So now it’s come down to this. The Donald, who self-identifies himself as “really, really rich” and worth many billions of dollars, begging supporters and the Republican Party for cash. This Madoff-like con man has scammed his supporters and the GOP into believing his assertions of vast wealth and now the pigeons are coming home to roost. Didn’t The Donald once say that he was going to fund his whole campaign by himself? If you still believe he’s going to do that, I’ve got a bridge I’d love to sell you at a discounted price.
Currently, his campaign has $1.3 million available for advertising and to pay vendors and personnel, compared to Hillary’s $42 million. But don’t worry if you’re a Trump supporter. He’ll find a way to get by. In his past business ventures, Trump stiffed many of the small businessmen who provided him with supplies or worked for him. Either he didn’t pay them, or negotiated down what he owed them, paying cents on the dollar. If they weren’t happy, he threatened to take them to court, and the suit would cost them plenty even if they won. That was the way The Donald conducted business, riding roughshod over workers (many of whom were immigrants) and small companies that did not have the resources to fight him.
However, his tactics in real estate did not prevent him from bankruptcy on many occasions (which he says was a strategy of his), allowing him to get more loans from the banks who were afraid of losing out on their original loans. (This was bad judgement on the part of the lenders who wound up losing more in the long run.) Of course, the investors (other than the banks) who went into these ventures with The Donald, lost their shirts with the bankruptcies, though Trump was able to escape personal bankruptcy himself on these occasions. He didn’t care what happened to his partners, the banks, or the small businesses he hurt.
If The Donald is elected president, he says he will use some of these techniques to lower the debt load of the United States, threatening US bankruptcy and not paying the full value to those who bought US bonds. This would be disastrous for the nation and the world, destroying American credibility and the value of the dollar as an international currency. A global economic crisis would be precipitated. American debt has always been believed to be the most secure in the world and virtually risk-free. This benefits the United States as other countries have been willing to lend it money at absurdly low interest rates. Trump’s ploy would badly damage America’s credit rating and would end other nations buying of America’s bonds. The fact that Trump even suggested taking this path reveals his lack of knowledge regarding economics though he claims to be a smart businessman.
Interestingly, The Donald has been using campaign funds to pay himself, his family, and his own businesses, rather than paying for the campaign himself. His campaign paid over $400,000 to rent his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which Trump should have just donated to his campaign if he’s as rich as he says he is. His campaign also spent nearly $400,000 on Trump’s jets which also should have been donated. In addition, according to the Federal Elections Commission, Trump’s campaign spent money at the Trump Plaza, Trump Soho, Trump Café, Trump Grill, and for Trump Wine, Trump Water, at Trump Golf Clubs, and so forth. Several payments went directly to The Donald as well. His campaign paid over $1.1 million in May to his businesses and family for various expenses they incurred. Does this sound like a rich man funding his own campaign?
And just a few days ago, The Donald put out an emergency appeal for $100,000 so he would be able to air some advertisements. If The Donald were worth the $10 billion he says he is, that would have been just a drop in the bucket for him and he would have come up with the money himself. It seems as if Trump is using his campaign as a business venture to generate money for himself, rather than spending it to fund his campaign. And so far, he has spent little on TV advertising or to set up campaign organizations in at least the battleground states, needed to collect data and conduct a ground game.
Almost certainly, Trump has lied about his net worth, with Forbes describing his claims of great wealth as fiction. This would appear to be the main reason he is refusing to release his tax returns as his income and assets would likely become public. He may also be avoiding paying taxes, not a good thing for a presidential candidate.
Look at some of The Donald’s other business ventures outside of real estate and casinos. United States Football League lasted three seasons in the 80s, then down the tubes. Trump University- defunct. A total scam on unsuspecting students. Trump Vitamins and the Trump Network- gone. Another scam. The Trump Shuttle- shut down with the loans defaulted. And so on. Analysts have said that given the inheritance Trump received from his father, he has greatly underperformed the real estate market over the last forty years and is in reality a mediocre businessman at best.
But The Donald has been able to deceive the public, his supporters, and the Republican Party. He appears to be trying to make a profit on running for president rather than winning the election. And all his talk about his wealth and how he would fund his campaign himself is all b.s, a major component of The Donald that people apparently cannot smell. Hopefully, he will not make it to the White House as he will probably start charging for tours and finding other ways to accumulate wealth through his new position.
Release your tax returns Donald if there’s any validity to what you’ve been telling Americans.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020