Political scandals aren't what they used to be. As a case in point, the NY Times has gone front page crazy with a story screaming that over the past few years, Donald Trump may have paid all the federal income tax he legally owed - which possibly, and only possibly, equalled "none."
Note to the apparently clueless NY Times: "Man Pays Correct Amount of Taxes" is not a scandal. In fact, it's not even interesting.
This story, which Hillary Clinton very, very coincidentally alluded to prior to its publication during the debates (perhaps the result of the psychic visions she's had since her violent head trauma), was written based on illegally obtained tax information which shows...no wrongdoing. Honest.
Rather, Trump's business lost nearly $1 billion in 1995 and IRS regulations allow all businesses to apply such financial losses to their future taxes. In this way, our government encourages businesses to grow and take risks through active investment rather than just sitting on their assets. This results in "job creation"...and Hillary is against it.
As Trump has repeatedly stated, he has been audited many times since 1995 - and the IRS (which is hardly nonpartisan) has found absolutely nothing wrong. So what's the big deal now?
The big deal is class envy, stoked to a fever pitch by the wildly (and mysteriously) wealthy Hillary, and the fact that Democrats are complete chowder heads when it comes to understanding anything at all related to business or finance. Moreover, the case against Trump is entirely speculative, unlike the known facts about the NY Times itself - which paid $0 in taxes in 2014 despite making a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million. Better still, they also got a $3.5 million tax refund paid for by working citizens who aren't lucky enough to have a legal team on staff.
Frankly, Hope n' Change is against paying even a penny more than we legally owe in taxes, and we salute Donald Trump and his accountants for having the same attitude. And let's not forget that to get his tax breaks, Trump had to lose almost a billion dollars - and we're guessing that's not a tax strategy most people would enjoy employing.
As for Hillary, we can only hope that her new slogan, "We'll Make You Pay More Than You Owe," is clearly heard by every voter in the land.
BONUS: THE YOUNG & THE BREATHLESS
Hillary's popularity with millennials continues to drop, and she wasn't helped by the recent revelation that she referred to many of them (Bernie supporters) as clueless and "living in their parents' basements." So she's pushing hard to connect with youthful voters, and is delightfully bad at it.
Which brings us to this hilarious video from Youtube star Jenna Marbles, which was brought to our attention by actual millennial Daughter Jarlsberg. We don't normally feature other people's work here on Hope n' Change, but this was just too good not to share! (Note: contains a little NSFW language)
The screeching at the end was a nice touch, but still less annoying than Hillary.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI've tried to explain to people just what you explained about Trump's taxes.
I've run businesses, and if a portion isn't doing well, then that portion is excised. If it results in a loss, then it may result in a tax deduction or credit.
However, the general public is so uninformed that they think that is somehow "cheating". And no amount of explaining changes their misinformed opinion.
It seems hopeless.
Trump for 2016,
Bill Moore
Judge Learned Hand: "Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as
ReplyDeletepossible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the
treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.
Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister
in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone
does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any
public duty to pay more than the law demands."
and
If we are to keep democracy, there must be a commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.
I'm still both astounded and stumped on how such simple truths are being so ignored. Really, how the hell is that happening? It has to be much more than people are just that stupid. Are they getting this astounding gullibility from something like cult cool aid? I need a review on how that works.
ReplyDeleteI recently related to a few people that of the several times there have been stories & features in the news about which I personally was very well acquainted with the facts, THE PRESS HAS NEVER GOTTEN THE STORY CORRECT; and that's when they were really trying. The others agreed. So fast forward... How have so many of us now come to believe all this deliberate bullshit?
Good comment Stilt, Thank you.
A certain daughter was saying that Trump didn't pay taxes for years. I explained to her that he didn't owe any. She said "but he's rich so he should pay". Oh, the shame, the embarrassment, the idiocy.
ReplyDeleteI am outraged! Trump needs to pay his fair share of liquor taxes, just like the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteDown with taxes on liquor! Drink moonshine! So there! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
ReplyDeleteThe next time Shrillary or The Dear Golfer raise this issue, simply say: "You were a USA Senator during part of that time. When you had the power, what did you do to eliminate these legal tax methods?" Nothing? Oh, then stuff it.
