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Donald Trump 2018

TheFlyingBoat

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23367

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I could maybe buy this explanation that Trump was a mear patsy caught up in Russian sistema if we didn't already have countless examples of folk in the campaign (including his own son and son-in-law) actively working with Russian spies and oligarchs to build ties and win the election. What this suggests is that nearly everyone around Trump is guilty of collusion/complicity (Manafort, Page, Kushner, Stone, Poppawhat, Junior, et al), except for the fat man himself in spite of all other evidence.

Sure, that's possible. I guess. But for it to be true, you'd have to accept that Trump is the dumbest and most easily manipulated chicken shit to ever hold the office of the presidency. MAGA!

People keep asking how and why but it doesn’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Trump ran a campaign like a Russian Patriot on almost every issue from NATO to immigration. He denied the reality every step of the way regarding the Kremlin attack.  He asked the Russians to hack his opponent in public and then they did just that.  After his victory he attempted to lift sanctions on Russia his first week in office.  He concealed his business ties to Russia and had a secret deal going to build Trump Tower Moscow DURING the campaign.

It’s time to stop giving Trump any kind of plausible deniability and call him what he is, an unregistered agent of the Russian government.

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M12BH
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SInce y'all seem to be my clearinghouse for all things political, let me tell a story.  A couple of them, actually.  Three, if you want to be specific. When I was 14 I went with a family frien

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Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5948

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Long ass audit. 

 

My problem with the tax returns is there's a lot elsewhere that really doesn't require them.  If they base everything on his returns, isn't there risk of a "if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit" scenario which then exonerates Trump and creates enough wiggle room for him to storm tweet up his witch hunt accusations.  The Republicans will use this like a battering ram to discredit all the other arguments. I fully understand his returns aren't going to list his overseas assets because why would they--what would be the point of offshore accounts (already existing evidence) and assets?  Everything seems to have loopholes so wouldn't some exist here as well?  

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Lurch

Lurch 5930

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Posted

I think hundreds of reporters will do a much more thorough audit than the IRS has even done. Not saying they’re poor at auditing by any means, but I doubt they have the bandwidth to follow each loose thread in the mountains of paperwork I’m sure his tax attorneys have submitted in support of his returns.

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Whitman

Whitman 694

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2 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

I honestly don’t think Trump is worried about criminality in his returns. I think he is more concerned with being exposed for not being the millionaire that he claims he is.

His claim is a multi-billionaire (real estate is fun to overvalue when leveraged).  My question with this is how would his income reporting have any way of exposing his net worth and whether he is a millionaire/billionaire?  It may or may not show where he made/lost money certain years, but has no indication of the value behind the assets.   

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retread

retread 2951

Posted
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11 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

A theory of Trump-Putin Kompromat that makes sense:

https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/Fra-theory-of-trump-kompromat

Trump may have felt like he was beyond the reach of US justice? There is only one person for whom DOTUS will tuck his tail. Putin has to have some pretty damning evidence against him.

From the New Yorker article

Quote

Trump has made a lot of money doing deals with businesspeople from the former Soviet Union, and at least some of these deals bear many of the warning signs of money laundering and other financial crimes. Deals in Toronto, Panama, New York, and Miami involved money from sources in the former Soviet Union who hid their identities through shell companies and exhibited other indications of money laundering. In the years before he became a political figure, Trump acted with impunity, conducting minimal corporate due diligence and working with people whom few other American businesspeople would consider fit partners. During that period, he may have felt protected by the fact that U.S. law-enforcement officials rarely investigate or prosecute Americans who engage in financial crimes overseas. Such cases are also maddeningly difficult to prove, and the F.B.I. has no subpoena power in other countries. If, however, someone had evidence that proved financial crimes and shared it with, say, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, other American law-enforcement officials, or the press, it could significantly damage Trump’s business, his family, and his Presidency.

 

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Whitman

Whitman 694

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10 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Was it just his personal returns that weren’t released or did we also never get the returns of his privately held companies?  His real estate is likely in various incorporated entities, and those tax returns would have more info even if they’re pass through entities like LLCs or limited partnerships.

I have no doubt that they are held in various multiple layers of both private corps and LLC's and every other type of entity.  Even if basis for depreciation is seen on them, that won't indicate current value and his net worth.  That's why I don't see the great thing in looking at his taxes other than to see the effective tax rate he paid from using complicated current tax law.  I wouldn't doubt some years it was very low or zero or even less.  That's what accountants are for ( not saying it is good).   As someone who personally owns farms, timber, minerals and investment real estate, depletion and depreciation in our current tax code is pretty incredible for offsetting income.

