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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDonald Trump, the welfare king
A generation after Ronald Reagan denounced the welfare queen, the Grand Old Party is evidently on the verge of nominating its first welfare king.
Four years ago last week, the partys 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, famously wrote off the 47 percent of Americans who dont pay federal income taxes. Romney, secretly recorded at a fundraiser, said the 47 percent who are dependent upon government wont vote for him because Ill never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
Now, just one presidential cycle later, Republicans have settled on a presumptive nominee who is himself among the 47 percent of non-taxpayers. Trump has been refusing to release his tax returns, and now we have a pretty good idea why: He has been feeding at the public trough.
The Posts Drew Harwell reported over the weekend that, for at least two years in the late 1970s (the last time Trumps tax information was made public), Trump paid no federal income taxes. Several tax experts I spoke with said its entirely possible that Trump has continued to report negative income and therefore not pay taxes because of loopholes and dubious deductions that benefit powerful real estate interests. They say its likely that whatever taxes he does pay would be at a rate lower than the average worker pays.
Thats typical for Trumps line of work. Because of depreciation, the deductibility of interest and other tax breaks, the effective tax rate on the real estate sector is lower than most industries, and in some cases negative.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-the-welfare-king/2016/05/23/154310f4-2121-11e6-aa84-42391ba52c91_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_rainbow
Jackie Wilson Said
(4,176 posts)I am among the chumps.
This information will HELP him at the polls, many Americans have been taught that government is bad and if you can avoid paying your fair share, you should.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)to reduce their taxes.
The issue isn't (or shouldn't be) taking advantage of the legal tax breaks - the issue is why are those tax breaks there in the first place.