Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Releasing her tax returns did not prevent HRC from undermining the FOIA, spilling classified information, profiteering from the sale of uranium, etc. The tax returns are a distraction, like when a pickpocket bumps into you.

Says the moron who voted for the guy who has already done and will continue to do all of these things. You worried so much about the pickpocket that you elected Bernie Madoff.

NP. Why is it moronic? Because name calling is the only way you can sustain a dialogue?

People voted for Trump, because these issues were irrelevant to them. Trump or HRC, there would be issues of wealth, corruption, and justice for some. Why not focus on something that's different about these candidates? Sounds fairly rational to me.

I don't think Trump's financial affairs were completely irrelevant to the people who voted for him, but his refusal to release returns was simply not the "deal breaker" that the left would like it to be.

Here's the real problem: the left keeps hopscotching from one supposed "deal breaker" to the next, when in reality, none of them are deal breakers. Pussy grabbing is a deal breaker; not releasing tax returns is a deal breaker; conflicts of interest are a deal breaker; buddies with Putin is a deal breaker; orange hair is a deal breaker; it goes on and on and on.

In reality, those on the left wouldn't have ever voted for Trump if he'd released his tax returns anyway, or if he'd never talked about pussy.

Anonymous wrote:As laudable as those reasons are, you aren't going to discover that from tax returns. You won't generally know the source of income. Who someone is indebted to. What potential conflicts there are. Tax returns Aline simply won't provide that info.

I would be in favor of a system where first a far more robust financial discourse is required of all elected officials and appointees. No more of this range crap. If your investment is in a pass through, the pass through must make disclosures. If a nonpublicly traded corporation is involved, that entity must disclose. With actual numbers and counter-parties.

As for tax returns, an audit of those officials should be mandated and the IRS must issue a clean bill of health.

Tax returns are personal. And disclose information that is no one's business. Like medical deductions. And charitable deductions. It simply isn't your business.

Hmm.. then again, why did Trump insist Romney do it? I'll tell you why? Because he knew there was something in there that the public wouldn't like, like how he paid almost nothing in federal taxes, and it would hurt him. I don't think he cheated on his taxes, but certainly, showing how he paid so little would upset most of middle America.

Here's an interview back in 2011 where Trump says Romney should release his returns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN4vkickxT8

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would Trump releasing his tax returns benefit him? There is no way it would. Case Closed. He never will unless it becomes a requirement. This is much like people demanding politicians release their college transcripts. Not gonna happen. This is a ploy by his opponents to cost him support.

It's not a decades-long tradition for candidates and nominees to release their college transcripts like it is for tax returns.

Does anyone know if Trump is required to release his returns while he actually is President, i.e. his 2016, 2017 etc. returns? Presidents all do that, too.

No it is not a requirement. I don't expect him to do so and neither do most of his supporters. We only want him to get the economy cranked up!

Anonymous wrote:How would Trump releasing his tax returns benefit him? There is no way it would. Case Closed. He never will unless it becomes a requirement. This is much like people demanding politicians release their college transcripts. Not gonna happen. This is a ploy by his opponents to cost him support.

It's not a decades-long tradition for candidates and nominees to release their college transcripts like it is for tax returns.

Does anyone know if Trump is required to release his returns while he actually is President, i.e. his 2016, 2017 etc. returns? Presidents all do that, too.

As laudable as those reasons are, you aren't going to discover that from tax returns. You won't generally know the source of income. Who someone is indebted to. What potential conflicts there are. Tax returns Aline simply won't provide that info.

I would be in favor of a system where first a far more robust financial discourse is required of all elected officials and appointees. No more of this range crap. If your investment is in a pass through, the pass through must make disclosures. If a nonpublicly traded corporation is involved, that entity must disclose. With actual numbers and counter-parties.

As for tax returns, an audit of those officials should be mandated and the IRS must issue a clean bill of health.

Tax returns are personal. And disclose information that is no one's business. Like medical deductions. And charitable deductions. It simply isn't your business.

Anonymous wrote:How would Trump releasing his tax returns benefit him? There is no way it would. Case Closed. He never will unless it becomes a requirement. This is much like people demanding politicians release their college transcripts. Not gonna happen. This is a ploy by his opponents to cost him support.

