The Lasting Impact of Citizens United, How to Ask for a Raise at Work, and When Is It the Right Time to Have Kids?

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1:23Download today. Welcome to Office Hours with Rob G. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehoursofproptmedia.com. Again, that's officehoursofproptmedia.com. So with that, first question.

1:46Scott, hey, long-time listener. My name is Doug. I'm an environmental consultant, and I work on biodiversity and climate change issues across the U.S., often involving public-private partnerships. I really appreciate your recent comments with regard to the interaction between businesses and politics and how unequal society has become. I'm wondering, is there a way for a business leader such as yourself to get together and work to reverse Citizens United to provide some rational guardrails on campaign finance? Maybe you can call yourselves the Super Friends. Thanks so much. Ah, the Super Friends.

2:22I like that. If I were a superhero, I think my power would be, what is my power? I don't know, the ability to pee three or four times in any given evening. It's like I wake up and I don't even think, oh, why am I waking up? I know I'm waking up. It's my bladder going, hey, your prostate's the size of a fucking grapefruit. And it says it's time to pee, even if it's not time to pee. Anyways, isn't that exciting? Isn't that why you come here? So Citizens United, you could argue if you were to reverse engineer a lot of the problems we have, It's, well, okay, it's that we send crazies. The majority of people in America now identify as independent, are somewhere in the middle on most issues, and kind of think, okay, we can accommodate both sides and sort of come to some sort of agreement.

3:03Instead, we send far-left crazies and far-right crazies. In addition, because the incumbents can raise a lot more money and because there's no caps on how much money they can raise, it creates more and more incumbency. And not only that, corporations are now considered people, or money is considered voice. in free speech, such that if you're the pharmaceutical lobby and you want to give a bunch of money to a candidate, or better yet, the private equity lobby, and you give$800 ,000 to Senator Kyrsten Sinema such that she is a holdout and says, I won't pass. I'll be the swing vote against the infrastructure bill unless you pull out this loophole such that some of the wealthiest people in the world, private equity billionaires, maintain carried interest loophole where they get long-term capital gains or they get a lower tax rate on what is essentially a commission, whereas if you sell a car and get a commission, you pay a much higher tax rate.

3:49This is nothing but pure grift for the rich that has been weaponized. So unless we put some sort of campaign finance limits on this and de-gerrymander these districts, it's just not going to get better. There's other things you could do, rank choice voting, final five, where it's not just the crazies, it's people who are across the spectrum. Lisa Murkowski is a fantastic moderate senator from Alaska. Why? Because they have final five voting in Alaska, where everybody votes for the first, second, third and fourth candidate, and the lower ones get kicked out, and the other ones get votes. So you end up with the moderates have a shot, if you will.

4:24Anyways, back to Citizens United. Following the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited money on political campaigns, independent political spending surged. Over the past decade, election-related spending by non-party independent groups skyrocketed to get this$4.5 billion compared to just$750 million 20 years prior. So it's up about sixfold. Additionally, political campaigns are now spending more than ever. Between the presidential and congressional races, American political candidates spent a total of$16 billion this past election cycle. The overwhelming impact of Citizens United could be addressed in a few ways.

5:00The Supreme Court could revisit the decision. Good luck with that. Congress could propose a new amendment to limit corporate political spending, but the majority of them are such whores, why would they want to shut off the spigot, right? Congress could pass laws to increase funding transparency and cut off communication between campaigns and super PACs. We need to work around here. If the Supreme Court isn't going to overturn Citizens United, we're going to have to come up with a bunch of hacks such that money gets out of D.C. Because if you look at the fact that we pay twice as much as any other G7 nation for health care, despite the fact we have lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher rates of obesity, you can directly go to the weaponization of our elected representatives buy money from pharmaceutical, the health industrial complex, hospital systems, et cetera.

