New York Times has Trump's taxes!

[yankees60]

Just recently I stated that I did not see it happening as an IRS leak but others pointed out how a tax return could get leaked via other in possession of those tax return.

But the New York did obtain and has released an analysis of Trump's tax returns.

Vinny

An Editor’s Note on the Trump Tax Investigation

The New York Times has examined decades of President Trump’s financial records, assembling the most comprehensive picture yet of his business dealings.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/us/t ... tw-nytimes

The President’s Taxes

Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

Charting an Empire: A Timeline of Trump’s Finances

18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records

[doodle]

Sadly, it doesn't even matter. They could find the the bodies of 1000 missing persons locked away in his safe in Trump tower and the Techno's of the world wouldn't bat an eye. You ever tried to have a rational discussion regarding the Bible with a religious person? There is absolutely nothing you can say that will change their mind. Unfortunately, that is the state of politics in this country as well.

[yankees60]

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[doodle]

So I guess I pay more taxes than our billionaire president. God bless the USA

[I Shrugged]

Sadly, it doesn't even matter. They could find the the bodies of 1000 missing persons locked away in his safe in Trump tower and the Techno's of the world wouldn't bat an eye. You ever tried to have a rational discussion regarding the Bible with a religious person? There is absolutely nothing you can say that will change their mind. Unfortunately, that is the state of politics in this country as well.

I just got done reading it. There is not much allegation of wrong doing. The one I recall is that it's likely Ivanka was paid consulting fees that became losses to Trump. But on the other hand, presumably it was income (and taxable) to Ivanka. The central complaint is that Trump must have made a lot of money but paid little to no taxes. Every point seemed to be explained by how it is legally possible. So you the voter have to decide if it's disqualifying, as far as holding public office.

The bigger picture to me is that this illustrates how crappy the tax code is. I'm sure there are many people using the same loopholes as Trump. After all he didn't come up with the maneuvers on his own. He must have his small army of tax lawyers working on it. Same as all the other billionaires and mega millionaires.

Another tactic popular in some entrepreneurial circles is to take chances with other people's money, and if the venture fails, walk away. A free market should be able to deal with this. But it seems there are always people looking to lend or invest into these ventures. So anyway, it's not my or your problem if people lend or invest with Trump in ventures that fail. He must have some success. Otherwise he wouldn't have anything to show for it, and lenders and investors would indeed stop supplying him.

I don't hold the business failures against him. Again this is a common entrepreneurial strategy. Start 10 businesses and hope 1 or 2 are home runs. The others fail, so the money people pull the plug and move on. We ordinary thinkers might feel this is immoral, but it's commonly viewed as a mark of success. The same logic is applied by venture capital people.

Again, simplify the tax code.

[I Shrugged]

So I guess I pay more taxes than our billionaire president. God bless the USA

Well you pay more income taxes. As mentioned in the story, he pays millions in other taxes. I'm assuming that puts him ahead of you.

[I Shrugged]

He might be the only president in the modern era who understands the tax code. LOL.
Which still goes to my point of simplification. We should all be able to understand the tax code.

[yankees60]

He might be the only president in the modern era who understands the tax code. LOL.
Which still goes to my point of simplification. We should all be able to understand the tax code.

He pays extremely high legal fees to those who understand the code.

Vinny

[yankees60]

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[I Shrugged]

He might be the only president in the modern era who understands the tax code. LOL.
Which still goes to my point of simplification. We should all be able to understand the tax code.

He pays extremely high legal fees to those who understand the code.

Vinny

Sure. But both things can be right.

[yankees60]

He might be the only president in the modern era who understands the tax code. LOL.
Which still goes to my point of simplification. We should all be able to understand the tax code.

He pays extremely high legal fees to those who understand the code.

Vinny

Sure. But both things can be right.

He understands it enough to presumably accept the advice of his highly paid advisors.

Vinny

[Mark Leavy]

I think it's pretty obvious who the leaker is here.

Based on the amount of abject lawlessness that these returns reveal...
Based on the amount of foreign influence disclosed...
Based on how bad we all know that this...

All of the clues point to only one suspect.

John Miller

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[yankees60]

I think it's pretty obvious who the leaker is here.

