If Donald Trump's career as a failed casino mogul in 1980's Atlantic City doesn't indicate sub-par business acumen, nothing does. His bankruptcies, a matter of public record, are brushed off as an aside that are inconsequential to his candidacy.
Any Democratic candidate with this record would be disqualified.
Trump's Atlantic City bankruptcy history (which doesn't include other failed ventures) alarmingly portends his potential to make very terrible decisions on matters of MUCH greater importance as POTUS. It's just bone-chilling to imagine this sociopath with that much power.
First was the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991 — which was $3 billion in debt after just one year in operation. He was back in bankruptcy court in 2004, and not just for the Trump Taj Mahal but for the Trump Marina and Trump Plaza casinos, which along with a riverboat casino in Indiana had a debt burden of some $1.8 billion. After the bankruptcy, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts reorganized as Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Four years later, Trump Entertainment Resorts missed an interest payment on a $53.1 million bond; the company declared bankruptcy, and this time Trump stepped down as its chairman.
When he submitted his application to obtain a gaming license, Trump revealed his tax returns once before. You might say this revelation isn't exactly breaking news, the returns were from over three decades ago.
State records show that Trump claimed that his combined income in 1978 and 1979 was negative $3.8 million, allowing him to pay no taxes. A few years earlier, he had told the New York Times he was worth more than $200 million.
While there may be other secrets to learn from Trump’s tax returns, Donald Trump has, for months, fairly boasted that he pays as little as humanly possible in taxes.
Trump, who said last week on ABC that his tax rate is “none of your business,” would be the first major-party nominee in 40 years to not release his returns.
The 2012 nominee, Willard Romney, posted on Facebook that “it is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service.”
In an interview this week, Trump said that he has paid “substantial” taxes but declined to provide specifics.
He reiterated that he fights “very hard to pay as little tax as possible.”
Let's face it, Trump does not want us to know how much he makes. The problem? He has his own metrics to determine his wealth.
Trump’s strategy to ease his company’s tax burden has resulted in sore feelings in some communities, where local governments rely heavily on tax receipts from large businesses.
In Ossining, N.Y., home to a Trump National Golf Club, town officials say that a tax breakbeing sought by the company would cost their coffers more than $200,000 a year.
Trump's sycophants will praise him for his tax evasion strategies and his ability to get away with fleecing the government. It doesn't matter if they are the unfortunate people footing the bill for him to live high on the hog. In their bubble view, he represents the American dream. This 'dream' consists of being a selfish and greedy business mogul, with a frightening lack of empathy for everyone else.
Even his potential Vice Presidential nominees? Yes. Trump demands tax returns from those he is vetting for his running mate. Steve Benen:
When NBC’s Katy Tur asked a Trump campaign source about the apparent hypocrisy, the source responded, “Trump’s not running for vice president.”
That’s cute, I suppose, but it only reinforces the absurdity of the candidate’s posture. The idea that disclosure and transparency requirements should be tougher for a vice presidential candidate than a presidential candidate is tough to defend.
The whole Trump candidacy is impossible to defend. We must defeat this clown in November.
