Donald Trump Lost Money and Paid No Taxes. How Do You Feel?

[AGBF]

"The New York Times" published an article showing that Donald Trump paid no taxes for eight years out of a ten year period between 1985 and 1994. He is obviously a very wealthy man who lives a life of great privilege. It bothers me that he does not have to contribute to the public welfare. I feel that the system was rigged even before the so-called "tax cut" which was a tax cut only for the rich. How do you feel?

Here are a couple of small excerpts fro the article.

"The data — printouts from Mr. Trump’s official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form, the 1040, for the years 1985 to 1994 — represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president’s taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career — an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse."

"Over all, Mr. Trump lost so much money that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years. It is not known whether the I.R.S. later required changes after audits."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/07/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html

 

[AGBF]

I liked Stephen Colbert's take on the issue.

 

[tkyasx78]

I don't see this as being anything new. he has bragged about his criminal tax avoidance for years, refuses to release his tax returns, even if it is illegal ( he has his secretary mnuchin, is hiding them for him in violation of the law ) and he is and always has been a chronic liar and repulsive conman.

trump is a liar, cheat and conman, ALWAYS HAS BEEN and has not changed. Frankly I would be shocked if he ever followed the law and succeeded in business. he screwed anyone and everyone he could when building his properties. He cannot be trusted to pay even when he had a contract in writing.

How do I feel about it? Exactly the same as I did yesterday and last year. I don't need papers to tell me about his character. He showed us who he was already.

 

[bludiva]

i feel zero percent surprised

 

[soxfan]

He's a hypocritical scumbag.

 

[missy]

i feel zero percent surprised

He's a hypocritical scumbag.

I don't see this as being anything new. he has bragged about his criminal tax avoidance for years, refuses to release his tax returns, even if it is illegal ( he has his secretary mnuchin, is hiding them for him in violation of the law ) and he is and always has been a chronic liar and repulsive conman.

trump is a liar, cheat and conman, ALWAYS HAS BEEN and has not changed. Frankly I would be shocked if he ever followed the law and succeeded in business. he screwed anyone and everyone he could when building his properties. He cannot be trusted to pay even when he had a contract in writing.

How do I feel about it? Exactly the same as I did yesterday and last year. I don't need papers to tell me about his character. He showed us who he was already.

Yes this is how I feel.

 

[stracci2000]

I can't wait till he's gone.
I don't know how long it will take, but the day will come.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Not surprised.
“Only the little people pay taxes.”—Leona Helmsley, before she went to prison.
She failed to bribe the right people.

 

[bludiva]

Not surprised.
“Only the little people pay taxes.”—Leona Helmsley, before she went to prison.
She failed to bribe the right people.

This attitude of only suckers and wage slaves pay taxes is what upended economies in greece, spain, italy, etc....companies & individuals with means & opportunity avoid paying their fair share; those who depend on a normal paycheck are taxed further to compensate even though they can afford it least; self-reinforcing cycle that can spiral out of control. we seem to be well on our way....

 

[Maria D]

i feel zero percent surprised

came here to say this but you beat me to it

 

[bludiva]

came here to say this but you beat me to it

(gotta laugh so i don't cry when it comes to this stuff!)

 

[missy]

 

[mrs-b]

Superior. I feel superior to him. By every worth-while comparative method possible.

As every even vaguely moral and mentally sound person should.

 

[arkieb1]

The man was refused entry into Australia before he became the president because of his criminal activities, one countries scumbag is another's leader..... which IMHO says more about who you are (national identity wise) and what you are willingly to accept and overlook than Aussies. In our country if our Prime Minister had a fraction of the controversies Trump has attached they would have been sacked and removed by their own political parties or there would have been a national outcry until that person was removed from office.

What I find amazing is the amount of Trumps minions, lawyers, advisors, etc going to jail or that have been convicted or proven to have acted illegally yet Trump himself thusfar remains untouchable. And even worst still when it comes to things like taxes and breaking your laws he KNOWS he is untouchable.... his personal arrogance will hopefully one day be his downfall.

 

[House Cat]

I think Trump losing 1.7 billion dollars and paying no taxes is somehow Obama’s fault. Hillary probably emailed Obama on her unsecured server and that caused a chain reaction that made Trump lose money in all of his various businesses. Trump is an angel sent from heaven and he will save this country.

 

[AGBF]

I think Trump losing 1.7 billion dollars and paying no taxes is somehow Obama’s fault. Hillary probably emailed Obama on her unsecured server and that caused a chain reaction that made Trump lose money in all of his various businesses. Trump is an angel sent from heaven and he will save this country.

