On the contents [of] Trump’s tax returns
Clinton: "You've got to ask yourself, why won't he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be.Third, we don't know all of his business dealings, but we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks. Or maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because 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."
Trump: "That makes me smart."
Clinton: "So if he's paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he's not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something really important, even terrible, that he's trying to hide.”
Trump: "That makes me smart."
Clinton: "So if he's paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he's not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something really important, even terrible, that he's trying to hide.”
Addressing her points one by one...
1> Who knows. I can't speculate how rich he is or isn't.
2> I don't care frankly. The underlying message I hear from this one is - because he's rich he should be giving a lot to charity. I mean after all, isn't that what the Dems always push for? Raise the taxes on the rich - they should pay their fair share? What exactly is their fair share? A percent is a percent. To me that's fair share.
Assume for a minute we live in a small community on a deserted island and our most valuable natural resource is coconuts. We use them for food, clothing, hydration, suntan lotion, trading with neighboring islands, all sorts of things. There are actually plenty of coconuts to go around .... the only problem is that the coconut trees are all on the far side of the island - about 2 miles away. So several times a week, a bunch of our fellow island dwellers make the arduous trip to the other side of the island to gather coconuts. Each trip yields only about 4 or 5 coconuts per person. They sell some of their harvest to the other islanders and thus our economy is formed.
After a few years of this, one particularly smart guy had an idea - rather than make this difficult trip time and time again, only bringing back a few coconuts at a time, he decides to start planting some of the coconuts he gathers. A few years go by and his idea has blossomed into a nice little coconut farm in his corner of the island and he's producing far more coconuts than any one person can bring back from the other side of the island. Recognizing the struggle faced by his community to keep up with the demand for coconuts, he sells off a portion of his harvest, at a reasonable cost. Even after selling some of what he doesn't use, he still finds himself with an ever increasing inventory of coconuts so he decides he can afford to give a few to people who are too sick or too old to gather their own.
He is applauded by many of his neighbors. They admire his innovative thought process and they too begin to plant coconuts on their patch of the island. Unfortunately, some inhabitants get discouraged and cry foul - "it's not fair - why should those people have more coconuts than me! They should have to share with me.....that's the fair thing to do!"
And behold - the seeds of democracy are sewn on this hypothetical island. Can you guess which people will be Democrats and which will be Republicans? Hillary, and her party, would rather play Robin Hood and simply give to people than inspire people to come up with ideas and work for themselves which, as on the island, leads to a better society as a whole.
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