Posted on 02/27/2016 12:19:21 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Many people believe that higher education is a de facto scam. Trump University, Donald Trump's real-estate institution, was a de jure one.
First thing first, Trump University was never a university. When the "school" was established in 2005, the New York State Education Department warned that it was in violation of state law for operating without a NYSED license. Trump ignored the warnings. (The institution is now called, ahem, "Trump Entrepreneur Initiative.") Cue lawsuits.
Trump University is currently the defendant in three lawsuits - two class-action lawsuits filed in California, and one filed in New York by then-attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who told CNN's New Day in 2013: "We started looking at Trump University and discovered that it was a classic bait-and-switch scheme. It was a scam, starting with the fact that it was not a university."
Trump U "students" say the same. In his affidavit, Richard Hewson reported that he and his wife "concluded that we had paid over $20,000 for nothing, based on our belief in Donald Trump and the promises made at the [organization’s] free seminar and three-day workshop." But "the whole thing was a scam."
In fact, $20,000 is only a mid-range loss. The lead plaintiff in one of the California suits, yoga instructor Tarla Makaeff, says she was "scammed" out of $60,000 over the course of her time in Trump U.
How could that have happened? The New York suit offers a suggestion:
The free seminars were the first step in a bait and switch to induce prospective students to enroll in increasingly expensive seminars starting with the three-day $1495 seminar and ultimately one of respondents’ advanced seminars such as the "Gold Elite" program costing $35,000.
At the "free" 90-minute introductory seminars to which Trump University advertisements and solicitations invited prospective students, Trump University instructors engaged in a methodical, systematic series of misrepresentations designed to convince students to sign up for the Trump University three-day seminar at a cost of $1495.
The Atlantic, which got hold of a 41-page "Private & Confidential" playbook from Trump U, has attested to the same:
The playbook says almost nothing about the guest speaker presentations, the ostensible reason why people showed up to the seminar in the first place. Instead, the playbook focuses on the seminars' real purpose: to browbeat attendees into purchasing expensive Trump University course packages.
To do that, instructors touted Trump's own promises: that students would be "mentored" by "handpicked" real-estate experts, who would use Trump's own real-estate strategies. Here’s Trump making the pitch himself:
But according to the New York complaint, none of the instructors was "handpicked" by Trump, many of them came from fields having nothing to do with real-estate, and Trump "'never' reviewed any of Trump University's curricula or programming materials." The materials were "in large part developed by a third-party company that creates and develops materials for an array of motivational speakers and seminar and timeshare rental companies."
Furthermore, Trump's promises that the three-day seminar ($1,495) would include "access to 'private' or 'hard money' lenders and financing," that it would include a "year-long 'apprenticeship support' program," and that it would 'improve the credit scores' of students were empty.
Those empty promises are the subject of a new series of anti-Trump ads by superPAC American Future Fund:
According to Bob, "I never heard from anybody about giving me a list of hard-money lenders":
Kevin, another Trump U "student," says Trump University "ruined" his credit score:
And according to Sherri, a single mother who participated in Trump U: "It was all supposedly supervised by Donald Trump, run by Donald Trump. All of it was just a fake."
In fact, Sherri isn't alone. No student ever met the Donald. Despite hints from Trump University instructors that Trump was "going to be in town," "often drops by," or "might show up," he never did. As Matt Labash recounted in The Weekly Standard: "At one seminar, attendees were told they’d get to have their picture taken with Trump. Instead, they ended up getting snapped with his cardboard cutout." Bob.., had such an "opportunity":
There could be many more ads to come. The New York lawsuit alone represents some 5,000 victims.
Meanwhile, Trump - who maintains that Trump University was "a terrific school that did a fantastic job" - has tried to bully his opponents out of the suit. Lawyers for Tarla Makaeff have requested a protective order from the court "to protect her from further retaliation." According to court documents, Trump has threatened to sue Makaeff personally, as well as her attorneys. He's already brought a $100 million counterclaim against the New York attorney general's office.
But it's not working. Trump himself will have to take the witness stand in San Diego federal court sometime during the election season - and because of the timeline of the cases, a "President Trump" would be embroiled in these suits long after November.
Meanwhile, if there is any doubt that Trump U was designed to be a scam, The Atlantic puts that to rest with a few other choice tidbits from that "Private & Confidential" playbook used by Trump presenters:
Every university has admission standards and Trump University was no exception. The playbook spells out the one essential qualification in caps: "ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED IN FULL." Basically, anyone with a valid credit card was “admitted” to Trump University....
If a member of the media happened to approach the registration table, Trump staffers were instructed not to talk to him or her under any circumstance. "Reporters are rarely on your side and they are not sympathetic," the playbook advises.
And:
At one point, the playbook advises Trump staffers: "If a district attorney arrives on the scene, contact the appropriate media spokesperson immediately."
Sounds legit.
One time a Bank Commissioner didn’t like me. He came after me but he was wrong. I had to fight and fight and fight through the administrative phase and into the courts. Finally the state’s Atty Gen told the Commissioner we aren’t doing this anymore so the Bank Commissioner told me to never mind and the Judges dismissed all matters. Dismissed and my name cleared! But my wallet was by then oh, so significantly lighter all because of a vindictive bureaucrat. Good Karma though. Years later that Bank Commissioner got caught in a brutal scandal and was disgraced and forced from office and stripped of benefits. Teehee !
