to create hype around an IPO - I would take what they say with a pinch of salt for now. | | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 19:09 - Nov 5 | StokieBlue |
| The Midterms 2026 on 15:49 - Nov 5 by DJR |
Happy to bow to your superior financial knowledge.
But I'm trying to catch up with a subscription to the digital edition of the FT, and I have been interested in recent articles about credit default swaps in connection with AI companies, including this article.
https://www.ft.com/content/67d
"AI is making CDS great again
Credit-default swaps have been making a steady comeback in recent years, as Alphaville has periodically noted with delight. But it has taken the AI frenzy to really get the market rocking again.
CDS on a lot of big technology companies didn’t even exist a few years ago, but really took off this summer, as MainFT’s Ramsay Hodgson and Euan Healy wrote a few weeks ago:
"Investors are racing to buy credit default swaps to protect their portfolios in the event the AI boom unravels, sending trading volumes surging for an instrument that shot to prominence during the global financial crisis.
The wave of borrowing to finance trillions of dollars of AI infrastructure spending is fuelling demand for these insurance-like derivatives, which pay out if the company they are tied to defaults on its debt."
What could possibly go wrong?  [Post edited 5 Nov 15:54]
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Nothing wrong with CDS as a specific product if it's being used to hedge your positions, the issues can arise when it's used as a speculative instrument or the issuer issues too much and they can't cover the CDS obligations.
As for the vast piles of AI debt, it's quite alarming. Coreweave for instance, is sitting on a huge pile of debt which it seems unlikely they can roll unless Nvidia buy it to keep the circular trade ongoing.
SB |  |
| Avatar - M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 21:00 - Nov 5 | DJR |
| The Midterms 2026 on 19:09 - Nov 5 by StokieBlue |
Nothing wrong with CDS as a specific product if it's being used to hedge your positions, the issues can arise when it's used as a speculative instrument or the issuer issues too much and they can't cover the CDS obligations.
As for the vast piles of AI debt, it's quite alarming. Coreweave for instance, is sitting on a huge pile of debt which it seems unlikely they can roll unless Nvidia buy it to keep the circular trade ongoing.
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Mine was a jokey cross-reference to the role CDS played in the global financial crash in connection with sub-prime mortgages but who knows how it might pan out if things go pear-shaped given the huge sums involved in AI? [Post edited 5 Nov 21:15]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 21:44 - Nov 5 | DJR |
Shares can go up as well as down (and may well do so tomorrow) but this is an interesting development.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/st
"Wall Street Gets $2.5 Trillion AI Reality Check With Historic Rout of Tech Stocks
The Nasdaq composite closes in correction territory in the stock market’s worst day since last April’s tariff turmoil
Two days after the midterm elections swept a bloc of artificial-intelligence skeptics into power, the new reality slammed into Wall Street.
Thursday’s stock-market wipeout left few corners of the tech sector unscathed. Asian chip makers, Texas power producers, New Jersey compute providers, Silicon Valley software makers, contractors and data-center developers all tumbled, often in unison, in a selloff that appeared to feed on itself as the day wore on."
The interesting thing is that for the first half of 2025, the Harvard economist Jason Furman estimated that spending on AI infrastructure made up 92% of US GDP growth. In addition, the UK government has put a lot of its eggs in the AI infrastructure basket so as to achieve growth. [Post edited 6 Nov 9:54]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 23:33 - Nov 5 | BanksterDebtSlave |
| The Midterms 2026 on 18:06 - Nov 4 by Dubtractor |
To be frank, I really don't think any energy spent on arguing the difference between authoritarianism and fascism (with regard to whether Trump and co are one or the other) is useful, in the context of us being a bunch of Ipswich fans on an internet forum with zero impact on the actual events in America. [Post edited 4 Nov 18:13]
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I think I may be depressed, I can't even be arsed to down vote him anymore. |  |
| "They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches." | | Poll: | What you watching. |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 12:31 - Nov 6 | BlueandTruesince82 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 12:06 - Nov 4 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
No doubt Newsom will run. Still a bad candidate though imo. He is very popular with democrats in California, elsewhere he doesn't have loads of appeal. Independents don't really like him. He comes with a ton of baggage as well because he's been around for so long. California's reputation in the US isn't great. So many better candidates out there.
I do agree on Vance being a very weak candidate though, just don't think Newsom should be the guy. |
See Newsom has decided to commute all deathrow inmates in California to life without parole as an outgoing act.