 

 

 

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32389

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https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-sneak-peek-1577c4f5-4c30-4742-86bd-3d5b8d950a1f.html

 

Quote

A Trump campaign tale that never made it into the papers... 

Jason Miller was excited. The legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight was visiting Trump Tower and the campaign's senior communications adviser thought it would be a great opportunity to get Knight in front of the beleaguered Trump team for one of the coach's inspirational halftime speeches.

Behind the scenes: About 30 Trump communications staff and volunteers were gathered in the war room. Cable news blared on eight TVs that never switched off. Miller came out of his office to give the team a rare "ra ra speech," a "let's go get 'em speech... let's fight hard today and here's what we're pushing," according to two sources who were in the room for the occasion.

"Jason says, 'We've got Coach Knight here, the legendary Coach Knight. Coach, why don't you say a few words to the team here'," one of the sources recalled.

"Sure, sure. Happy to, Jason," Knight replied, in the recollection of the source. "You know, I love Donald Trump. He's a great man. He's gonna be a great president. I'm confident that he's gonna win. 

"But really the one thing, the one thing I just can't understand is... Well, he's just got to stop talking about this f---ing wall."

Knight kept going, attacking the centerpiece of the Trump campaign, as Miller stood by agog and staff tried to suppress their laughter. 

"I go everywhere," Knight said, "all over the country. And people tell me 'Donald Trump is awesome but I don't understand the wall.'"

"I'm telling you," Knight continued, "people don't understand the wall and you've got to stop talking about the wall. Trump's gonna win. But you've got to stop talking about the wall."

"So go get 'em guys."

Miller appeared befuddled. "Jason was like, 'Uh, thanks for that coach. Alright everybody, let's get back to work,'" the source recalled. Then everybody returned to their desks for another day in an office that often resembled The Office.

 

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retread

retread 2951

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Quote

Trump would have been told, "If you see these kinds of contacts please let us know about them so we can keep you updated on the threat picture," said Frank Montoya, a former FBI counterintelligence agent and supervisor who retired in 2016.

The situation was complicated by the fact that the FBI had already become aware of contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Russia, and was beginning to investigate further. Former CIA Director John Brennan has said he told the FBI about a pattern of contacts the CIA observed between members of the Trump team and Russians, and former FBI Director James Comey said the bureau then began investigating in July 2016.

Montoya and other former FBI officials told NBC News the FBI would not have wanted to compromise that investigation by saying too much in the counterintelligence briefing of Trump.

By the time of the warning in late July or August, at least seven Trump campaign officials had been in contact with Russians or people linked to Russia, according to public reports. There is no public evidence that the campaign reported any of that to the FBI.

 

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23469

Posted
Posted (edited)

Comey's actions are the single greatest factor that influenced the election of Donald Trump. Of course he wants to virtue signal his way out of that by telling people to vote for Democrats.  Unless of course those Democrats are too Democrat. Then that would just be too outlandish for him to stomach.  The guy is a total joke.  He needs to learn when to STFU. But I guess that doesn't drive book sales. 

Edited by Anastasis
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Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13581

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Comey's "don't lose your minds" bs is echoing Trump's "Crazy Bernie" bs when the policies proposed by Sanders and others are fairly similar to hum drum standard operational procedure for most western industrialized democracies, aka, our former allies. I can understand if you disagree with the policies, but to hammer on this characterization of INSANE! is hyperbole that would make Fox News blush. What is a lot closer to insane than Sanders' policy proposals is the fact that the 3 richest men in this country (Gates, Bezos, Buffett) are wealthier than the bottom 50% of this country and conditions that led to that will change very little just by getting rid of Trump.

 

www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2018/jul/19/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-bill-gates-jeff-bezos-warren-buffet/

 

 

Edited by Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand
Well, won't hyperlink, but you can check if you want
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Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5948

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2 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

But as a silver lining, at least your tax dollars don't have to pay for our end of life medical care while we're ejaculating ourselves to death.

On Comey, while I do think he's right in this case, he in general, this whole time, has just needed to STFU.  The guy is almost as big of an attention whore as Trump.

Comey, Spicer. all the people that are selling books now get to act like they're suddenly doing the right thing and fighting corruption.  Maybe what Congress needs are book deals before they act for the good of the nation.  Somehow, they're going to write themselves like heroes.  

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28776

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Just now, Mdhorn said:

Comey, Spicer. all the people that are selling books now get to act like they're suddenly doing the right thing and fighting corruption.  Maybe what Congress needs are book deals before they act for the good of the nation.  Somehow, they're going to write themselves like heroes.  

