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Machiavellian on 04 October 2016
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teamsilent13 said:

Trump never really denied that accusation anyway. He said what he did was legal and smart. He literally said it in the debate. "It makes me smart"


I am still voting for Trump because he did nothing illegal. The funny thing is that every election we get candidates from both sides claiming that these "loopholes" will be fixed. Both sides every election during primaries at least... I know McCain, Romney, Gore, Bush, and Obama all claimed to close the loopholes. Yet Bush and Obama did not and both had two terms. So Hillary is saying she is going to do it, but we know that isn't true. Her husband had two terms and didn't. I don't really understand these loopholes that well and I doubt the average American does either, but I have read enough to know what Trump doing isn't illegal.

When you look at how Trump did his taxes it’s not about legal or not, it’s about how he has used his bankruptcy as a tax shelter.  Basically as CEO of those properties like the Casino in Atlantic City, he ran those properties to the ground with bad business.  Next he files bankruptcy stiffing hundreds of contractors, employees and banks of their money all the while he was drawing a fat paycheck as CEO.  He killed pension plans and other employee benefits to keep getting paid.  While he is doing this he used those failed business he ran to the ground as a tax shelter for his other income thus preserving his own money and self-interest.  

So no, Trump did not do anything illegal, but if you think on a moral point then there are definitely questions.  Also, I have to ask, is this the type of businessman you want running the country.

Obama actually tried to get rid of the carried loophole but of course it has to get through congress.  The difference between Obama and Hillary is that Hillary has actually come out and said that she will institute an executive order to get rid of the loophole.  Not sure how that will go down but she is stating that she will put her presidency on actually going against congress on this issue.

For me the key here is not that Trump did not pay any taxes.  This is not a point I have ever argued in the past and before this leak, I stated that I believe Trump tax returns would show he pays no tax.  Instead, what we do see is that there is something he is still hiding.  Since the leaked tax returns was only 3 pages, we really do not know if that 1 billion loss was just the casino.  It could also be other tax sheltering type of enterprises that goes on that allow people like Trump to pay no taxes.