Posted on 03/15/2017 10:00:08 AM PDT by Signalman
On her Tuesday show, Rachel Maddow teased a scoop: She had Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns. It was the first time his federal returns would be released.
Small digression: MSNBC's Maddow didn't have them. Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston got them, and went on her show to talk about it.
Anyway, when she finally revealed what was in the taxes, it was not a huge deal. Trump earned about $150 million in income in 2005, and paid $38 million in taxes, thanks to the alternative minimum tax, which he wants to kill.
This gives Trump an effective tax rate of about 24 percent, which Johnston pointed out was roughly equal to what he and his wife, who are an upper middle class couple, pay.
And, sure, for a billionaire, you can argue that he should pay more in taxes. But, $38 million is a big number. As is $150 million in income.
There was speculation, fueled by Trump himself, that he wasn't paying anything in taxes. That led to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attacking him on that front.
"The only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax," Clinton said in September.
Trump quickly retorted: "That makes me smart."
But, it turns out Trump did pay taxes, at least in 2005.
For Trump, in the swirl of chaos thanks to the CBO saying the GOP health-care bill would lead to 24 million uninsured and the FBI preparing to weigh in on his accusation of President Barack Obama wire tapping him, this tax story is a welcome reprieve.
The 2005 tax return could have been an anomaly. Maybe Trump doesn't pay this much in taxes normally. Or, maybe he usually pays more. Who knows! Either way, this story has created the appearance that Trump does in fact make a lot of money, and he pays millions in taxes.
For the next news cycle, we're likely to see this story dominate, giving Trump some breathing room as the media had been laser focused on the GOP health-care bill's flaws.
On Maddow's show, Johnston suggested that Trump may have sent the tax returns to him. It seemed like an odd thing to say. But, when you look at how this is really good for Trump, maybe it's not so crazy after all.
There was a foreign tax credit, probably from the Russians....
Think about this: President trump paid more in taxes in a single year than what most of us will earn in our entire lifetimes.
She did a ‘bait and switch’ to get viewers.
Nothing else. You’d never see a REAL journalist pull a stunt like that.
Mr. Maddow was completely pwned by Trump.
Trump should send her a nice thank you Hallmark card and perhaps put a $20 Pizza Hut gift card in it.
Mongoose 1 Trump
Cobra 0 Media
The only thing funnier than Maddows fail is the crazy ways DUmmies are trying to spin this positive
Tehy punked Madcow.
It says “client copy” on it. I would guess the White House leaked the return itself to set up Madcow. And she walked right into the trap.
She’s hateful, man-spirited, dishonest, and not very bright. Perfect for MSNBC.
Definitely more than I will ever earn!
The agony of defeat !! :)~
While I DO believe you meant "mean-spirited," your rendition of "man-spirited" works quite well...:-)
"Yes. Client copy.
So. Either Donald Trump leaked this himself, or someone with a “client copy” did. Given that there appears to be nothing embarrassing about the return whatsoever, and the world is laughing at Maddow, my money’s on Trump being the leaker."
“Client Copy”: Did Donald Trump Leak That Tax Return To Maddow?(March 14, 2017, RedState)
I disagree with the author that speculation Trump was not paying taxes came from Trump himself. When his tax return from the 90’s showing a huge tax write-off the New York Times and others suggested that meant Trump would not have to pay taxes for the next 20 years. Apparently the tax whizzes these newspapers hire to bash Trump have never heard of the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Works either way,
Not exactly. What she tweeted was:
BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. SOURCE
That meant something completely different to a Trump-maddened proggie than what turned out to be the truth: "I've got a 12-year-old partial return that everyone has seen already." What's funny is that in order to blame Trump for this she'll have to admit she got rolled. This one's headed for the memory hole but I don't think it's going to get there.
[Cue Wide World of Sports theme] ‘... and the agony of defeat.’
Just saw your post:)
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