Based on the amount of abject lawlessness that these returns reveal...
Based on the amount of foreign influence disclosed...
Based on how bad we all know that this...

All of the clues point to only one suspect.

John Miller

JohnMiller.jpg

!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD one!

Vinny

[Libertarian666]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

[Kbg]

I’m not a Trump fan, but imagine that. The story just happens to break a couple of days before the first debate. Totally a coincidence I am sure.

[yankees60]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny

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[glennds]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny


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I guess we'll have to see.
A lot of people are saying.....

What's ironic is that for such a scumbag, convicted felon, disbarred attorney, Michael Cohen's lies about Trump's tax returns were right on the money (or lack thereof).
Although when a liar's lies turn out to be true, he can only be incompetent. Truly.

[Libertarian666]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny


Capture.JPG

Speculation and innuendo. No evidence of any wrongdoing.

Just as I said.

[Libertarian666]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny

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What if I told you about a person who has the following financial status:

1. No taxable income in the last four years
2. Spends $6,000 a month for living expenses
3. Has $250,000 in credit lines from major banks

He must be a crook, right?

I'm glad you're not my accountant.

[doodle]

I am not a tax attorney so can't comment to legality. However, I can say that our tax code like everything in this country is being manipulated by wealthy elite like Donald Trump. It's obvious that there are a lot of shenanigans going on...like paying massive consulting fees to family members on construction projects to reduce tax bills. I get it, the Democrats haven't been any better at addressing these issues...and they have pushed people like Bernie Sanders aside who would address these issues.....frankly our country sucks as our political system no longer serves the interests of the people but rather wealthy corporate interests....

[yankees60]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny

Capture.JPG

What if I told you about a person who has the following financial status:

1. No taxable income in the last four years
2. Spends $6,000 a month for living expenses
3. Has $250,000 in credit lines from major banks

He must be a crook, right?

I'm glad you're not my accountant.

No response to a prototypical strawman argument...and typically based upon false assumption.

Vinny

[Cortopassi]

I think the major impact (if there's any impact at all) of Trump's taxes is that the common folk, the people who support him, the blue collar men and women, generally do not have access to the resources he does to finagle their taxes lower.

As well, I'm sure Pritzker in IL will also find ways to shield his income from the "fair" tax in IL if it passes.

It's the rich get richer thing and the little guy gets screwed.

I don't know how Trump has managed it. He continues to somehow make his supporters think he's out for them, he's the underdog, he's still the outsider. But he's been a screw everyone except my family insider for most of his life.

[I Shrugged]

So, back to the taxes. The whole promise was that this would tie Trump to illegal activities with Russia.
Right?

Now, is it good that our president has financial arrangements and obligations all around the world, or even extensively within the US?
Probably not. But it's not illegal.

Should we/ How do we prevent that in the future?

[Libertarian666]

So it's another double nothingburger with a side of lies.
Imagine my shock.

Yes....aside from this....nothing....

Vinny

Capture.JPG

What if I told you about a person who has the following financial status:

1. No taxable income in the last four years
2. Spends $6,000 a month for living expenses
3. Has $250,000 in credit lines from major banks

He must be a crook, right?

I'm glad you're not my accountant.

No response to a prototypical strawman argument...and typically based upon false assumption.

Vinny

You are pathetic. Back to the ignore list.

[glennds]

Now, is it good that our president has financial arrangements and obligations all around the world, or even extensively within the US?
Probably not. But it's not illegal.

Should we/ How do we prevent that in the future?

Perhaps one of the root issues here is that our US society has devolved to a point where whether something is legal or not is our sole litmus test for whether something is right or wrong.
I am not convinced that such was the case at the time the Constitution was framed.

The often venerated framers of the Constitution were very intelligent men, but not super humans. As human beings they were imperfect and capable of errors. They did not have the ability to see into the future.
I think they assumed the election process itself would screen out a person who was fraudulent, corrupt, a pathological liar and a criminal, from ever making it to the office of President. Even then, I think their expectation might have been that tradition, convention, and common sense ethical standards might be relied upon to some degree.
Thus, a lot of the expectations many of us take for granted have simply never been codified into law or regulation. An opportunistic person can see these gaps and take advantage of them.
Apparently that needs to change and sadly, the answer to your question is more laws, more specific regulations.