US Politics: Speak Into the Microwave

[DunderMifflin]

And an executive order killed all the jedi in Revenge of the Sith

[LongRider]

150 mil is chump change to a billionaire.  Where's your billions Donnie?

[DunderMifflin]

10 years of 100 million would equal a billion.

On a different note it's entertaining to see how similar Maddow is to Alex Jones. She's selling this like it's the biggest scoop in the history of journalism.

[all swedes are racist]

uh, yeah, the resemblance is uncanny....

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

1 minute ago, r'hllor's red lobster said:

uh, yeah, the resemblance is uncanny....

Separated at birth. 

 

/They both seem to enjoy alcohol. There's that, I guess

[Fragile Bird]

The most interesting thing about the tax return is the fact that Trump actually only paid $5.3 M in taxes on $150 M in earnings. That's what is key.

The rest of the taxes were paid under the Alternative Minimum Tax rules, rules which Trump wants to have eliminated.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that Trump himself leaked this tax return, for the sole purpose to get people to move off the topic. There is probably more interesting stuff in other years he doesn't want you to see.

[SpaceChampion]

So he paid the equivalent cost of one golf trip to Florida on taxpayer expense.

[DMC]

48 minutes ago, DunderMifflin said:

And an executive order killed all the jedi in Revenge of the Sith

Not all the Jedi!

13 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

The most interesting thing about the tax return is the fact that Trump actually only paid $5.3 M in taxes on $150 M in earnings. That's what is key.

The rest of the taxes were paid under the Alternative Minimum Tax rules, rules which Trump wants to have eliminated.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that Trump himself leaked this tax return, for the sole purpose to get people to move off the topic. There is probably more interesting stuff in other years he doesn't want you to see.

Yeah the return is a big nothing burger, which means the cynical demons are outweighing (out-shouting?) the better angels in my head and insisting this was Trump once again getting one over on the press.

[The Anti-Targ]

What could have been interesting about this "leak" is if there was hard evidence that Trump leaked this. In itself it seems like the tax return information is not newsworthy.

[Fragile Bird]

The tax amount before the alternative minimum amount would have been a lower rate than paid by 50% of the poorest people in the USA.

Trump apparently has a long history of leaking information about himself. The reporter who received the return, anonymously in the mail, believes it was sent to him by Trump. The two pages of the summary do not show sources of income or interest paid or the amount paid to charity, etc etc etc.

Copies were sent to the WH for comment before they were released. The WH confirmed they were real. They did not make any request that they not be published. Reporting on the return is perfectly legal as long as you weren't the one who stole the information.

And the timing - a distraction from his accusations about President Obama wiretapping him. Really, it must have been Trump.

ETA: if it wasn't Trump, they would have sent the whole return, including various forms and schedules.

[DunderMifflin]

Or Russia of course.

[Mudguard]

Not impressed with Maddow.  Last time I listened to her show she was heavily implying that Trump was going to start a nuclear holocaust.  Now I tune in again to her self hyped up show for TRUMP'S TAX RETURN -SERIOUSLY! and get a complete dud.  All that build up and hype for worse than nothing.  That tax return probably helps Trump.  

[The Brandon Stark]

54 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

The most interesting thing about the tax return is the fact that Trump actually only paid $5.3 M in taxes on $150 M in earnings. That's what is key.

The rest of the taxes were paid under the Alternative Minimum Tax rules, rules which Trump wants to have eliminated.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that Trump himself leaked this tax return, for the sole purpose to get people to move off the topic. There is probably more interesting stuff in other years he doesn't want you to see.

Of course. Instead of being honest that President Trump paid 38 million in taxes in 2005, lets find a way to debase it. It actually hurts not helps him as there are more benefits to deducted in regular filings. All corporate entities file a shit ton of these. Now I am no tax expert, but it seems to me that regardless of how the taxes were paid, it was at a higher rate than Bernie or Obama. Why aren't the Socialists paying at least 50% like they want all of us to?

[DMC]

37 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Trump apparently has a long history of leaking information about himself.

Trump's (mis)representation of himself goes well beyond merely leaking information.  A calculated leak like this looks like transparency in comparison.

[Fragile Bird]

6 minutes ago, The Brandon Stark said:

Of course. Instead of being honest that President Trump paid 38 million in taxes in 2005, lets find a way to debase it. It actually hurts not helps him as there are more benefits to deducted in regular filings. All corporate entities file a shit ton of these. Now I am no tax expert, but it seems to me that regardless of how the taxes were paid, it was at a higher rate than Bernie or Obama. Why aren't the Socialists paying at least 50% like they want all of us to?