Thank you for this astute reply, House Cat. Finally somebody hit the nail on the head. I hope that the new Attorney General, Bill Barr, investigates Hillary Clinton for this crime, and that before he does, he will lock her up.

Your friend,
Deb

 

[doberman]

I've heard several accounts over the years of Trump refusing to pay contractors or paying them pennies on the dollar for services. And the word was that Trump lost big money in AC. So none of this is a surprise. The man is as phony and fake as they come......but he is also Teflon. Nothing seems to stick to him, even when his closest associates and business partners are spattered with mud or sitting in jail.

And people continue to buy the successful businessman image as he supports his lifestyle on his father's fortune.

 

[yssie]

Superior. I feel superior to him. By every worth-while comparative method possible.

As every even vaguely moral and mentally sound person should.

Oh, you stable genius, you.

 

[mrs-b]

Laughing.....

Why yes! Yes, I am.

(...and you ain't bad yourself, either!)

 

[Tekate]

As a native NYer and liver in NYC for a few years too, I find nothing unusual in his lying, cheating ways, because I grew up reading about him and his father. I feel the country is rigged for the very very rich, and the very rich, and the rich rich. Me, I'm living on a fixed income basically, I PAY. My son had to pay 1,800 dollars and had never paid before, he was one of the screwed by Trump Taxes BS lying crap. When I had my sons in 87 and 91 IBM paid for EVERYTHING, 2 Csects, the whole deal, my son's wife had a natural birth, no pitocin, she did have an epidural (and I applaud her for that), in 2 days and out and they owe 4K to the birthing center, the obgyn on call was in the room for 1hr and 40 mins of pushing before Autumn arrived.. the ob-gyn nurse deserves a hell of a lot more money than the doctor if we just go hourly. Something is very wrong in America. (not that the Europeans are doing a hell of a lot better, they are going too much to the right too).

All I can say is: VOTE BLUE.

 

[AGBF]

As a native NYer and liver in NYC for a few years too, I find nothing unusual in his lying, cheating ways, because I grew up reading about him and his father. I feel the country is rigged for the very very rich, and the very rich, and the rich rich. Me, I'm living on a fixed income basically, I PAY. My son had to pay 1,800 dollars and had never paid before, he was one of the screwed by Trump Taxes BS lying crap. When I had my sons in 87 and 91 IBM paid for EVERYTHING, 2 Csects, the whole deal, my son's wife had a natural birth, no pitocin, she did have an epidural (and I applaud her for that), in 2 days and out and they owe 4K to the birthing center, the obgyn on call was in the room for 1hr and 40 mins of pushing before Autumn arrived.. the ob-gyn nurse deserves a hell of a lot more money than the doctor if we just go hourly. Something is very wrong in America. (not that the Europeans are doing a hell of a lot better, they are going too much to the right too).

All I can say is: VOTE BLUE.

Off the main topic, but on this topic: I am finally watching "Call The Midwife". Have you seen it? I mentioned it to one of my best friends, who lives in California, in our monthly phone call and she apologized for not having told me about it before I learned about it on Pricescope!

 

[partgypsy]

I have heard that most of his debt is held by foreign entities (think Russia, Saudi). I feel that this makes him vulnerable to being manipulated, especially as unlike any recent president, he refused to divest from businesses before he became president. As you may have recalled, Trump broke many long standing traditions in not releasing his tax returns and also not separating himself from businesses before assuming presidency. As a matter of course, anyone who is a Federal employee needs to follow a set of rules. For some reason, Trump does not feel these rules apply to them. There's no precedent for this. The director of the office of ethics ended up resigning over this, because while they oversee the rules, they have no power to enforce them. Various Republicans have control over enforcement, have done nothing. https://www.npr.org/2017/07/06/5357...shaub-resigns-saying-rules-need-to-be-tougher

In the same way, Trump's has pushed through many political appointees who have troubling conflict of interests, before obtaining the minimum levels of ethics compliance. All it means, these people are working for themselves, or the special interests they are beholden to, rather than the American people.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/

 

[Dancing Fire]

, my son's wife had a natural birth, no pitocin, she did have an epidural (and I applaud her for that), in 2 days and out and they owe 4K to the birthing center,

If she was an illegal immigrant it would be "free". Don't you love our system?

 

[AGBF]

If she was an illegal immigrant it would be "free". Don't you love our system?

If she were an illegal immigrant, she might not seek medical attention.

