Is it November yet? Could this election get smarmier? There are live
wires lying all over the place, so be careful where you step. There is
the serious.
This.
After a New York Times report that
Donald Trump may have avoided paying taxes for nearly two decades,
Hillary for America Campaign Manager Robby Mook released the following
statement:
“There it is. This bombshell report reveals the
colossal nature of Donald Trump’s past business failures and just how
long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever. In
one year, Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars. A billion. He
stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from
hardworking communities. And how did it work out for him? He apparently
got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades – while tens of
millions of working families paid theirs. He calls that ‘smart.’ Now
that the gig is up, why doesn’t he go ahead and release his returns to
show us all how ‘smart’ he really is?”
Someone sent an envelope to the New York Times with the key pages of one year of Trump’s tax returns, 1995. The pages revealed that, that year, Trump claimed over $900 million in losses.
That
means Trump could have made over $50 million a year for nearly two
decades and paid nothing in federal taxes. (The I.R.S. lets taxpayers
apply loses for up to 18 years to offset future and past income.)
The
losses stem from “a dizzying array of deduction, business expenses,
real estate depreciation, losses from the sale of business assets and
event operating lawsuits” that flow from various entities control by
Trump to his “personal tax returns.”
And
there is the patently ridiculous. Donald Trump tells an audience that
Hillary is not loyal to the husband she almost has to bite her tongue to
keep from mentioning in every speech she makes.
And that she can't walk 15 feet to her car without stumbling - as he stoops to the lowest form of comedy onstage. But this is not a comedy club. It is our presidential election.
Then there is the purloined comment supposedly hacked at a fundraiser that generated yesterday's #basementdwellers hashtag on Twitter. Only thing about that one is that Hillary said the same thing, out loud, to a whole rally audience in Raleigh in June. It was not a scandal then and reflects what she has been told by those young voters.
I’m sure we all have stories. I’ve met so many who told me they can’t start a business. They can’t even move out of their parent’s basement because of all the student debt holding them back.
In the face of every serious allegation,
Trump ups the sleaze factor. It's enough to make your eyes and ears
bleed and precipitate hives, migraines, acid reflux, nausea, and ulcers
to mention just a few ways Hillary supporters have told me they are sick
this election season. Trump has taken this way personal and beyond
the pale. Deplorable!
