Posted on 08/03/2015 7:15:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s probably a sign of the times which defines this span of every quadrennial cycle as the silly season, but the media can manage to take any comment from the candidates – be it ever so trivial – and figure out a way to turn it into a controversy. With that in mind it probably won’t come as any surprise that when Donald Trump was tagged for the Sunday shows, a question which seems like one of the most obvious things in the world immediately turned into a punditry dust-up. What did the interviewer want to know? How much does the Donald pay in taxes on all those billions? (CBS News)
Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Sunday that he pays as little in taxes as possible just like every other taxpayer in America.
“I fight like hell to pay as little as possible for two reasons. Number one, I’m a businessman. And that’s the way you’re supposed to do it,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “The other reason is that I hate the way our government spends our taxes. I hate the way they waste our money. Trillions and trillions of dollars of waste and abuse. And I hate it.”
This is now, apparently, “a bad thing.” But to listen to the more liberal minds commenting on it you’d think that the man just admitted to drowning kittens in a gunny sack. Trump hasn’t even released his tax returns yet – assuming he even plans to – but this will obviously be a key subject of discussion. What was missing from the initial debate, however, was an analysis of why some people find this admission to be shocking or even a negative in any fashion. Had it taken place, I imagine it going something like this:
Pundit 1: That Donald Trump makes a lot of money but avoids paying much in taxes.
Pundit 2: Wait… so you’re saying he broke the law by evading taxes?
P1: Well, no… not “broke the law” as such, but he certainly could have paid more.
P2: So you’re saying that he paid the least he legally could under current tax codes?
P1: Basically, yes.
P2: So why is that a bad thing again?
P1: Well, you know… he could have chipped in more, right?
While this tells us relatively little of value about The Donald (beyond the fact that he’s not the sort of fool who is easily parted from his money) it does speak to what seems to have become a fundamental bit of doctrine among Democrats and, sadly, more than a few Republicans. There seems to be a race among liberals seeking office to show that they paid plenty of taxes. It’s a badge of honor among Democrats, proving how in touch they are with the core party belief that rich people are evil and they need to apologize for their wealth, while shoveling as much of it back into the Greater Good Fund as possible in a show of penance. When Republicans engage in the same parlor games I become a bit dismayed because one would imagine that a cornerstone of being a conservative would be to obey the laws but not be foolish with their wealth. And that includes not shipping off any of it to the black hole of Washington, DC beyond the amount which is absolutely necessary.
Do we really want to elect somebody who is that dim witted and foolish with their own bank account? It seems to me that such a move wouldn’t bode well for us when they are charged with riding shotgun over the public purse. But then again, perhaps that’s why the national debt has gone up roughly 10 trillion dollars in recent years.
What was Zero’s tax bill?
Hillary announces she pays millions in taxes. The media announces Trump pays as little as possible. Sounds like the dems think Trump is the man to beat.
As my teacher said, there is Income Tax Avoidance. There is also Income Tax Evasion, and that is the slammer!!
A Prog once told me that conservative charitable contributions are much higher than those of Progs because they vote for and support taxation, so their taxes are charitable but we have to give in order to be charitable.
So I asked him why billionaire Progs keep getting in trouble for not paying taxes. He said, with a straight face, that it’s easier to support taxes than to actually pay them.
In short, they believe that they are charitable for forcing others to pay taxesand that’s why they are better people than we are.
My only complaint is that his tax payments aren’t even lower. Also, he has stolen nothing from me, and I’m not forced to work for him, so why should I care how much he earns?
Boy.... that's a perfect answer. Too bad Romney didn't have enough fortitude to answer like that.
Hey, Lurched docks his yacht in Rhode Island so he doesn’t have to pay the MA tax.
no one cares. Go Trump!
Actually Donald Trump has proposed “the rich” paying more as recently as 2011.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-id-be-willing-to-pay-higher-taxes/
Donald Trump - “What’s The Deal” - FULL MOVIE - Donald Trump Expose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amlD_TTFMWA
If this documentary is true, and if there is a new Trump and he is the same as the old Trump, then he and his business practices (job creation, how he created, jobs and so on) should be scrutinized, right?
Who would have a problem with that?
The reason he does interviews is because he loves his country.
Talking point? It is a quote from the article you posted.
Its a nice attempt to distract from the issue but the FACT still remains that he was pimping higher taxes as recently as 2011.
“I fight like hell to pay as little as possible...”
Only morons wouldn’t.
Was he a businessman as recently as 2011?
ALL the news outlets are predicting and projecting hope Trump will “return to the reservation”.
The NEED him to rejoin the kabuki theater.
Still has nothing to do with the fact tat he wanted to tax the rich more in 2011.
You people are starting to “debate” like Debbie Wasserman Shultz trying to explain the difference between democrats and socialists.
Another way he could usefully put it, would be to take the amount he pays in taxes, and divide it by the average payment to leeches who vote for a living, and say “Look, I’m supporting X people with my taxes. What more do you want?”
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