Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!

Tag: Donald Trump huckster

Why Won’t Donald Trump Release His Tax Returns?

Why Won’t Trump Release His Tax Returns?

For the first time in modern history, a candidate running for President on a major party ticket is not releasing his tax returns.

Why not?

The 6 best guesses are courtesy of Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, one of 3 news outlets (the New York Times and the Des Moines Register being the other two) that Donald Trump has recently banned from covering his campaign for various slights or offenses he doesn’t like (it doesn’t take much when you’re as thin-skinned as Donald Trump):

1) The Donald may have Russian business ties.

2) Donald Trump did not pay any taxes at all for 2 years in the seventies. Speculation is rampant that he has not paid his fair share of taxes since then. A 1981 report by New Jersey gambling regulators showed that Trump did not pay any taxes for 2 years in the seventies because he reported negative income—which brings us to number 3.

3) Trump may not be as rich as he claims. He once said he was worth $10 biliion. Others have said he is worth $3 billion. Still others insist he is worth far less than either of those numbers. Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, is not impressed with Trump’s wealth, saying he is a con man at the DNC.

4) Trump may donate very little to charity, despite claims to the contrary. I’m sure we all remember when he skipped a debate in Iowa to raise money for veterans, but then didn’t donate the money until newspapers tracked down whether he had actually raised and donated as much ($6 million) as he claimed. The tracking down forced Trump to make good on a campaign promise to chip in a large amount of his own and made us aware that the $6 million was actually only $5.6 until the research outed the entire process and showed that he had not put in his contribution until the day after the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold printed the true story. Farenthold also found that his charitable giving to that point was less than $10,000.

5) He is being audited. This is pure bunk. Richard Nixon released his taxes while being audited in 1973. My husband ran 2 H&R Block locations and says there is no reason that an audit should prevent him from releasing his tax returns, which many others have confirmed.

6) Trump may have Mob ties. This idea has circulated for years. Ted Cruz on “Meet the Press” said, “There have been multiple media reports about Donald’s business dealings with the job, with the mafia. Maybe his taxes show those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported.” (Of course, Trump claimed that Cruz’ father was somehow complicit in the assassinaton of JFK, so…..

In other breaking non-tax-return news, Melania Trump’s website that claimed she earned an architecture degree before becoming a model (she didn’t) has been taken down.

Buzzfeed Buzzes Trump Campaign by Rejecting $1.3 Mill Buy

Buzzfeed Axes $1.3 Million Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump
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Buzzfeed Axes $1.3 Million Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump
[By Cathy Burke | Monday, 06 Jun 2016 01:45 PM]

So read the headline that outlined how Buzzfeed has refused a deal to run ads designed to elect Donald Trump President in the upcoming presidential campaign, for the same reason that they don’t run cigarette ads, “which can also be hazardous to your health.”

It is becoming clearer and clearer in the lead-up to the actual presidential campaign that Donald Trump is someone who can dish it out, but can’t take it, when it comes to criticism. Perhaps this is because he was born a child of privilege and has lived, literally, in a gilded tower.

But whatever the source of his brash, obnoxious, misogynistic, narcissistic, blowhard personality, the thrice-married Donald is not getting an “A” in “works and plays well with others” nor is he winning any Mr. Congeniality contests, nor is he likely to pick up the votes of Latinos as he continues to go after the Hispanic Federal Judge who is overseeing his Trump University case.

The appearances on television (one with Jake Tapper this past Sunday was particularly revealing) show a man who continually interrupted his questioner to pivot to the topic of how wronged he had been because the judge handling his case was Mexican, (even though he was born in Indiana to immigrant parents). Trump is like a small grade-schooler who, not having gotten his way, says he is going to “take my ball and go home.” The level of maturity from a man approaching 70 is disturbing and terribly offputting for the average voter.

There are few people who like a braggart. Humble is the goal if you’re running for office. There are fewer still who like a con man, a liar and a huckster whose chief response to being called out is to whine, like the child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Even Newt Gingrich, Trump’s staunch ally and a name bandied about as a vice presidential running mate, knows enough to flee a burning building, and has denounced Trump’s recent racist remarks. Right now, Donald Trump is a burning building.

Former opponents whom Trump bested in the primaries (Marco Rubio, for one) are coming out of the woodwork to proclaim that they saw this melt-down coming. Others, like Paul Ryan, are trying as hard as they can to tap dance away from the onus of anti-Hispanic sentiment that their presumptive nominee is spreading like grass seed on arid soil.(So much for the “autopsy” report the GOP commissioned after their last big loss that said they should try to be more inclusive and court the Hispanic vote.)

But can the old white male vote carry The Donald to victory, anyway? Well, when George W. Bush won, he carried 58% of the old, white male vote. When McCain lost, he had 55% of this segment of the electorate. Romney got 59% of the white male vote. Right now, in exit polls, Donald Trump is polling 52% of the white male vote. And let’s not forget that Romney’s loss in ’12 was a BIG loss. Onlookers can only hope that Trump’s loss will be even bigger, thereby giving Mitt Romney his “I told you so” moment.(Romney openly denounced Trump in no uncertain terms months ago in winter.)

As far as the GOP is concerned, it is just too bad that Mitt Romney, a decent (rich) human being without the common man touch, didn’t wait until this year to run against Hillary Clinton. She is eking out a win over a 74-year-old opponent not on charismatic leadership and likability, but because the Grand Old Party nominated an orange millionaire who won’t release his taxes (Did he PAY his taxes? Clinton has released her tax returns for the past 33 years.), makes no sense, has offered no real solutions for the problems he points out, and has vilified the press, this is likely to be a drubbing of historic proportions.

The State of Texas is seeking $5.4 million from Trump University to pay back the defrauded students. “And you know this case was turned down by almost every attorney general, from Texas to….” said Trump to Jake Tapper on television on June 5th.

Five different Texas codes were violated, according to the state of Texas. Texas state investigators went undercover inside Trump University to make these claims. Huckster. Fraud. Liar. Bait-and-switch. Infomercials for the 3-day $1,495 course used more high-pressure tactics to get customers to pay $35,000 for more classes. The only business tip? Prey on foreclosure victims. And yet Trump’s attorney says that Donald Trump had his finger involved in every aspect of Trump University. The Texas Attorney General then is the Texas Governor (Greg Abbott) now, so the case was dropped when Trump said he’d leave the state never to return. “No one else,” according to Texas officials, “was going to be scammed.”

Yeah…this is the kind of guy you want leading the Free World—-NOT!

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