The question every American is asking today: “Did you pay more taxes than the President of the United States did before he took office?”
Yes, I sure did…many multiples more in fact. And my taxes have gone UP since that b*****d’s “tax cut” that went overwhelmingly to the wealthy and corporations.
Because the tax laws are written to favor the wealthy, and this is a big part of what Democrats have been carping about, and even Warren Buffett admits his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does on only 50K in income. [Now why Buffett doesn’t pay his longtime secretary more money than that is another good question.]
But, of course, we have the white male Heritage Foundation horde on social media decrying any attempts to fix this insanely broken system as “Communism.”
In Trump’s specific case, there is a unique mixture of fraud (the infamous “never-ending audit” that is supposedly the BS reason he won’t release them is over an absurd 90 million tax refund from the IRS) and failure (you can’t tax heavy losses). And you can get away with that when you openly brag about buying politicians (as he did in many of his 2016 campaign rallies and town halls) and you inherit 400 million dollars from your father.
What these tax returns prove is that Trump is NOT a business genius, he’s heavily in debt, his properties are better off without him (he’s made more for them as POTUS since he’s mostly licensing his name and not actively running the business), and almost anyone could’ve inherited 400 million dollars and made more money with it than he has (leaving it in a damn 1% interest CD in the bank would’ve made him more money).
Of course, his cult have already sprung up with two absolutely false talking points…
“He took a pay cut to become President and is sacrificing for the American people.” NO HE DIDN’T…Those tax returns show most of Trump’s “business empire” is failing or losing money, and has been heavily boosted by his Presidential bid and becoming President. Also, he’s used to a lavish lifestyle funded by other people (70K in hair styling expenses to NBC during “The Apprentice”) and that’s why he’s spent more money than the last three Presidents combined on travel and personal expenses since he’s been POTUS. Only a complete Kool-Aid drinker could not see how beneficial becoming President has been for Trump’s declining businesses (foreign nationals using his overseas properties vastly more, Mar-a-Lago memberships exploding despite a huge price hike, people staying at his DC hotel in hopes to get access, Ivanka’s horseshit expenses).
“Trump hasn’t committed tax fraud because the IRS would say so.” The IRS is a branch of the Treasury Department where Steve Mnuchin (one of the only cabinet heads Trump hasn’t fired) has prevented the release of his tax returns. Whoever gave the NY Times Trump’s returns surely did so anonymously and that will be the next “whistleblower” investigation that consumes Trump’s time and rage. In other words, Trump is the boss of the Treasury Department which is the boss of the IRS, and only a complete fool could not see that Trump will NEVER be prosecuted by the IRS while he is President. This would be like you going into your office and trying to fire the CEO of your company…imagine how well that would go over.