5:48So money in politics has been a real cancer. And I think your question is the correct one. Last night, I watched Senator Michael Bennett give what I thought was just an outstanding grilling of RFK Jr., who's up for health and human services. Oh, that's a good idea. Let's have an anti-vax conspiracy theorist decide the health care of our children. That makes sense. That makes sense. Anyways, the way I express affection or support for somebody is I send them money. So today I'm going to send money to Senator Michael Bennett. And that is, I realize I'm part of the problem, but at a minimum, if they're going to fire bazookas at us, I'm going to get a javelin missile or whatever they call it.

6:26Anyways, thanks for the question. Question number two. Hi, Professor Galloway. My name is Pete from D.C. My question is about how to ask for a raise and if it's always appropriate to do so. I'm an account executive for a medium-sized tech company and had a decent 2024, exceeding my quota by about 30%. I'd like to ask for a raise because who doesn't like or need more money, but I'd be interested in hearing about times when people ask you for raises, both when they've done it effectively and when they've done it ineffectively. Thank you. Thanks. This is a tough one. So one, I think that in a pre-interview, typically a good firm will ask you to review yourself and you will have access to management throughout the year.

7:09I think it's okay to constantly check in and say, or not constantly, but regularly check in and say, how am I doing? These are my goals for the year. I feel as if I'm hitting them. And then when you typically come in for compensation once at the end of the year, they'll give you the number. And I think it's okay to ask questions about the number. and also to express disappointment and say, you know, I don't feel as if I'm getting the type of compensation I'd hoped for or nor is warranted by my performance. Now, typically expressing that sort of disappointment won't result. I never change bonuses or decisions around raises.

7:45And I tell my employees, these decisions only happen once a year. Otherwise, there's a line in my office of people every two months thinking, oh, I just did a good job. I'm going to go in and ask for a raise or a promotion. So these discussions need to happen once a year. I think what's helpful is if you have senior level sponsorship in the organization, it's just to be very transparent saying, I'm looking to make more money here. What do you think I can do? How am I doing? And also, just to be honest with your direct report to your boss saying, I'm ambitious. I want to make more money. I want to be promoted.

8:15What do you think I need to do to get there? Instead of saying, I want more money, saying, what do you think I need to do to increase the likelihood that I'll be promoted or register an increase in compensation. And if you don't get the compensation you want, I think it's okay to say, I'm disappointed. I was expecting more. I was hoping for more. Also, at the end of the day, and there's evidence that shows this, the people who typically make more money on average are people who switch jobs every three to five years, because this is the issue with employers. You have a tendency to see employees through the lens through which they were hired.

8:50And that is we romanticize strangers. We had an editor-in-chief who I have been working with since he was 22, 25 years ago. And I see him as Jason, the recent Yale grad, who I was paying $60 ,000 a year to in 1995 or 98. And I realize now, no, he's a 40-something-year-old man who is very talented and should be making$200 ,000,$300 ,000 a year. But I still see him as Jason. And the folks who leave typically take advantage of this, how attracted we are to strangers, if you will. So if you really don't feel like you're getting good compensation or being fairly treated, I would talk to your mentor or your boss there saying, yeah, I was unhappy with my compensation.

9:34But at the end of the day, if you really are unhappy with your compensation and don't feel as if they're likely to change it, quite frankly, the easiest way to increase your compensation if you are in fact being underpaid, is to let the market decide and go out and try and find another job. And what I did every three to five years at NYU is I would get an offer from a competitor institution. And then I would go back and say, full transparency, I don't want to leave NYU, but according to whoever, Cornell or Columbia or Wharton, I'm worth this. I need you to match it. That appears to be my market rate.

10:09And quite frankly, had I not gone in and said, you have to develop your own currency. My currency was putting butts in seats. My course quickly became one of the most popular courses in the marketing department and in the school. And I would go in and say, I need more money and, or I would do a market check. So what are we going to do? We're going to check in with our boss and see how you're doing. You're going to lay out your expectations and say, or your desires that you want to get promoted and you want an increase in salary and ask for advice. How can I make sure I'm tracking for that? And if you don't get the compensation or the promotion in a very thoughtful, civilized way.

