New York Times Analysis Of Trump’s Tax Position Misses A Lot
What is most disconcerting to me about this particular Times piece is that it does not really appear that Trump was getting away with that much. He did not get a principal reduction from the bondholders, so requiring him to pick up ordinary income at that point would have really been kicking him when he was down. And he did give up equity in return for the more favorable debt terms. Unlike the Son of Boss shelters that would be coming later, everything about this was real. There were real casinos that lost a ton of money. After the restructuring there was as much principal as there had been beforehand and some equity had been surrendered.
Jill Stein Finds It Is Not Easy Being Green
My speculation for the cause of her reticence was that details in her returns that were fairly mundane would, seen through glasses with Green lenses, appear quite shocking. Dr. Stein’s mother, Gladys Stein, died in 2010. Assuming conventional estate planning, assets accumulated not only during her parent’s lives, but also. possibly, something from her grandfather who invested in Chicago real estate might leave some traces on her 2012 or 2013 returns.
It probably does not hurt Mike Pence that he had an ownership interest in a chain of gas station convenience stores, but if Jill Stein owned something like that even on a transitory basis, there would be somebody at the Green Party convention calling for her to make reparation. That was my thinking, anyway. We’ll probably never know.
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.