ReplyDelete@Mike aka Proof- Jenna Marbles is talented, but I don't see how anyone could actually be as annoying as Hillary.
ReplyDelete@Bill Moore- The explanation about business debt and tax strategy isn't that complicated, but a lot of people will never understand it because they don't want to understand it. Hillary tried a similar gambit not long ago when she said (paraphrasing here) "Trump SAYS he has a lot of money, but sources say he actually owes 600 million dollars!"
The great unwashed don't understand that a business (or an individual, for that matter) can simultaneously have assets and liabilities and so hear only that Trump is a liar and debtor - in part because Hillary is saying it like it's a horrible thing, and she's a genius, so it must be a horrible thing - right?
@James Daily- What a marvelous quote, and one that I certainly put into practice with all of my finances. Unfortunately, many people don't try to put their affairs in order to pay the least amount of taxes because they're already paying none, and so don't have the least interest in what others must do to protect themselves. To the contrary, they want those others to be sacked and pillaged to keep their own tax-free status rolling.
@Rod- Part of it is that people are "that stupid," but another big part is the class warfare rhetoric that the Left has been ginning up forever. Moreover, economic illiteracy is rampant in our country. People don't understand that taxing 15% on a million dollar salary is indeed MORE than taxing 15% of a $10,000 salary. They don't understand why capital gains taxes are lower than income taxes (hint: the government wants to encourage investment and business growth, and to get capital gains investors have to accept the risk of losing their money). They don't understand that prices really haven't gone down for health insurance just because some other poor sucker is having to pay a subsidy for your never-more-expensive policy.
It would be easy-peasy for the media to explain these things, but they don't want to. Ignorance is mother's milk to the Left.
@Fred Ciampi- My condolences about your daughter's affliction (wry grin). I think it's easy for people to lose sight of the fact that to get a billion dollars in tax write offs, you first need to lose a billion dollars. I don't care who you are, that's a deep, blood-squirting wound.
@Geoff King- The next NY Times headline will be "Donald Trump pays no liquor tax!" And you'll have to read all the way to page 7, and get out a magnifying glass, to see that it's because he doesn't drink liquor.
@Fred Ciampi- When the Moonshine Tax wars start, I want to be on your side of the Mason Jar line.
@TheOldMan- Better still, ask her if she'll change such tax laws in the future - and watch her big money donor list dry up!
Whybdo Libs not get all up in arms when one of their own dont pay their legigimate share of taxes? As I recall, didnt a certain 'Reverand' not pay hundreds of thousands or millions in income taxes? He truly needed to pay, but didnt. Trump or any other business that has good accountants to do their tax work and it is figured he/they dont need to pay and they are lambasted. So, Trump/businesses (not Democrat businesses) should pay millions in taxes even though the irs says they dont owe, just because they should? I see. What about the businesses that ship their factories overseas because the taxes are too high to do business? Are we getting their 'fair share' anymore? No. Why not lower corporate tax and keep them here? Jobs, taxes. Instead Shrillary is saying she will tax them for sending business overseas. You Democrats are the ones who put higher corproate taxes in place so they had to move. Now you want to tax them because they moved?
ReplyDeleteHow come Democrats can be richer than **** but that is ok? They can speak to the poor and young people. And only rich Republicans are evil? All of the top Democrats are rich; Hill, Bern, Lurch, Bummer, etc. What seasoned politician isnt rich?
"Ignorance is mother's milk to the Left."
ReplyDelete@Stilton Definitely the best way to summarize the situation we find ourselves in. Even if the Democrats took the time to understand the facts all they would take away is "Trump lost a LOT of money, therefore he will be a terrible leader."
Never mind Comrade Obama and the spineless wretches in Congress have DOUBLED the national debt in 8 years. The fact Democrats continue to crow about how Comrade Obama has "Cut the deficit in half" while failing to understand the way the deficit is figured and the difference between DEBT and DEFICIT. Sure overspending by half as much as you did eight years ago is better than continuing to overspend at the same rate, the fact is we are overspending at levels we were in the height of the Iraq war.