10:42So I got to be honest, I'm disappointed. And at the end of the day, you have to show a willingness to leave and that is start doing a market check if you feel you're being unfairly compensated. Appreciate the question. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us.

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13:29Welcome back. Question number three.

13:56we have started to discuss the best timing of when to have kids. We are both working in good and stable jobs, living a good life, and have been saving and investing, but by no means have our future secured. She prefers sooner rather than later, while I prefer to wait a little bit longer and prioritize our economic security and time as a couple. What are your thoughts about when to have children? What are some factors we should considering our decision. And is there any advice you could give us? I would really appreciate your opinion. Thank you. David from Mexico, this is such a personal decision.

14:33So you should take everything I say with a grain of salt, because I'm going to tell you kind of my way, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right way. I think these, at the end of the day, are decisions that you, your wife, and quite frankly, your sperm and her eggs, because sometimes it's not easy to get pregnant. And sometimes it's super easy. By the way, probably under the auspices of TMI, my girlfriend and I decided I didn't want to have kids. And she said, well, I have to have kids. Otherwise we can't be together. And I said, well, I don't want to get married. And she called my bluff and said, I don't need to get married to have kids.

15:04So we pulled the goalie and started having unprotected sex. Oh my God. And literally, I've had two kind of, I don't know what you'll call it, surreal, mystical things happen to me. One, four months after my mom passed away, she came to me and it was so real. It just felt real. And she said, I just want you to know I'm doing fine and I love you. But it was so real. It felt, I don't know even how to explain it. That's the first one of two. And the other one was after my girlfriend and I had fornicated in Vegas at CES of all places, I went into the bathroom and I came out and I knew we had just conceived a son.

15:43and I said to her, we just conceived a son. And what do you know, you know, pregnancy tests, bright blue, and now the, you know, the purpose of my life and my biggest joy is my son who's now 17 and tied for that position as the son we had three years later. It's so funny, you spend your whole life trying not to get pregnant. And then sometimes it's not easy to get pregnant. Anyways, not what you asked. Look, I'm not sure there's ever a perfect time to have kids. I would argue that it's very kind of base pillars you need in place. One is you have to have a partner that you think is competent and that you can see being with for the next 18 years at least.

16:29Because once you have kids, you're in each other's lives for 18 years. Even if you get divorced, you're in each other's lives. Some semblance of economic security. You don't have to be rich, but not strained. If you're strained now and you throw a kid into the mix, wow, that's a lot of stress. So having a little bit of economic security and some professional trajectory. If you have those things, I would err on the side of doing it because there is never a perfect time to bring this little thing into your life that's going to demand constant attention, additional cost, and a lot of unknowns. There's never a time where it's like, okay, this is definitely the time.

17:07and there really is an advantage, I think, to being a young parent. Having said that, I had kids later. It was nice to have some economic security. I was a little bit more thoughtful. Again, really personal decisions. Do you have a support group around you? Do you have family or young parents that could be involved in the kids' lives? One of my biggest blessings is that our in-laws are fairly young and they've played a hugely positive and supportive role in raising our children. So that's been a real factor. So I think there are a variety of things, but if you get to what I'd call 70 or 80%, don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

17:41And what I mean by that is if you're mostly kind of there, then I would just go there and start procreating. I just don't think there's ever a perfect time. And I have found I was sort of wandering. I don't think you have to have kids to be happy. I don't think kids are the right decision for everybody, but I I know that for me, having kids has been, you know, the first time I've ever felt a sense of purpose. So anyways, what am I saying? Get on it. Get on it. Make sweet, sweet love. Procreate. Have progeny. That's right. Progeny? That's right. Anyways, congratulations to you. A nice time in your life.

18:20That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at proptomedia.com. Again, that's officehours at propgmedia.com.

18:38This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez. Our intern is Dan Chalon. Drew Burrows is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the PropG pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network. We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn. And please follow our PropG Markets pod wherever you get your pods for new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

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