I think that kills any realistic run at the presidency. Whatever you feel about a death sentence as a punishment the attack ads around that will kill him on a national level. Dems already seen as weaker on crime and thats a gift to any one campaigning against him in a future race. Will be interesting to see what he does now. I respect him for following his beliefs but I think its shor sighted if he really wants to take a swing at a presidential run. |  |
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| The Midterms 2026 on 16:52 - Nov 6 | nrb1985 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 21:44 - Nov 5 by DJR |
Shares can go up as well as down (and may well do so tomorrow) but this is an interesting development.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/st
"Wall Street Gets $2.5 Trillion AI Reality Check With Historic Rout of Tech Stocks
The Nasdaq composite closes in correction territory in the stock market’s worst day since last April’s tariff turmoil
Two days after the midterm elections swept a bloc of artificial-intelligence skeptics into power, the new reality slammed into Wall Street.
Thursday’s stock-market wipeout left few corners of the tech sector unscathed. Asian chip makers, Texas power producers, New Jersey compute providers, Silicon Valley software makers, contractors and data-center developers all tumbled, often in unison, in a selloff that appeared to feed on itself as the day wore on."
The interesting thing is that for the first half of 2025, the Harvard economist Jason Furman estimated that spending on AI infrastructure made up 92% of US GDP growth. In addition, the UK government has put a lot of its eggs in the AI infrastructure basket so as to achieve growth. [Post edited 6 Nov 9:54]
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The point about AI capex contribution to GDP is an interesting one and highly debated.
Given much of the AI spend goes on chips/semis/finished goods from overseas, quite a lot of people think it adds pretty much naff all to domestic GDP.
https://pwm.gs.com/nam/en-us/i [Post edited 6 Nov 17:12]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 17:02 - Nov 6 | DJR |
| The Midterms 2026 on 16:52 - Nov 6 by nrb1985 |
The point about AI capex contribution to GDP is an interesting one and highly debated.
Given much of the AI spend goes on chips/semis/finished goods from overseas, quite a lot of people think it adds pretty much naff all to domestic GDP.
https://pwm.gs.com/nam/en-us/i [Post edited 6 Nov 17:12]
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Certainly not for me to judge but I thought this statement from the interviewee is a bold one.
"My best guess for the unemployment rate (ten years from now) is that it's not going to be that different from where we are now, which is 4.1%."
EDIT: this is the source of the 92% claim which does only relate to a specific period which must have included the imposition of tariffs.
[Post edited 6 Nov 17:13]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 17:07 - Nov 6 | J2BLUE |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:02 - Nov 6 by DJR |
Certainly not for me to judge but I thought this statement from the interviewee is a bold one.
"My best guess for the unemployment rate (ten years from now) is that it's not going to be that different from where we are now, which is 4.1%."
EDIT: this is the source of the 92% claim which does only relate to a specific period which must have included the imposition of tariffs.
[Post edited 6 Nov 17:13]
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It's an incredible call.
Especially in the same week as this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/1 | | | |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:07 - Nov 6 | nrb1985 |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:02 - Nov 6 by DJR |
Certainly not for me to judge but I thought this statement from the interviewee is a bold one.
"My best guess for the unemployment rate (ten years from now) is that it's not going to be that different from where we are now, which is 4.1%."
EDIT: this is the source of the 92% claim which does only relate to a specific period which must have included the imposition of tariffs.
[Post edited 6 Nov 17:13]
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All you have is history as a guide.
The evidence suggests that from the steam engine to the printing press, ultimately new technologies generally produce more jobs not less.
I assume that's what they're leaning on. People can disagree with that of course but the last few centuries would probably support that thesis I guess? [Post edited 6 Nov 17:16]
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| The Midterms 2026 on 17:18 - Nov 6 | DJR |
| The Midterms 2026 on 17:07 - Nov 6 by nrb1985 |
All you have is history as a guide.
The evidence suggests that from the steam engine to the printing press, ultimately new technologies generally produce more jobs not less.
I assume that's what they're leaning on. People can disagree with that of course but the last few centuries would probably support that thesis I guess? [Post edited 6 Nov 17:16]
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Maybe he's just hoping to keep his job.
Or maybe it's not in the interests of Goldman Sachs to say anything different in what could be said to be a puff piece. [Post edited 6 Nov 17:20]
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