All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

New York Times just published an article on 15 YEARS OF DONALD TRUMP'S TAX RETURNS.

It's worse than we thought.

• In 2016 and 2017, he paid all of $750 in income taxes.
• In 10 of the 15 years, he paid nothing.
• He earned about $450 million on the Apprentice. He's blown more than that amount on his properties.
• He owes $300 million in loans that come due to international lenders in 2022.
• He's earned $73 million since aking office on licensing deals where he's being paid by India, the Philippines, and Turkey (which may have something to do with why he's so sweet on Erdogan)
• He claimed $70,000 in credits for his hair care on the set of the Apprentice, and claimed another $95K for Ivanka's stylist.
• In 2012, he took out a $100 million mortgage on the commercial space in Trump Tower. He took nearly the entire amount as a payout, his tax records show. His company has paid more than $15 million in interest on the loan, but nothing on the principal. The full $100 million comes due in 2022 [...]
• The balances on those loans had not been paid down by the end of 2018. And the businesses carrying the bulk of the debt — the Doral golf resort ($125 million) and the Washington hotel ($160 million) — are struggling, which could make it difficult to find a lender willing to refinance it.
  

$70 grand on hair care? Christ on a crutch! Imagine what he’s spent on that orange **** he trowels on his face like spackling paste. Meanwhile, what I want to know is who are those lenders Trump is in hock to. Who owns that bastard’s debts?

[kidfresh512]

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, armed, barricades self in Fort Lauderdale home, police called

Former campaign manager for Donald Trump, Brad Parscale, who was replaced by the President less than four month until November’s vote was reportedly armed with a gun and threatening to harm himself at his Fort Lauderdale home on Sunday afternoon.

Police have not confirmed that Parscale worked for Trump, but records confirm that the property in Fort Lauderdale is owned by Parscale, 44, and Local 10 has spoken to neighbors who also said it was the former advisor to the President.

Fort Lauderdale Police responded to a home in reference to an armed male attempting suicide Sunday afternoon. When officers arrived on the scene, they made contact with the wife of the man who told them her husband was armed, had access to multiple firearms inside the house and was threatening to harm himself. She had placed the 911 call, according to police. Fort Lauderdale Police said that the armed subject was transported to Broward Health Medical Center where he was placed under a Baker Act.

[BeastieRunner]

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, armed, barricades self in Fort Lauderdale home, police called

That is ... Oddly similair to what happens in Russia.

[kidfresh512]

That is ... Oddly similair to what happens in Russia.

Seriously whats the deal with him and his campaign managers? Prison terms, Their kids try to emancipate themselves and go on social media rants exposing them. And now fired nutjob rushed to the medical ward.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Seriously whats the deal with him and his campaign managers? Prison terms, Their kids try to emancipate themselves and go on social media rants exposing them. And now fired nutjob rushed to the medical ward.

More like the psych ward. So, what unhinged the guy, the news about Trump’s taxes?

[Kevinroc]

I bet there's some way. The Democrats have access to lots of lawyers and creative people. I hope they come up with something.
I'll continue pray to Odin and Thor, hoping that helps!

The only hope I can see is for Democrats to find some way to delay until after the Election, an Election that they win big. Keep the House. Take the Senate. Take the Presidency. Then announce if Republicans push this woman through the lame duck period, they will officially expand the number of seats on the Court.

(Of course that threat would also be on the Roberts Court during the ACA arguments after the election as well.)

Edit: I want to make clear what a long shot this all is. If Dems win big, they might have no choice but to expand the courts.

[worstblogever]

$70 grand on hair care? Christ on a crutch! Imagine what he’s spent on that orange **** he trowels on his face like spackling paste. Meanwhile, what I want to know is who are those lenders Trump is in hock to. Who owns that bastard’s debts?

The loans are... owed to debtors in two countries, primarily...

Russia. And China.

[A Small Talent For War]

The loans are... owed to debtors in two countries, primarily...

Russia. And China.

Still, Trump lives by the old saying "if you owe a million dollars to someone, they own you. If you owe a billion dollars to someone, you own them." It's how he's run his finances since the 80's and 90's. Keep "borrowing" money from suckers until they are desperate for you to pay it back. Only an idiot would lend him money, but he's incredibly good at finding those idiots and persuading them to do it.

[Tami]

By lowering the debate bar for Biden, has Trump set a trap for himself?

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump has framed the first general election debate as a test for his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Yet he has simultaneously set the bar so low for so long that many of his supporters — having watched unflattering, often manipulated clips of Biden in Trump campaign advertisements or on Fox News — are now expecting the president to mop the floor with an incoherent opponent in something resembling a WWE match.

Democrats — and even some Republicans — believe that is not likely to happen.