I heard an interview with Spicer on NPR the other day. He's still toeing the company line. He's still full of shit. 

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23469

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

Comey, Spicer. all the people that are selling books now get to act like they're suddenly doing the right thing and fighting corruption.  Maybe what Congress needs are book deals before they act for the good of the nation.  Somehow, they're going to write themselves like heroes.  

Spicer isn't selling any books. Nobody buying that shit. 

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Mojo Hand

Mojo Hand 4580

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Fuck Comey. The president and GOP Congress aren't counting on Dems to "rush to the socialist left."  They're counting on (1) convincing voters that whatever Dems do is equivalent to rushing to the socialist left, and (2) political idiots like Comey helping them do that by pushing such false equivalencies.  Nice job playing your part after putting Trump in the White House through your incompetence, James.  Dems could adopt the Heritage Foundation's conservative health care plan and the GOP would paint it as a rush to socialism and use it to win elections.  Oh wait, they did, and that's what happened, and now they've gotten to eat their cake and have it, too. 

Republicans have gotten their way on policy in this country for nearly 40 years.  Even the Dems' policy achievements are largely repackaged from the right.   The aforementioned Heritage Foundation health care bill, Welfare Reform, Glass-Steagal repeal, the Crime Bill, and on and on.  The actual lib "socialist" stuff that Dems run on are from the 60s and earlier and are the only popular policies they have (and aren't really socialist).  And I'm not saying that all of that has been bad.  Some has, some hasn't.  But it's been a 40-year swing to the right. 

My point on this being that Trump is able to do what he is doing because he is adding upon years of Republican governance.   Dems couldn't flip the country socialist overnight even if they wanted to.  It doesn't work that way in this county, even if Bernie and AOC get a movement behind them (and even they aren't straight-up socialist).   The most Dems can do is start moving the pendulum back and giving some lib solutions a shot, with heavy restraints imposed by the opposing party in our system.   If you're worried about socialism roaring to power, you have at least ten years, and probably more, of incremental policy that has to happen from the left before its an issue.  And voters are unlikely to let that happen. 

Suggesting otherwise is just Republican propaganda. 

Edited by Mojo Hand
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Anastasis

Anastasis 23469

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Posted

 

3 minutes ago, Mojo Hand said:

Republicans have gotten their way on policy in this country for nearly 40 years.  Even the Dems' policy achievements are largely repackaged from the right.   The aforementioned Heritage Foundation health care bill, Welfare Reform, Glass-Steagal repeal, the Crime Bill, and on and on. 

Crazy that some people fail to see the distinction between the two parties. 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45898

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Posted
1 hour ago, bad_teammate said:

What Americans want is moderate, center-right Dems. That's why they have dominated political races at state, local, and national levels for a decade! It's why Hillary Clinton, a Goldwater girl, was elected president in a landslide!

the_rally_to_restore_sanity_nonpartisan_

Just shut the fuck up for once.  God, I hope you don't have any sway.  You have the strategic outlook of a hamster.

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Mojo Hand

Mojo Hand 4580

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Posted
Just now, Anastasis said:

 

Crazy that some people fail to see the distinction between the two parties. 

Hey, I didn't have a problem with that take before Trumpism.  I even had one foot in that camp.   It's just my opinion that Trumpism has clearly changed things, and the GOP has chosen to go down a dark path that makes them clearly different than the Dems today.

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Mojo Hand

Mojo Hand 4580

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Posted
1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Uh, no.  Comey is pushing Mt. Rushmore status.  You guys playing the "don't fall for a moderate Democrat perspective" are fucking fools.

James Comey has been a lifelong Republican.  That you are equating his take with a moderate Democrat perspective is sort of the point. 

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Horn Under a Bad Sign

Horn Under a Bad Sign 20395

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I'm sorry.  But actions leading directly to the election of Trump aren't likely to get anyone a place on Rushmore. 

 

He was in a no-win situation. There was no correct course of action. There were only courses of action that would lead to bad things.  He did what he thought was the right thing because in his estimation Hillary was going to win anyway. That turned out to be incorrect. But that wasn't an evil choice, it was simply an incorrect decision.  

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Horn Under a Bad Sign

Horn Under a Bad Sign 20395

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Y'all are completely missing the point, but that's not surprising.  Comey is NOT the problem here.  Idiots who push hyper-left agendas ARE the problem.


I agree.  And I really wish bad teammate would quit cluttering up the Trump thread with his hyper-partisan bullshit. 

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