 

[OboeGal]

I have heard that most of his debt is held by foreign entities (think Russia, Saudi). I feel that this makes him vulnerable to being manipulated, especially as unlike any recent president, he refused to divest from businesses before he became president. As you may have recalled, Trump broke many long standing traditions in not releasing his tax returns and also not separating himself from businesses before assuming presidency. As a matter of course, anyone who is a Federal employee needs to follow a set of rules. For some reason, Trump does not feel these rules apply to them. There's no precedent for this. The director of the office of ethics ended up resigning over this, because while they oversee the rules, they have no power to enforce them. Various Republicans have control over enforcement, have done nothing. https://www.npr.org/2017/07/06/5357...shaub-resigns-saying-rules-need-to-be-tougher

In the same way, Trump's has pushed through many political appointees who have troubling conflict of interests, before obtaining the minimum levels of ethics compliance. All it means, these people are working for themselves, or the special interests they are beholden to, rather than the American people.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/

I can say, as someone with some past experience with security clearances, that having debt held by foreign entities would almost certainly have knocked any of us "commoners" from getting a clearance, let alone being in that kind of position. Would have been considered way too much of a security risk. In fact, come to think of it, even having that level of debt at all would have been considered an issue.

As far as complying with rules, a few months ago I heard an interview on NPR with a woman who had undertaken the task of really trying to get a feel for how the really incredibly rich think. It was distressing, to say the least. She found it be pervasive that they honestly to their very cores believe that rules don't apply to them, whether they be national laws, international regulations, or cultural norms/expectations. Of course, others cater to that. She rode along in shock as they would climb in a private jet, fly to another country, climb out, and go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted without even needing to carry a passport or ID, let alone show it to anyone, and without regard to laws or customs in their destination. It was as if they see the whole world as their own backyard where they can do as they please with impunity. She also observed that they didn't seem to be close to or particularly value any other humans, and certainly not trust any, other than perhaps their wealth advisors, which is quite an elite group as well. This attitude didn't just extend to strangers, but to some degree to their own spouses, lovers, children, and other family. They seemed, in conjunction with the belief that rules don't apply to them, to believe that they were genuinely superior to all others to some degree, and completely deserving of their status - as if they are another wholly superior species than the rest of us.

 

[Gussie]

I can say, as someone with some past experience with security clearances, that having debt held by foreign entities would almost certainly have knocked any of us "commoners" from getting a clearance, let alone being in that kind of position. Would have been considered way too much of a security risk. In fact, come to think of it, even having that level of debt at all would have been considered an issue.

As far as complying with rules, a few months ago I heard an interview on NPR with a woman who had undertaken the task of really trying to get a feel for how the really incredibly rich think. It was distressing, to say the least. She found it be pervasive that they honestly to their very cores believe that rules don't apply to them, whether they be national laws, international regulations, or cultural norms/expectations. Of course, others cater to that. She rode along in shock as they would climb in a private jet, fly to another country, climb out, and go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted without even needing to carry a passport or ID, let alone show it to anyone, and without regard to laws or customs in their destination. It was as if they see the whole world as their own backyard where they can do as they please with impunity. She also observed that they didn't seem to be close to or particularly value any other humans, and certainly not trust any, other than perhaps their wealth advisors, which is quite an elite group as well. This attitude didn't just extend to strangers, but to some degree to their own spouses, lovers, children, and other family. They seemed, in conjunction with the belief that rules don't apply to them, to believe that they were genuinely superior to all others to some degree, and completely deserving of their status - as if they are another wholly superior species than the rest of us.

This has been my 1st hand experience with the uber wealthy as well.

 

[Dancing Fire]

If she were an illegal immigrant, she might not seek medical attention.

So all those illegal immigrants coming across the border to have babies must be fake news?

 

[AGBF]

So all those illegal immigrants coming across the border to have babies must be fake news?

Did Donald Trump put out a tweet and say the "caravan" of people that fled Central America was filled with women all ready to give birth in the United States? I thought it was filled with members of MS13. I don't think MS13 takes expectant mothers. They're rather macho and brutal.

AGBF

 

[bludiva]

It's filled with the scapegoat du jour :roll the past two years has taught me that we've let our school systems rot to a point of systemic failure and failed to teach a generation or more some basic and essential skills like critical thinking and how to have a debate.

Did Donald Trump put out a tweet and say the "caravan" of people that fled Central America was filled with women all ready to give birth in the United States? I thought it was filled with members of MS13. I don't think MS13 takes expectant mothers. They're rather macho and brutal.

AGBF

 

[Dancing Fire]

Did Donald Trump put out a tweet and say the "caravan" of people that fled Central America was filled with women all ready to give birth in the United States? I thought it was filled with members of MS13. I don't think MS13 takes expectant mothers. They're rather macho and brutal.

AGBF

Deb, As you know this been happening long before Trump became Prez.