Donald Trump's Very Yuge Tax Problem

[whichphilosophy]

This is about his personal income tax not corporate income tax. You continue to conflate the two. While Trump does not have to release his returns, it makes him look like he is either a chicken or that he is hiding something.

Everybody and their fucking parakeet know he's hiding something. And they know what he's hiding. It's no secret anymore.

If he is hiding something, then that is not likely to be known. As I said he can't have any excuse once the audit is done. That shouldn't take more than 200 years for his accountants to agree. Why not play the ball, namely discuss real issues.

 

[laughing dog]

Everybody and their fucking parakeet know he's hiding something. And they know what he's hiding. It's no secret anymore.

If he is hiding something, then that is not likely to be known. As I said he can't have any excuse once the audit is done. That shouldn't take more than 200 years for his accountants to agree. Why not play the ball, namely discuss real issues.

Since every major POTUS candidate since Richard Nixon has released his or her tax personal income tax returns, this is a real issue whether you like it or not.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

The most prudent thing to do right now (if his tax returns don't reveal sinister things) is for him to release them with a caveat that these are not finalized. Not doing so is pretty stupid. Now, on the other hand, running for President while having tax returns that reveal something sinister is also pretty stupid. So my dilemma is that can't decide whether Donald Trump is stupid or alternatively if Donald Trump is stupid.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The most prudent thing to do right now (if his tax returns don't reveal sinister things) is for him to release them with a caveat that these are not finalized. Not doing so is pretty stupid. Now, on the other hand, running for President while having tax returns that reveal something sinister is also pretty stupid. So my dilemma is that can't decide whether Donald Trump is stupid or alternatively if Donald Trump is stupid.

Well, you have to remember that Trump entered this election with absolutely no intention of becoming President. The success of his campaign caught him even more by surprise than it caught everybody else. All of the red flags which legitimate candidates think about and prepare for before putting their hats into the ring aren't things that were a concern to him and he's only trying to figure out how to deal with them now.

 

[ZiprHead]

A couple points: Trump has not shown anything official that his taxes are under audit and the IRS will not say one way or the other. Releasing his taxes when Hillary releases her emails is a straw man. Hillary doesn't have the emails to release, the FBI does.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Trumpty Dumpty is trying to win a battle. He knows that releasing is returns is the equivalent of walking across the battlefield and handing weapons, ammunition, plans and supplies to his declared enemy. Even some of his own blind loyalists would have a WTF moment, the last thing he wants or needs. He and his advisors know it would absolutely, positively guarantee he loses the election.

 

[Elixir]

he can't have any excuse once the audit is done

He doesn't have any excuse even IF there is an audit in progress. (And that is a big "if", as nobody has confirmed that as a fact).
Trump is not going to release his taxes - that is obvious.

If he is hiding something

There is no "if he is hiding something" - he is hiding his tax returns. We don't know what's in them, only that Trump has determined that it would be more damaging to release them than to keep them hidden. Why do you keep using waffle words about this, WP?

 

[ZiprHead]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/06/trump-personally-lobbied-to-give-real-estate-developers-bigger-tax-breaks/

 

[Shadowy Man]

If anyone has read what I said, namely once the returns have been audited by the IRS and agreed between the parties there is no reason for him NOT to release them. However like it or not he is entitled not to release them while an audit is in progress where I have also quoted legal experts.

Trump is entitled to not release them regardless of anything. But releasing of tax returns has been standard for presidential candidates.
Legal experts can take their opinions and shove it up their asses. That's how much I care about their opinions.

You're entitled to do a job interview in your pajamas too, but don't expect to get a call back. He may be right legally, but most of succeeding in politics is about the optics.

 

[Shadowy Man]

There is no "if he is hiding something" - he is hiding his tax returns. We don't know what's in them, only that Trump has determined that it would be more damaging to release them than to keep them hidden. Why do you keep using waffle words about this, WP?

To be fair to Trump, his tax returns probably are quite complicated and could easily be misconstrued by non-experts. So, even if it's completely legit, I can understand why releasing them would create a media circus about them. His problem was waiting to so long. With only a month to go, he certainly can't release them now, or that's all that will be talked about.

 

[Elixir]

There is no "if he is hiding something" - he is hiding his tax returns. We don't know what's in them, only that Trump has determined that it would be more damaging to release them than to keep them hidden. Why do you keep using waffle words about this, WP?

To be fair to Trump, his tax returns probably are quite complicated and could easily be misconstrued by non-experts. So, even if it's completely legit, I can understand why releasing them would create a media circus about them. His problem was waiting to so long. With only a month to go, he certainly can't release them now, or that's all that will be talked about.

