Trump's Taxes

The New York Times generated a lot of attention when it printed portions of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax return. While many have denounced Trump, my outrage is reserved for the Times. This once great paper has made Trump’s defeat a priority over journalistic excellence. While going out of its way to go after Trump, it deliberately omits news unfavorable to Clinton.

I don’t believe any organization should print anything which was illegally obtained. According to the Washington Post, they may have committed a felony. The tax return falls in the same category as the leaked DNC emails. That is more outrageous because a foreign power, Russia, was trying to influence the election.

I also dislike shoddy journalism. One of the reporters said it came from the Trump organization because it had a Trump Tower return address. I suppose if I mailed them a letter and used 1600 Pennsylvania as a return address, they would say it is from President Obama. Many have reported Trump didn’t pay any taxes for eighteen years. This is totally false. He even paid taxes that year despite losing nearly $1 billion.
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Finally, I don’t like the way people are misrepresenting what the return means. 1995 was a horrible year for him. He suffered devastating losses from his casinos and other ventures. Some claim this means he is a bad businessman. Great people often fail; Lincoln did so repeatedly. Many have claimed this as a loophole used by the rich to dodge taxes. The same rules apply to billionaires and owners of hot dog stands. If they lose money, they can carry the loss forward.

Please don’t interpret this as an endorsement of Trump. I find him despicable as a person and a candidate. We should speak out when someone is mistreated irrespective of how we feel about them.
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