I know math is hard, but you would think someone would realize 20 trillion is too much money.
Also, for extra kicks, if Trump is elected I predict in 2017 the Democrats will suddenly be worried about the national debt again. Of course at that point it will all be Trump's fault.
This is why making the United States a TRUE democracy is a terrible idea.
Quoting HRC in one of her TV quickie commercials:
ReplyDelete"It's outrageous that multimillionaires and billionaires are allowed to play by a different set of rules than hardworking families, especially when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes."
That's funny; I'm worth probably a couple of mil (no longer a big deal), but I had to work HARD all my life to get to that point by saving, taking investment risks, watching my spending, not taking cruises or expensive trips, not buying new cars every year, and by WORKING HARD (oops...I already said that).
I would remind "Clinton Cash" Hillary that her statement applies also to her, but with a hearty laugh accompanied by a fit of coughing, she would blithely brush it off as Trump-talk as she scurried away, accompanied by Secret Service men---one on each arm.
"Scandal: Trump Complies with Tax Law". Little to add today, @Stilton as you've pretty much completely nailed this.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, Progressives are going apoplectic about this, as if they themselves along with their candidate actually pay more taxes than they are required to. IMHO, the big story is the open secret that the Clintons donate and deduct a large chunk of their considerable income to their own foundation, which then caters to their every personal and political whim entirely tax free.
That much of this comes from the New York Times which engages in the same practices they openly scorn on their op-ed pages simply makes it rich, and more proof of the level of hypocrisy we can expect from them for the coming 4 to 8 years.
I'd hope that during the next debate, Trump would illustrate the contrast between his and Hillary's use or abuse of the tax code. Unfortunately, based upon last week's performance I'm not holding out much hope of that.
The Young and the Breathless: Funny video. There's hope in that a large segment of millennials aren't buying into Hillary's transparent attempts to buy them off with promises of free stuff. Many might have been gullible enough to buy into Bernie's shtick, but not so much to believe that Hillary means a word of what she's promising them. They got royally berned last summer, and aren't going to forget that "free education" too soon. So revelations that Hillary doesn't give them much better regard than she does "the deplorables" isn't so much news to them than it's just confirmation of what they already knew.
Until Millenials learn math (and I'm talking simple addition and multiplication here), we are stuck with the gross misconception that EVERYBODY could have free EVERYTHING if greedy, rich people would just turn loose of their fortunes. It really doesn't take much 'cipherin'" to see that the books don't balance. But (sigh....) we are dealing with morons who can't DO simple math, and worse, have no farging clue what a mind bogglingly huge number 20 trillion is.
ReplyDeleteAnd could somebody explain to me why the young people in this country are perfectly fine with Apple making bazillions of dollars??? Perhaps Trump should buy Apple.
"How do you do fellow kids?" -Hillary Clinton
ReplyDeletehttp://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=109847
@Rod -- See the Gell-Mann amnesia effect:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you
The link provides a quote from Michael Crichton: “Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.”
@Alfonso Bedoya -- Thinking of HRC and "quickie" in the same thought gave me the shivers.
ReplyDeleteSo our leftie lib "betters" say following the tax laws are somehow cheating? Or the gov't needs to raise taxes?
How many of them have "donated" to reduce the debt?
Pay.gov says you can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (used to be called "bureau of the public debt"). In the memo section, notate that it's a gift to reduce the debt held by the public. Mail your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau of the Fiscal Service
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188
I don't know if the gift is tax deductible.
(I actually sent in an extra $50 back in the Jimmah Cahtah days.)
Or, you can do it online by going to pay.gov https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/23779454
The gov has actually gotten over two mil in gifts so far this year:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift_2016.htm
Very nice video. Truth (what's THAT!) would be the cough producing a giant hairball.
ReplyDeleteThese ignorant and moronic young people are so screwed and tattooed.
@Colby Muenster, the "millennials" are supposedly the "best educated" generation ever. The the problem with people who believe that they are "best educated" is that it's hard to teach them anything new.