Here is why he would not...

1. Conflicts of interest: Almost every candidate who runs for public office is fairly wealthy. (Even the candidates who have the government pay their salary, like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, make far more money than the average American.) Because of that wealth, how they made their money (we'll get to heart in a second) can tell you whether they have potential conflicts of interest — who they made that money from.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not one person on here would have changed their vote to Trump if he had released his returns. There was no advantage to him in doing so. Just because it has been a "tradition" doesn't make it a requirement. The left would have been all over his taxes for one reason or another and he would have lost votes as a result. He will never release his taxes - now or in the future. Get used to it.

MAGA.

Then WHY WHY was Trump so damn insistent on Romney releasing his? You *really* can't see how hypocritical he is? Gawd, you are sooo blind!

Because Trump is a smart politician. Romney never should have released. All pols are hypocrites. He made a very shrewd political move and will continue to do so as President. It's a good thing if you support him and a bad thing if you don't.

He's not really smart. You are just stupid and gullible.

How would Trump releasing his tax returns benefit him? There is no way it would. Case Closed. He never will unless it becomes a requirement. This is much like people demanding politicians release their college transcripts. Not gonna happen. This is a ploy by his opponents to cost him support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not one person on here would have changed their vote to Trump if he had released his returns. There was no advantage to him in doing so. Just because it has been a "tradition" doesn't make it a requirement. The left would have been all over his taxes for one reason or another and he would have lost votes as a result. He will never release his taxes - now or in the future. Get used to it.

MAGA.

Then WHY WHY was Trump so damn insistent on Romney releasing his? You *really* can't see how hypocritical he is? Gawd, you are sooo blind!

Because Trump is a smart politician. Romney never should have released. All pols are hypocrites. He made a very shrewd political move and will continue to do so as President. It's a good thing if you support him and a bad thing if you don't.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/12/489791576/3-reasons-we-care-about-politicians-taxes

First, A Little History

It's a political cliche to say that if you want a friend in Washington get a dog.

And the origin of politicians releasing their tax returns goes back to Richard Nixon — and his cocker spaniel.

Nixon, running as Eisenhower's vice president in 1952, was accused of financial wrongdoing "related to a fund established by political backers to pay for campaign expenses," Joseph J. Thorndike of the Tax History Project wrote in 2012.

Reasons We Care

1. Conflicts of interest: Almost every candidate who runs for public office is fairly wealthy. (Even the candidates who have the government pay their salary, like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, make far more money than the average American.) Because of that wealth, how they made their money (we'll get to heart in a second) can tell you whether they have potential conflicts of interest — who they made that money from.


2. Do they have heart? Tax returns tell us how much candidates give to charity. The Clintons, as noted above, gave between 8 and 15 percent — or about $15 million total — during that eight-year period. Most of that went through the Clinton Family Foundation, as The Atlantic reported. They also contributed to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, First United Methodist Church and the Humana Challenge golf tournament.


3. Are they like us? Again, these candidates are much wealthier than the average American. Median household income in this country is $53,482, according to the census. The Clintons made $28 million in 2014 (mostly from speeches). They also live in a posh New York suburb, Chappaqua, where they bought their home for $1.7 million in 1999 just before leaving the White House. (In 2016 money, that appreciates to about $2.5 million.) The average home price in the U.S. in June 2016 was $358,000 (median home price was $307,000).

Trump, of course, makes it a point to say he's "really rich," claiming he's worth $9 billion. Trump's net worth is something of a mystery. He says it fluctuates even based on his own "feelings." The Washington Post reported this week on a 2007 deposition that caught Trump in repeated lies and exaggerations when it came to his wealth and earnings. His tax returns would certainly clarify whether he is as rich as he says.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not one person on here would have changed their vote to Trump if he had released his returns. There was no advantage to him in doing so. Just because it has been a "tradition" doesn't make it a requirement. The left would have been all over his taxes for one reason or another and he would have lost votes as a result. He will never release his taxes - now or in the future. Get used to it.

MAGA.

Then WHY WHY was Trump so damn insistent on Romney releasing his? You *really* can't see how hypocritical he is? Gawd, you are sooo blind!

