Trump's taxes. He looks like a cheater. That's on brand for Trump. That's not the problem.
The problem is that he insulted us by arranging to pay $750 in 2016 and 2017. It's like getting a nickel tip.
The outlaw hero is supposed to make a fool out of the enemy, not us.
Western literature begins with trickery. The Greeks loved it when their heroes employed deception. The Iliad described those gullible Trojans, falling for the Greek gift. Odysseus made his way home fooling and confounding the Cyclops and Sirens, then deceived Penelope's suitors in order to ambush and kill them. Clever.
World War Two--that great morality play of good and evil in American consciousness--involved a "sneak attack" against us in that day of infamy. Our heroic acts include our secret landing at Normandy while creating the deception at Calais, and Britain having broken the Enigma code but keeping that secret.
We delight when our heroes deceive. Deception isn't a problem--so long as it isn't us being the one deceived.
A big element of Donald Trump's political success is that he comes off as the trickster. He is Mr. Cool about it, a Hugh Hefner type getting what he wants from the ladies, a James Bond type at dispatching enemies, the moonshine running Bandit staying one step ahead of the Smokey at the IRS with their supposed endless audit.
We delight when our heroes deceive. Deception isn't a problem--so long as it isn't us being the one deceived.
A big element of Donald Trump's political success is that he comes off as the trickster. He is Mr. Cool about it, a Hugh Hefner type getting what he wants from the ladies, a James Bond type at dispatching enemies, the moonshine running Bandit staying one step ahead of the Smokey at the IRS with their supposed endless audit.
"I'm rich. Really rich," Trump said. Republican voters liked nominating a wheeler-dealer real estate tycoon. That was a feature, not a bug. Withholding his taxes became a positive with his base because it was teasing Democrats and the media. You want it? Sure, soon. Just wait. It was Trump with a twinkle in his eye. Beg some more.
All in all, it was good optics and positioning for Trump among voters inclined to dislike and distrust Democrat and the media.
Now the news about Trump's taxes. He insulted us. Big mistake.
It is not surprising that Trump has complicated taxes. People involved with real estate know about non-cash depreciation expenses, tax credits, and rules that allow people simultaneously to make money while deducting everyday expenses as "business expenses," to employ one's children, to going bankrupt and then re-negotiate the debt, to take tax losses for money discharged in bankruptcy, and--amid having lots of money to spend lavishly on oneself--for tax purposes have no taxable income! What a deal!
It is a confusing, arcane game, and Trump played it aggressively. He cites that game in tweets of protest.
What hurts him is that he got cute.
His accountants were shifting tens of millions of dollars back and forth between income and expenses, and then Trump came down to a figure he wanted to pay, $750, for each of two years. Exactly $750. He wanted a gesture, a token. Just enough to satisfy the "little people," the people who pay taxes based on W-2 income. See, he pays taxes.
He thought $750 was about right. His New York bathrooms have gold fixtures.
Had he paid a million dollars in taxes, or paid no taxes, citing a loss carry-forward of millions of dollars, then it would have been an entirely different message. It would have been what everyone knows in the back of their minds, that wheeler-dealer real estate tycoons have incomprehensible taxes with big numbers.
Paying $750 in taxes, though, revealed his character. He is a piker. He is a trickster, sure, but he is tricking us, not the IRS. He wants to pretend to us that he is a taxpayer. He manufactured a number, and he thought about $750 would be about right to satisfy us. It is like getting a nickel tip.
Paying big taxes is a message of wealth. Paying no taxes is a message of wealth. Paying taxes of $750 is a message that he thinks we are gullible suckers.
2 comments:
Either Trump is embarrassed about being broke and up to his neck in debt or has committed tax fraud...or both.
Hiding his finances has been an ongoing issue, but one thing you don't point out is that his supporters don't like taxes, and admire him for getting away with not paying, however he's managed to do it. These are the folks who have latched on to the myth of Republican fiscal responsibility and blown it up into a dystopian cage match.
As one Trumper said to ABC's Martha Raddatz: "I'd like his accountant".
As Rick said, not only am I impressed but I was wondering why $750? He's a businessman so that number should be zero.
The elephant in the room is that Trump has employees, and most of the dimes going to those employees get spent at other business, then to other employees. This requires a bit of calculus but $1 payed to employees counts as $2 to an economy (Coppedge).
The leakage that limits this multiplier from a bit less than 2x (good ol calculus limits) is usually taxes. With no taxes, the leakage could easily be 5x and some jurisdictions use this.
So Trump pays less taxes is known fact now. This leaves two remaining possibilities. Either he is filthy rich and failing to monetize by returning money into the economy or he has essentially returned all his money to the economy, minus $750 for a couple years, and that it is subject to economic impact multipliers of at least 2.
Whether or not the structuring is a snub is irrelevant. Could have been a barium meal to see who was leaking. Could have been an inside joke. Doesn't matter to his supporters because they want less taxes as well.
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