Wait...what the hell are you raving about? The Obamas jointly earned $495k and paid $93,362 in taxes, just under 20%. 15% of their income was given to charity, which reduced their rate. They had no special deductions, no tax tricks to reduce their rate. They paid like normal Americans. Sanders and his wife reported just over $200,000 in income and paid exactly the same federal rate that the Obamas did, 19.6%. They both also paid taxes to their states, Illinois and Vermont.

If you think either of them are socialists, you're fucking nuts. This is a discussion we regularly have in this thread. Loony tunes, fucking loony tunes.

Trump made $150 M and paid federal taxes of 3.5%. 3 point 5 fucking percent. With the minimum tax rules he paid about 25%, which he has argued should be eliminated.

[The Brandon Stark]

15 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Wait...what the hell are you raving about? The Obamas jointly earned $495k and paid $93,362 in taxes, just under 20%. 15% of their income was given to charity, which reduced their rate. They had no special deductions, no tax tricks to reduce their rate. They paid like normal Americans. Sanders and his wife reported just over $200,000 in income and paid exactly the same federal rate that the Obamas did, 19.6%. They both also paid taxes to their states, Illinois and Vermont.

If you think either of them are socialists, you're fucking nuts. This is a discussion we regularly have in this thread. Loony tunes, fucking loony tunes.

Trump made $150 M and paid federal taxes of 3.5%. 3 point 5 fucking percent. With the minimum tax rules he paid about 25%, which he has argued should be eliminated.

So the self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie isn't a Socialist? Okay and I'm fucking nuts? And yes Liberals that want to tax us to hell for entitlements are Socialists, Barry included. Regardless of how President Trump paid his taxes, it was 25% of his earnings. Again, please read up on AMTs before trying to pretend you understand what the hell you are talking about. Fucking nut...lmao

[MerenthaClone]

10 minutes ago, The Brandon Stark said:

So the self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie isn't a Socialist? Okay and I'm fucking nuts? And yes Liberals that want to tax us to hell for entitlements are Socialists, Barry included. Regardless of how President Trump paid his taxes, it was 25% of his earnings. Again, please read up on AMTs before trying to pretend you understand what the hell you are talking about. Fucking nut...lmao

Bernie is a social democrat and has never, at any point, seriously put forth a proposal involving shared ownership of the means of production, making him not a socialist.   His proposals are all heavily-regulated capitalist structures that essentially use government to make capitalism palatable.  Your ignorance of anything beyond SOCIALISMS BAD is pretty clear here.  Further, while the tax returns show very little, they are another visible point that the wealthy are grossly undertaxed in this country.  

[The Brandon Stark]

6 minutes ago, MerenthaClone said:

Bernie is a social democrat and has never, at any point, seriously put forth a proposal involving shared ownership of the means of production, making him not a socialist.   His proposals are all heavily-regulated capitalist structures that essentially use government to make capitalism palatable.  Your ignorance of anything beyond SOCIALISMS BAD is pretty clear here.  Further, while the tax returns show very little, they are another visible point that the wealthy are grossly undertaxed in this country.  

Really? Supporting single-payer health care and free higher-education aren't socialist ideals? Constantly harping on further taxation isn't socialism? And paying 25% of one's earnings is NOT grossly undertaxed. Certainly not when the federal government shits away most of those tax dollars.

[MerenthaClone]

7 minutes ago, The Brandon Stark said:

Really? Supporting single-payer health care and free higher-education aren't socialist ideals? Constantly harping on further taxation isn't socialism? And paying 25% of one's earnings is NOT grossly undertaxed. Certainly not when the federal government shits away most of those tax dollars.

Pretty solidly within the social democrat wheelhouse, there, I'm afraid, and all very much within the capitalist paradigm.  Like I said, capitalism with the edges filed off so its tolerable.  Sorry that you've had your mind poisoned by people claiming that anything to the left of Randian masturbatory fantasies is the dreaded socialism.  

Yeah, it really is. Progressive income taxes exist for a reason and should be greatly strengthened.  25% total on the top earners is a travesty considering the variable value of money to those at the extremes.  

[Fragile Bird]

32 minutes ago, The Brandon Stark said:

So the self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie isn't a Socialist? Okay and I'm fucking nuts? And yes Liberals that want to tax us to hell for entitlements are Socialists, Barry included. Regardless of how President Trump paid his taxes, it was 25% of his earnings. Again, please read up on AMTs before trying to pretend you understand what the hell you are talking about. Fucking nut...lmao

Yah, loony as loony can be. Ugly loony. The kind of ugly who calls health care an entitlement. And pretty dumb too, for missing the point Trump plans to eliminate the Alternate Minimum tax so he can pay 3 point five fucking percent in the future. And as someone who has paid AMT on numerous times in my life, yah, I think I fucking know what they are.