All I have done is point out additional sources. You have "designed yourself," don't blame me for your production.
-- I don't attack and insult other FReepers. --
Even if that is true, and it is a bit of an "eye of the beholder" thing, you are promoting a "truth avoidance" mechanism.
-- I have no care about the "size of my audience" - if one person reads something of value to them, that's good. --
Fair enough. My point was that many people who read what you post, dismiss it out of hand, solely on the basis that YOU are the one posting it, and that YOU have a reputation as being misleading. As I said before, of course you have to deny this, and claim to be offering an honest version of reality. But it doesn't take a curious reader very long to figure out that you are not at all balanced in your presentation.
That’s not the link I posted.
Thank you for spelling that out in detail.
bttt
Beauty of the internet, including Youtube is you get to see all the angles.
I already knew about this well before it was posted, was brought up by candidates, its nothing but monkey poop for them to throw at Trump.
Monkey poop.
Today i will be spending my time watching a Nascar double header, if its warm enough i might head out to my motorcycle shed and see if any of the bikes need attention, check the tires, the batteries, i might even grab a good 84 Goldwing motor out of a frame, clean it up to install in another frame that needs a better motor.
Waiting for tuesday, watching the web, watching the weather, kind of boring at times since i’m currently in Alaska, too much ice in all the wrong places.
And to keep my mind occupied thinking about how best to utilize my minimal resources to make a better income this year.
There is a half full lot of various heavy equipment awaiting the spring Ritchie Brothers auction just down the road from me, last year i did well, bought low and sold high later.
I might make a youtube video of this years auction.
I have almost nothing that will change Donald Trumps destiny except one vote and my opinion. I doubt i will change others minds as well. I believe its cast in stone, Donald has pulled the sword from the stone figuratively.
That is the source of the information at the link you DID post.
Everyone can make their own assessment.
This isn't about me (though that is your purpose).
This is about Trump and his methods to suck people in.
As always, for Donald Trump, the bottom line is "What's in it for me?"
“On a side note, anyone who paid for a subscription to National Review in the past are the ones who should be suing.”
Haha I got offered a free one year subscription from them a few weeks ago. I think maybe their readership is down?
Ohhh kaaay. ???
Trump has admitted, “I like money. I’m very greedy. I’m a greedy person. I shouldn’t tell you that, I’m a greedy – I’ve always been greedy. I love money, right?
His supporters might want to ask themselves what Trump has bestowed on them so far except for a lot of hot air.
Every article that you print is cherry picked. Not once do you print anything that could remotely be considered balanced.
Every FReeper, whether pro Cruz or pro Trump knows that you have escaped from the insane asylum and I'm not trying to impugn you, just get you some professional help and back on your meds.
Get back in your bat cave.
I'll pray for you, bless your heart, you poor thing.
At this point you are reduced to defending being willfully misleading. You see, a story is never just about the subject of the story, the messenger cannot avoid whatever prejudice the reader associates with the messenger. You have baggage, whether you want to admit it or not is unimportant to me. You have the same character defect that you accuse Trump of.
The links are all there.
People can make their own judgment.
Then tell us the real story of Trump "University."
Trump has already told us about himself: " “I like money. I’m very greedy. I’m a greedy person. I shouldn’t tell you that, I’m a greedy – I’ve always been greedy. I love money, right?"
He's not like those other greedy billionaires.
Trump is the billionaire you can trust.
To use eminent domain to force a widow out of her home to make way for his casino parking lot.
Have you thought about signing up for one of his classes?
In revealing you and your SO are attending time-share seminars for free stuff, you’ve revealed your gross lack of judgment. It’s on par with Nigerian scams.
And if you’ve believed that Trump was involved, then likely you are still a fool. Like Nigerian scams, time-share seminars tout many celebrities as part of their operation. They lie and have no shame, and what’s worse is you believed them.
Thats a lot of post that fails to address the question.
Why would a bank fund any project that was an obvious looser? Isn’t the goal to gain interest on investment?
I have no issue with a man using a corporation to bound potential losses and protect individual assets. Bankruptcy is a good and necessary function in a capitalist society.
My children’ fate is in Gods hand. It would be the same if Billy Graham was running. Trump can skip the weak professions.
Enjoy Tuesday.
http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/1229/article/p2p-86031609/
In my state of Florida the AG, Pam Bondi was set to start an investigation into “Trump University”. Within a few days her reelection campaign received a donation of $25,000. It was from Donald Trump. The investigation was dropped.
That Trump, he's a winner.
More about Chump University: Trump University fraud case becomes campaign issue at GOP debate
"There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they're suing now," Rubio said. "And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump."Cruz did Trump a favor, getting this out before the general election when the media will have a field day. Trump should thank Cruz. In fact, Cruz should sue Trump demanding a thank you note.That allegation is mostly true. Donald Trump continues to be haunted by a failed real estate investment school that threatens to pull him into the witness chair in the middle of this presidential campaign. And that opened the door for the second dagger in last night's debate, this time from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
"You know, Marco made reference earlier to the litigation against Trump University. It's a fraud case, " Cruz told the debate audience before asking Republican voters to think about what that would mean if Donald Trump is called into court to stand trial for fraud, right in the middle of an election.
"If this man is the nominee, having the Republican nominee, on the stand in court, being cross-examined about whether he committed fraud, "Cruz explained, "You don't think the mainstream media will go crazy on that?"
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