Tom Brown pointed me to yet another very good Jennifer Rubin post. Hillary is going to do very well with Jennifer Rubiin Republicans-particularly of her gender. I've got to make Ms. Rubin part of my regular reading list.
"Furthermore, Trump is hugely vulnerable for many reasons, not the least of which is his refusal to turn over his tax returns after promising to do so. The Post reports, “Six in 10 independents believe Trump should release his taxes, and almost all of them say they feel strongly about it. Even 44 percent of Republicans want the billionaire businessman to release his returns before the November election, though they are less passionate.” Now that we know he paid zero tax in at least a couple of years, interest in his recent returns will only heighten. Hillary Clinton has already gone on offense, making a very persuasive argument: “If you’ve got someone running for president who is afraid to release his tax returns because it will expose the fact that he pays no federal income tax, that’s a big problem.” Twisting the knife, Clinton dared Trump to “prove that he actually has the level of success he claims to have.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/05/23/reluctant-pro-trump-republicans-are-kidding-themselves/
As far as Trump's tax returns there are all kinds of questions begged. To start:
1. How many years has he paid zero in taxes? Note I'm not even asking 'If there are any years he hasn't paid taxes' I presume there have been a number of them.
He wants to prove me wrong? Then he should: release his taxes,
2. Just how much money does he have? The tax returns will at least give us some clues-though we also really need to see his bank statements.
Is this too much to ask? Well asking Americans to elect you to the highest office in the land, in any land is too much if you won't even meet a bar of transparency set by Richard Nixon.
There's a campaign slogan for you: less transparent than Nixon. And you call Hillary the crooked one? But no one is going to take his word on this.
3. Another question is just how many mob ties does he have?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910
4. Or, how many illegal immigrants has he used on building his properties?
I would take the under for number 2, but the over on the rest.
But let's not digress. Staying just with his taxes there's a lot to talk about. Heck, books can be filled:
"While Trump’s iconic (but relatively modest) real estate portfolio hasn’t actually allowed him to claim membership in the top tier of major New York real estate developers for decades now -- based on the square footage or value of the properties he’s owned and brought to market -- the new personal finance disclosure did give him the opportunity to put more public clothing on his finances."
"What were the “incredible” numbers the presumptive Republican presidential nominee disclosed in the new filing? More than $557 million in “income,” up from $362 million he disclosed in an FEC document filed last July. Hold on, though."
"In a press release, the Trump team also described that $557 million as “revenue.” To be clear, “income” is meant to be the amount of money Trump puts in his own pocket each year and “revenue" is the amount of money his businesses pull in (before expenses and other goodies that reside above the bottom line). As he did in his July release, Trump appears to be conflating income and revenue in his public disclosures."
"These figures also look a little odd when paired with reporting from Crain’s Aaron Elstein, which showed that Trump received a New York State tax break reserved for households with annual incomes of $500,000 or less. Trump received the breaks automatically because he was on a list of eligible recipients. “Could a reason be that his income in certain years was actually under the $500,000 threshold?” Elstein asked. “No one who knows will say.” (Trump’s representatives and state officials agree that taking the break was a mistake.)"
"Trump also noted in the press release this week that his net worth had recently ballooned to an unspecified figure “in excess of $10 billion.” That’s soared handsomely from the $8.7 billion he said he was worth when he announced his presidential run last June, and the $10 billion he said he was worth only a month after that. It’s also far more than the $2.9 billion figure that my Bloomberg News colleague Caleb Melbyarrived at after reviewing Trump’s holdings in July."
"Trump, who flirted with personal bankruptcy in the early ’90s, has never publicly offered an independently vetted assessment of all his debts. Indeed, much of the financial information he discloses is self-reported. Until that changes, there’s a good chance that a strong dose of grade inflation runs through all of the net worth figures cited above."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-05-20/trump-s-financial-report-that-s-rich
There is a way out of this culdesac. Release his tax returns and show even a basic, Nixonian level of transparency.
"Furthermore, Trump is hugely vulnerable for many reasons, not the least of which is his refusal to turn over his tax returns after promising to do so. The Post reports, “Six in 10 independents believe Trump should release his taxes, and almost all of them say they feel strongly about it. Even 44 percent of Republicans want the billionaire businessman to release his returns before the November election, though they are less passionate.” Now that we know he paid zero tax in at least a couple of years, interest in his recent returns will only heighten. Hillary Clinton has already gone on offense, making a very persuasive argument: “If you’ve got someone running for president who is afraid to release his tax returns because it will expose the fact that he pays no federal income tax, that’s a big problem.” Twisting the knife, Clinton dared Trump to “prove that he actually has the level of success he claims to have.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/05/23/reluctant-pro-trump-republicans-are-kidding-themselves/
As far as Trump's tax returns there are all kinds of questions begged. To start:
1. How many years has he paid zero in taxes? Note I'm not even asking 'If there are any years he hasn't paid taxes' I presume there have been a number of them.
He wants to prove me wrong? Then he should: release his taxes,
2. Just how much money does he have? The tax returns will at least give us some clues-though we also really need to see his bank statements.
Is this too much to ask? Well asking Americans to elect you to the highest office in the land, in any land is too much if you won't even meet a bar of transparency set by Richard Nixon.
There's a campaign slogan for you: less transparent than Nixon. And you call Hillary the crooked one? But no one is going to take his word on this.
3. Another question is just how many mob ties does he have?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910
4. Or, how many illegal immigrants has he used on building his properties?
I would take the under for number 2, but the over on the rest.
But let's not digress. Staying just with his taxes there's a lot to talk about. Heck, books can be filled:
"While Trump’s iconic (but relatively modest) real estate portfolio hasn’t actually allowed him to claim membership in the top tier of major New York real estate developers for decades now -- based on the square footage or value of the properties he’s owned and brought to market -- the new personal finance disclosure did give him the opportunity to put more public clothing on his finances."
"What were the “incredible” numbers the presumptive Republican presidential nominee disclosed in the new filing? More than $557 million in “income,” up from $362 million he disclosed in an FEC document filed last July. Hold on, though."
"In a press release, the Trump team also described that $557 million as “revenue.” To be clear, “income” is meant to be the amount of money Trump puts in his own pocket each year and “revenue" is the amount of money his businesses pull in (before expenses and other goodies that reside above the bottom line). As he did in his July release, Trump appears to be conflating income and revenue in his public disclosures."
"These figures also look a little odd when paired with reporting from Crain’s Aaron Elstein, which showed that Trump received a New York State tax break reserved for households with annual incomes of $500,000 or less. Trump received the breaks automatically because he was on a list of eligible recipients. “Could a reason be that his income in certain years was actually under the $500,000 threshold?” Elstein asked. “No one who knows will say.” (Trump’s representatives and state officials agree that taking the break was a mistake.)"
"Trump also noted in the press release this week that his net worth had recently ballooned to an unspecified figure “in excess of $10 billion.” That’s soared handsomely from the $8.7 billion he said he was worth when he announced his presidential run last June, and the $10 billion he said he was worth only a month after that. It’s also far more than the $2.9 billion figure that my Bloomberg News colleague Caleb Melbyarrived at after reviewing Trump’s holdings in July."
"Trump, who flirted with personal bankruptcy in the early ’90s, has never publicly offered an independently vetted assessment of all his debts. Indeed, much of the financial information he discloses is self-reported. Until that changes, there’s a good chance that a strong dose of grade inflation runs through all of the net worth figures cited above."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-05-20/trump-s-financial-report-that-s-rich
There is a way out of this culdesac. Release his tax returns and show even a basic, Nixonian level of transparency.
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