US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2772

On October 21 2020 20:45 Simberto wrote:


Seeing those numbers, i wonder how a campaign that just spend that money on something useful instead would fare. Like, a candidate simply saying "I got this money for my campaign, but i am going to use it to feed homeless people. Or build a particle accelerator. Or pay for poor peoples college tuition."

Would such a person have a chance to get elected?

On October 21 2020 13:00 Danglars wrote:

I'd also make someone give my kid work for 3 years at a specified rate of $100k a year before acting in their interest in my legislative capacity, if I had the position, morals, and desire wield that power.

I'd like to remind people in this thread that all the alleged acts of corruption by Trump doesn't mean you can't fault Biden for engaging in corruption through his family and friends.

Biden is a career politician.
He was Senate for longer than half this thread has been alive on this earth.
He was a legislator during the time laws were written that gave the rich ways to reduce their tax burden legally, and championed drug crime bills that created much of the incarceration problem in this country. Maybe he's still better than Trump for Trump's variety of faults, but it shouldn't elevate Biden simply on the winds of left-wing partisanship/tribalism.

On October 21 2020 22:45 EnDeR_ wrote:


I'd go further and say that Biden's setting himself up to be the 'cave-in' president of all time and is probably going to do more damage than good for progressive/liberal values even if they win the house and the senate. I'm fully expecting 4 years of Biden falling ass over backwards to please a republican leadership that will never actually compromise.

Having said that, voting for Trump is voting for another 4 years of heightened societal divisions, broken norms and another thousand scandals. It's another 4 years of the most powerful man in the world re-tweeting racist garbage, pouring gasoline in the fire and amplifying dumb conspiracy theories. Trump honestly makes me question my sanity. My wife and I have started saying that we've entered 'stupid universe' at some point in the last decade, where the most unimaginable/stupid thing will always be the outcome regardless of the seriousness of the situation.

On October 21 2020 17:34 EnDeR_ wrote:
I would actually be surprised if Biden never met any of his son's associates. That's the price of nepotism.

Doodsmack, doesn't it make your blood boil that a billionaire only paid $750 in taxes for several years? I know it does mine.

An analysis of Trump's tax records by the Times shows that the President holds a previously unreported bank account in China that was not included on his public financial disclosures because it is held under a corporate name. Trump also maintains bank accounts in Britain and Ireland.
The Chinese account, the newspaper said, is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management and it paid $188,561 in taxes in the country from 2013 to 2015.
While the tax records don't show how much money has moved through Trump's foreign accounts, the Internal Revenue Service mandates that filers disclose the portions of their incomes coming from foreign countries. Trump International Hotels Management reported only a few thousand dollars from China.

Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten, who refused to name the Chinese bank that holds the account, told the Times in a statement that the Trump Organization "opened an account with a Chinese bank having offices in the United States in order to pay the local taxes" tied with its push to do business in the country.
Garten specifically said the company had opened the account once an office was opened in China "to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia."
"No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive," he told the newspaper. "Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose."
While Trump has sought to paint Biden as weak on China throughout the general election, his own financial ties to the country stand in stark contrast with the former vice president, whose income tax returns and financial disclosures show no business dealings or income from China.
The President's tax records show he has invested at least $192,000 in five companies established to pursue projects in China over multiple years, according to the Times.
Since 2010, the companies have claimed at least $97,400 in expenses, the newspaper said.

The new details gleaned from Trump's tax records build on a previous New York Times report that detailed how the President paid no federal income taxes whatsoever in 10 out of 15 years beginning in 2000 because he reported losing significantly more than he made.
In both the year he won the presidency and his first year in the White House, Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes, the Times reported.

On October 21 2020 14:41 Nevuk wrote:
It's the digital age. If a story like it hasn't been verified within 24 hours, it never will be. It's been almost a week now.

The only thing that could be verified by a reputable news org (Fox News in this case) was just a single one of the emails. Based on how hilariously fucking lazy and contrived this whole thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if every last one of the others was faked.

Also, NYT is reporting Trump has a chinese bank account and paid 180$k in taxes while paying almost nothing to the US.

So yes, there's just going to be more evidence of hypocrisy and corruption coming out about him now.


https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/20/politics/trump-china-taxes-financial-records/index.html
Original NYT article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/trump-taxes-china.html?smid=tw-share

On October 22 2020 00:27 Jockmcplop wrote:

I hope Stahl's private security are well armed.

On October 21 2020 22:15 iamthedave wrote:


I'm 90% sure that the new and improved doodsmack doesn't care about any of Trump's misdeeds.

On October 21 2020 22:15 iamthedave wrote:


I'm 90% sure that the new and improved doodsmack doesn't care about any of Trump's misdeeds.

On October 22 2020 00:27 Jockmcplop wrote:

I hope Stahl's private security are well armed.

On October 22 2020 00:38 EnDeR_ wrote:


The fact that billionaires like Trump [he's on record saying how smart he is for taking advantage of the tax code, he said it makes him 'smart'] and megacorporations like Amazon game the system within the bounds of the law to pay effectively zero tax should make you angry. It shouldn't matter which way you lean politically, we all pay our fair share or the system goes to shit.

On October 21 2020 23:52 Doodsmack wrote:


It's not a misdeed necessarily, I mean look at Amazon they paid $0 in taxes. Clearly they are gaming the system within the bounds of the law. As for Trump's 750, if I'm not mistaken the NYT article said he paid millions in advance, and the 750 was just the amount he paid at tax time to adjust things (similar to how you get a refund or owe some money at tax time but you had taxes withheld from your paychecks all year). If I'm right on that its another instance if media misinformation that the wider left has bought into uncritically.