Why is it “Smart” Only When the Rich Game our Government?

Donald Trump claims that he is just being “smart” by gaming the tax system to not pay his taxes. Why is it “smart” when the rich game our government, but not ok when the poor do it? Is it smart when so called “Welfare Queens” or immigrants game the system to take advantage? Let’s be consistent here: both are either “smart” or both are wrong. Let’s call a spade a spade: Donald Trump is a nothing but a rich welfare queen.

Donald Trump: It is Patriotic to Pay Your Taxes

It is only “smart” to not pay your taxes if you only care about personal greed. Paying your taxes means that you are investing in America and paying your fair share to get the benefits of living in this great nation. Not paying your taxes and relishing in the fact that you don’t is cynical and unpatriotic. We have the greatest country in the world. We pay our taxes to invest in America to make sure we have the best infrastructure, great roads, safe bridges, safe airplanes, safe food, safe drugs, nice parks, safe drivers on the road, good schools, a great military, veteran’s services, and so much more. He could have chosen his country, but he chose greed.

Donald Trump: Stop Getting a Free Ride off of the Middle Class

When you game the system to not pay your taxes, you are getting those services for free and getting a free ride off of the middle class. You are shifting the tax burden to the middle class so that you can amass even more wealth than you can spend in one life time.

Donald Trump: Your Gaming of the System Makes America Weaker

We would not have a huge federal deficit if the wealthy like Donald Trump paid their taxes. It is their greed that is making America weak. They literally are weakening our nation to benefit their own pockets. While our bridges crumble and our veterans do not have the serves they need, Donald Trump lives in the lap of luxury. As Pope Francis said about the greedy today who deceive themselves that they are just being “smart:”

The real poor are revealed as those who refuse to see themselves as [humble]. They consider themselves rich, but they are actually the poorest of the poor. This is because they are slaves to sin, which leads them to use wealth and power not for the service of God and others, but to stifle within their hearts the profound sense that they too are only poor beggars. The greater their power and wealth, the more this blindness and deception can grow.

-Pope Francis

Donald Trump believing that he is just being “smart” by not paying his fair share for the services he enjoys in this great nation is the ultimate blindness and self-deception.

We Can’t Trust Donald Trump to Change — Why Does He Now Suddenly Care When He Has Gamed it for Decades to Amass His Wealth?

Donald Trump says that he will change this rigged tax system. What? Trump now suddenly cares that the wealthy aren’t pay their fair share in taxes? Why didn’t he care about the rigged system for decades while he was using it to amass his wealth? He has had decades to argue for change, but instead remained silent about the rigged system and gamed it to amass his own wealth at the expense of the American people.

And why in the world would Donald Trump now change this system that still directly increases his wealth? First, Donald Trump has specifically stated that he will not divest himself of his businesses if elected President. Can will really expect Donald to go against his self-interest and reduce his own wealth by requiring himself to pay more taxes? Second, Donald Trump did not have to game the system to amass his wealth. Instead, he made a conscience choice to do so for decades. He could have chosen his country, but he chose greed. He could have paid his fair share of the services he uses and to make sure our veterans have the services they need.

But instead, Donald Trump has chosen greed his entire life, why would he change now? What we can expect is that he will use the Presidency like he always has used power, to game the system and enrich himself and his family. In other words, to keep gaming the American people and to make us weaker to enrich himself.

A Donald Trump Presidency would be like the story of the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog to take him across the river. The frog is concerned that the scorpion will sting him because that is what scorpions do. The scorpion makes very convincing arguments to the frog as to why he will now change his ways and not sting the frog. The frog is finally convinced and takes the scorpion across, only for the scorpion to sting him. When the frog asks the scorpion why he stung him, the scorpion responds that he had to because it was his “nature.”

In other words, you can’t expect someone to change their essential nature. We know from decades of evidence that Donald Trump’s essential nature is driven by greed and excess. There is zero evidence to the contrary. You can’t expect that someone has spent his entire lifetime gaming the system in the name of greed, will suddenly eliminate the system that is enriching him. What you can expect will happen is that he will do what he does best, game the system to enrich himself, and we will all get stung. In other words, what we can expect Donald Trump to do is reduce taxes on the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

Donald Trump’s Actual Tax Plans Are Just More Gaming of the System

When you look at Donald Trumps actual tax plans, they amount to more of gaming the system to primarily benefit the wealthy. Trump’s tax plans are to:

1) reduce taxes on the wealthy by dropping the current tax rate on the top earners from 39% to 33%,

2) get rid of the estate tax so that the wealthy can pass on their massive wealth tax free which they have already in part accumulated by not paying their fair share in taxes (in other words more gaming of the system),

3) get rid of the wealthy’s tax on their investment income,

4) get rid of the alternative minimum tax which was introduced to help reduce the ways which people can game the tax system to not pay taxes (The alternative minimum tax says that you cannot game the tax code to use too many deductions to get out of paying your taxes. It allows some deductions to reduce your tax burden, but says you must pay a certain minimum of taxes), and

5) reduce the business tax from 35% to 15% and get rid of the corporate alternative minimum tax. (According to the General Accounting Office of the Government, large U.S. corporations already only pay an effective federal tax rate of 12.6%. And many business currently pay zero in taxes, so why would lowering it to 15% help in any way?).

Trump argues that if we lower taxes on business they will bring their money back into this country. Guess what, that is a failed recycled Republican argument. This was already tried and failed when the Republicans controlled Congress and the Presidency during the Bush years. In 2004, President Bush enacted a “repatriation tax holiday” that did not produce any of the economic benefits that they claimed would happen, such as, boosting jobs or domestic investment.

Trump’s tax plans primarily benefit himself, his businesses, and the wealthy. And his true tax plans are in line with his behavior for decades.