.
Fair point, but it is a dilemma of his own making. Fucktard.

 

[jab]

Huh?

 

[jab]

It's no wonder why so many people admire him.

He is smart, but so are broke college graduates who unfortunately have failed to realize the path to financial success isn't in obtaining higher degrees but rather in applying oneself. So, not only is Trump smart, but in addition to being smart, he has applied himself; moreover, he is financially successful--unlike broke college graduates making decisions unlike Trump.

It sure is nice living in a world where the consequences of our actions are not fully wrapped in fly by night moral judgements. Not every shade of opinion of our broke ass planetary co-inhabitants force our hands in the actions we take to further our financial success. We have laws with consequences for that. If actions are permissible and come with a fee, we play by the rules and pay our fees. If actions are impermissible, we decide whether or not the fine is worth making the most rewarding decisions.

Golden

Huh?
Silver

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

There is no "if he is hiding something" - he is hiding his tax returns. We don't know what's in them, only that Trump has determined that it would be more damaging to release them than to keep them hidden. Why do you keep using waffle words about this, WP?

To be fair to Trump, his tax returns probably are quite complicated and could easily be misconstrued by non-experts. So, even if it's completely legit, I can understand why releasing them would create a media circus about them. His problem was waiting to so long. With only a month to go, he certainly can't release them now, or that's all that will be talked about.

Not hardly. Can you hear Trump saying that to his minions? "Hey, I'd release my returns but they're so complicated you'd not understand them." Imagine that, we would not understand them! That's a laffer if I ever heard one.

 

[laughing dog]

To be fair to Trump, his tax returns probably are quite complicated and could easily be misconstrued by non-experts. So, even if it's completely legit, I can understand why releasing them would create a media circus about them. His problem was waiting to so long. With only a month to go, he certainly can't release them now, or that's all that will be talked about.

Not hardly. Can you hear Trump saying that to his minions? "Hey, I'd release my returns but they're so complicated you'd not understand them." Imagine that, we would not understand them! That's a laffer if I ever heard one.

To be fair, his minions would not understand them.

 

[Elixir]

To be fair, his minions would not understand them.

To be realistic, his minions would throw a collective hissy fit if anyone implied that their ability to understand ANYTHING was held out as inferior to anyone else's. They're like creationists. Many of them ARE creationists, and will freely represent themselves as greater authorities on everything from astrophysics to zoology than are astrophysicists or zoologists.

 

[fast]

The most prudent thing to do right now (if his tax returns don't reveal sinister things) is for him to release them with a caveat that these are not finalized. Not doing so is pretty stupid. Now, on the other hand, running for President while having tax returns that reveal something sinister is also pretty stupid. So my dilemma is that can't decide whether Donald Trump is stupid or alternatively if Donald Trump is stupid.

Well, you have to remember that Trump entered this election with absolutely no intention of becoming President. The success of his campaign caught him even more by surprise than it caught everybody else. All of the red flags which legitimate candidates think about and prepare for before putting their hats into the ring aren't things that were a concern to him and he's only trying to figure out how to deal with them now.

Post hoc. Rationalization

 

[fast]

He doesn't have any excuse even IF there is an audit in progress. (And that is a big "if", as nobody has confirmed that as a fact).
Trump is not going to release his taxes - that is obvious.

If he is hiding something

There is no "if he is hiding something" - he is hiding his tax returns. We don't know what's in them, only that Trump has determined that it would be more damaging to release them than to keep them hidden. Why do you keep using waffle words about this, WP?

There's no proof that he is hiding his tax returns. Heck, there's not even any good evidence that he has failed to disclose them-as there is no failure. All we know is that he's not disclosing them openly.

 

[fast]

Trumpty Dumpty is trying to win a battle. He knows that releasing is returns is the equivalent of walking across the battlefield and handing weapons, ammunition, plans and supplies to his declared enemy. Even some of his own blind loyalists would have a WTF moment, the last thing he wants or needs. He and his advisors know it would absolutely, positively guarantee he loses the election.

Absolutely, positively guarantee? Let's not forget that he's unlike many of your peers. What he is capable of should leave you speechless, not confident.

 

[Elixir]

There's no proof that he is hiding his tax returns.

Oh, really? How can you represent that he's not hiding them from the electorate?
That's a stretch worthy of Trumples himself. I do agree that there are no guarantees though - Einstein's famous theorem applies in spades to the American right wing: "There are only two things that are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe". (From memory, sorry if I mangled it.)