Because Trump is a smart politician. Romney never should have released. All pols are hypocrites. He made a very shrewd political move and will continue to do so as President. It's a good thing if you support him and a bad thing if you don't.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/12/489791576/3-reasons-we-care-about-politicians-taxes

First, A Little History

It's a political cliche to say that if you want a friend in Washington get a dog.

And the origin of politicians releasing their tax returns goes back to Richard Nixon — and his cocker spaniel.

Nixon, running as Eisenhower's vice president in 1952, was accused of financial wrongdoing "related to a fund established by political backers to pay for campaign expenses," Joseph J. Thorndike of the Tax History Project wrote in 2012.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not one person on here would have changed their vote to Trump if he had released his returns. There was no advantage to him in doing so. Just because it has been a "tradition" doesn't make it a requirement. The left would have been all over his taxes for one reason or another and he would have lost votes as a result. He will never release his taxes - now or in the future. Get used to it.

MAGA.

Then WHY WHY was Trump so damn insistent on Romney releasing his? You *really* can't see how hypocritical he is? Gawd, you are sooo blind!

Because Trump is a smart politician. Romney never should have released. All pols are hypocrites. He made a very shrewd political move and will continue to do so as President. It's a good thing if you support him and a bad thing if you don't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did it ever occur to the knicker-knotted cabal screaming for his tax returns that the only reason why candidates have previously disclosed them is the fact that a tax return does not disclose much information?

No because the reason candidates disclose them is that Nixon refused to do it and when he finally released them it was evident he had cheated and paid only a few hundred dollars in taxes. Tax returns can tell us plenty and if Trump has nothing to hide he would release them. Otherwise what's his justification for not releasing them? Obviously there's something he doesn't want the American public to know.

Worth noting that Nixon's returns were actually under audit when he released them and he did it anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Did it ever occur to the knicker-knotted cabal screaming for his tax returns that the only reason why candidates have previously disclosed them is the fact that a tax return does not disclose much information?

No because the reason candidates disclose them is that Nixon refused to do it and when he finally released them it was evident he had cheated and paid only a few hundred dollars in taxes. Tax returns can tell us plenty and if Trump has nothing to hide he would release them. Otherwise what's his justification for not releasing them? Obviously there's something he doesn't want the American public to know.

Anonymous wrote:A) You wouldn't know if they were hiding anything.

B) Your fair share is what Congress and the IRS says it is not what you feel it should be.

C) It only shows charitable contribution to the extent deducted. For example, Buffet's 2015 return showed a charitable contribution of less than one-tenth of one percent of his actual contribution.

D) Applying the tax laws and regulations consistently is what ensures people pay their fair share. If deductions are one of the rules to be applied, then the application of those rules means you are paying your fair share. That is what Congress does (you know . . . The elected folk).

1. You would know if he is hiding how much income he actually makes vs. how much he said he made -- ie, he is hiding something
2. Only the rich people, except a few, think Trump paying very little income taxes thinks he's paying his fair share. Only people who actually use those deductions think it's fine.
3. That's fine... at least it shows *some* charitable contribution, if he made any, like when he said he contributed to a veteran's group, and then people discovered that he actually didn't, so he quickly did so, ie, he lied and he was hiding something
4.Again, it's the wealthy people who lobby congress to get those types of laws passed, ie people like Trump

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not one person on here would have changed their vote to Trump if he had released his returns. There was no advantage to him in doing so. Just because it has been a "tradition" doesn't make it a requirement. The left would have been all over his taxes for one reason or another and he would have lost votes as a result. He will never release his taxes - now or in the future. Get used to it.

MAGA.

Then WHY WHY was Trump so damn insistent on Romney releasing his? You *really* can't see how hypocritical he is? Gawd, you are sooo blind!

Now Tillerson is holding back his, with so many billionaire candidates I am sure this is a new trend with trump. If you are afraid to share them, you must be hiding something! Also, how can the government examine conflicts of interest....

I do not understand how this guy is getting away with all this, and how people defend everything that TRUMP does so blindly!

Do you take the same dim view of the 4th or 5th amendment? Why can't we search you house? If you refuse to testify you must be guilty.

The Democratic Court of the Star Chamber convenes!