The misleading notion that Biden is too addled for the presidency has been driven by Trump since 2018, when he first started referring to the former vice president as Sleepy Joe. Since then, in speeches, in interviews and at his rallies, Trump has been crafting a narrative depicting the former vice president as having a diminished physical and mental stature, in the hope of making voters believe that Biden is unfit for office.

It is a message that Trump’s campaign has spent millions of dollars amplifying, often in misleading, spliced-together clips contrasting an energetic Biden from the past with a supposedly barely functioning one now. And the campaign has posed the question to voters: “Did something happen to Joe Biden?”

[Iron Maiden]

$70 grand on hair care? Christ on a crutch! Imagine what he’s spent on that orange **** he trowels on his face like spackling paste. Meanwhile, what I want to know is who are those lenders Trump is in hock to. Who owns that bastard’s debts?

That sounds so suspicious to me because most TV productions AFAIK have paid staff to do the hair and makeup. He wouldn't be paying that out of his own pocket since that should have been part of producer Mark Burnett's production cost.

Thing is that IIRC Ivanka has said in the past that he usually liked to do his hair himself. Also, there were many reports on how he usually doesn't emerge from his private rooms in the West Wing until almost 11 am some days. He's probably watching Fox & Friends, tweeting, then getting his "look" together. Have you noticed how some days his face is orange but his ears are pale? I think he used to use a tanning bed when he was in NYC because there were pale circles around his eyes since you usually wear those goggles to protect them. Reports say he didn't move a tanning bed to the WH.

[Iron Maiden]

By lowering the debate bar for Biden, has Trump set a trap for himself?

I really hope that Trump is going to really trip up on this live debate. He's terrible at expressing himself on complicated issues because he has such superficial knowledge of them. He's notorious for not wanting to read any of the briefs or other documents given to him. If he tries to "wing it" he will only impress his usual flock of loyalists who are a lost cause anyway. But sane people I hope will notice how incompetent he is.

[JackDaw]

I really hope that Trump is going to really trip up on this live debate. He's terrible at expressing himself on complicated issues because he has such superficial knowledge of them. He's notorious for not wanting to read any of the briefs or other documents given to him. If he tries to "wing it" he will only impress his usual flock of loyalists who are a lost cause anyway. But sane people I hope will notice how incompetent he is.

Could anyone with an open mind old enough to vote really not realise that (Trump is incompetent) already?

[JackDaw]

$70 grand on hair care? Christ on a crutch! Imagine what he’s spent on that orange **** he trowels on his face like spackling paste. Meanwhile, what I want to know is who are those lenders Trump is in hock to. Who owns that bastard’s debts?

See the Donald is claiming “total fake”.

If so....there is a very simple solution for him. Publish the true records.

[Iron Maiden]

The loans are... owed to debtors in two countries, primarily...

Russia. And China.

IIRC when Trump was trying to recover from his huge bankruptcy, one of the loans was from Deutsche Bank. They forgave one loan than gave him another one for a larger amount. That one is coming due and there are 486 million dollars that he is going to have to be paying back over the the next 4 or 5 years, some coming due in 2021-22. Lawrence O'Donnell had to retract a statement he made earlier this year about Trump's cosigner on that loan being a Russian oligarch. And it's pretty much accepted that all of them are very closely linked to Putin, who enabled them in achieving their wealth.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump’s Old Tweet About Obama’s Taxes Is Looking Super Awkward Now

The president’s complaint falls flat in light of the New York Times tax revelations. As that old saying goes: What goes around, comes around.

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‘Freeloader-In-Chief’: Twitter Afire Over Explosive Trump Tax Return Report

“Raise your hand if you pay more taxes than supposed ‘billionaire’ Donald Trump.” Yeah, folks are really lapping up the story, and they ain't happy!

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Biden Campaign Shreds Trump With New Ad, Snarky Merch After Stunning Tax Report

Joe Biden’s team swiftly took aim at the president’s reported tax avoidance. Jumped on that with both feet.

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COVID-19 Surging In Red States Just Weeks Before Election

The president has shrugged off the pandemic as a “blue state” problem. Now it’s hitting his supporters hard. Let's see how Drano Don responds to that, provided he cares about his supporters at all. Meanwhile....

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U.S. Hits Troubling 55,000 New COVID-19 Cases In A Single Day

It’s the biggest jump in 24 hours in more than a month as the nation heads into a challenging new season.

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Trump Says He Will Demand Biden Take A Drug Test Ahead Of Debate

President Trump’s latest accusatory jab at the former vice president’s health comes despite ongoing public concern about Trump’s own well-being. If I'm Biden, I say to Trump, "Sure, no problem, I'll take that test... after you produce your real tax returns".