ReplyDeleteOf courser, one must consider the quality of that education. Consider that they came of age in an educational establishment that hosts nonsense like this:
Science Is Sexist Because It’s Not Subjective
"College science classes are hostile to women and minorities because they use the scientific method, which assumes people can find reliable truths about the natural world through careful and sustained experimentation..."
So they call us the misogynists and racists even though they're the ones arguing that that women and minorities can't get "logic". So go ahead and vote with your vagina girls. It's the logical thing to do.
@Dan, I learned that a young age, when I'd watch people I personally knew get interviewed on topics that I had an beyond-average awareness of, and then see the resulting article say almost the exact opposite, which coincidentally conformed to the reporter's or paper's preferred narrative. If they're lying about what you do know about, why would any sentient individual expect that they're being honest in the rest of the paper? I've always been cynical.
I've always been amused by wealthy Progressives who complain about others who don't "pay their fair share". Bill Gates Sr. and Warren Buffet come to mind. But strangely, they've arranged that their own vast wealth will never be taxed, instead of doing what you suggest.
I always discount what people say when compared to what they actually do, which is why I take very little of what the Donald or Hillary say on any given topic.
http://www.yesimright.com/i-guess-hillary-forgot-that-she-didnt-pay-taxes-last-year-lets-remind-her/
ReplyDeleteThis is just sick:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/10/03/breaking-fbi-agreed-to-destroy-clinton-aides-computers-n2227172%3famp=true
Our government is so complicit, convoluted, criminal, condescending, corrupted, coercive, conniving, cantankerous, conspirital, coc*suc*ing, and many more "C" words (before moving on to other letters of the alphabet), that I see no hope of ever restoring our nation.
Aaarrrgh! This whole ginned up "controversy" is having the desired effect. No one is talking about that vile, vicious harridan and all her real scandals. The so-called press has truly jumped the shark for her. I'm trying to take the optimistic look at this and hope the more they do this stuff, the more anger is boiling up in flyover country. I truly hope there is a tsunami of pissed off voters to humiliate that snake and send her straight home to one of her mansions. I truly cannot bear the thought of her being president.
ReplyDeleteI just found this online. It is hill and billery's tax return. I can't interpret it as I am just a dumb old retired rocket scientist. Any of you guys and gals know if the Clintons paid any tax from these anointed 40 pages? https://m.hrc.onl/secretary/10-documents/01-health-financial-records/Clinton_2015_Form_1040_with_Signature_Page.pdf
ReplyDelete@ Fred Ciampi
ReplyDeleteit looks to me like they owed $3,624,455 for the year 2015, but had overpaid for 2014 by $4,622,130 which they applied to the 2015 tax. they therefore qualified for $1,039,790 in refunds which they probably left on account to be applied to 2016.
i'm no retired rocket scientist or accountant, i'm just tired.
Sheriff Clark says that Trump is playing “rope a dope” on Hillary and the media. Does that mean that his current tax returns show that he paid a sufficient amount in taxes and charity donations.
ReplyDeleteWould that make the media appear dumb?
How would they try to spin that?
☺☺☺
"(perhaps the result of the psychic visions she's had since her violent head trauma)"
ReplyDeleteIf she is really having psychic visions that would explain a lot. On the other hand, it might be good old fashioned secret messages sent from handlers. Just in case it is the latter, Trump should insist that Hillary wear a stainless steel colander on her head during the debates to block the signals. He should, too, just to be fair. I doubt either party would agree, though. For Hillary it would complete the robot image* and for Trump it would mess up his hair.
*Remember the Star Trek episode, "Spock's Brain"?
@Fred Ciampi, I've just taken a cursory look at it, but the real scandals of the Clinton tax returns are:
ReplyDeleteA) How much money these poor, humble "public servants" really make.
B) That they gave almost all of their "charitable donations" to their own tax-free foundation, which we know is really a money laundering scam that exists to primarily benefit the Clintons.
So effectively, that's 1/10th of their income that doesn't get taxed, but they get the benefit of.
Also remember that this is their 2015 return, a year when Hillary was actively running for President. So fiscally, the Clintons were on their best behavior. The more interesting returns are her pre-President, post-Secretary of State returns, where the dollar figures are much bigger. For example, over $3-million went almost exclusively to the Clinton Foundation for several years.