They Did it! CA lawmakers pass bill requiring Trump, presidential candidates to release tax returns

[pcgeek11]

Slow does bring up a good retarded point.

I support the idea of this because that should be a non negotiable job requirement.
I’m sure people like PC Geek & Slow will want Canidates to show their birth certificates to get on the ballot, then even when it’s done some dumb-dumb will say there is a problem with the birth certificate

I have no problems with requiring proof of eligibility for running for the office of President.

I also have no issue with California changing their requirements as long as it is within the law as this surely is.

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I have no problems with requiring proof of eligibility for running for the office of President.

I also have no issue with California changing their requirements as long as it is within the law as this surely is.

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

I did a ninja edit, I meant to say compuwiz. I apologies for screwing that up

 

[pcgeek11]

I did a ninja edit, I meant to say compuwiz. I apologies for screwing that up

No problem thanks!

 

[MixMasterTang]

I have no problems with requiring proof of eligibility for running for the office of President.

I also have no issue with California changing their requirements as long as it is within the law as this surely is.

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

I don't think that is the *only* reason. More of a statement to the next Trump like person to run, release your tax return or don't bother campaigning here.

 

[pcgeek11]

I don't think that is the *only* reason. More of a statement to the next Trump like person to run, release your tax return or don't bother campaigning here.

Sure, whatever...........

 

[Puffnstuff]

you sound triggered. Are you outraged? snowflake?

Some snowflake is triggered. ^^^^

Will someone please get the rock salt and a snow shovel....

 

[Fenixgoon]

Sure, whatever...........

if trump had released his returns, he probably never would have become president and CA wouldn't have passed this law.

It is because of trump, and to prevent future trumps.

 

[Greenman]

I have no problems with requiring proof of eligibility for running for the office of President.

I also have no issue with California changing their requirements as long as it is within the law as this surely is.

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

Take a look at the 1994 Thornton precedent. It relates to congress, but the verbiage of the ruling is pretty clear. It would be logical to extend it to the president.
My official guess is that CA's new requirement is going to be ruled unconstitutional, after the 9th circuit rules it as valid.

 

[Viper1j]

I have no problems with requiring proof of eligibility for running for the office of President.

I also have no issue with California changing their requirements as long as it is within the law as this surely is.

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

Why is it only for the purpose of keeping Trump off the ballot? He can get on the ballot, simply by releasing his taxes. What is it about his taxes that he is in deathly fear of? Everybody that wants to run has to meet certain conditions. This just happens to be one of them, and EVERYBODY is willing to follow the rules, except him.

Why is that?

Aren't you the least bit curious to wonder why?

 

[SMOGZINN]

Even if we know that it is only for the reason of keeping Trump off the ballot in 2020.

CA does not need to keep Trump off the ballot. He has literally zero chance of winning CA, so it does not matter if he is on the ballot or not. This is a statement of ethics, something we all know you are not very keen on.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Take a look at the 1994 Thornton precedent. It relates to congress, but the verbiage of the ruling is pretty clear. It would be logical to extend it to the president.
My official guess is that CA's new requirement is going to be ruled unconstitutional, after the 9th circuit rules it as valid.

That may be the basis for a challenge but the difference is that before an election financial disclosures are necessary. It does not limit the terms of a President nor limit him or her to one term. In other words no post election strings or limitations which term limits would be considering Constitutional language. Even serious felons can run for office but that is a matter of discrimination, not something that applies universally to all running.

 

[pcgeek11]

Why is it only for the purpose of keeping Trump off the ballot? He can get on the ballot, simply by releasing his taxes. What is it about his taxes that he is in deathly fear of? Everybody that wants to run has to meet certain conditions. This just happens to be one of them, and EVERYBODY is willing to follow the rules, except him.

Why is that?

Aren't you the least bit curious to wonder why?

I'm not arguing for or against this. That is a California decision and not mine.

I think his taxes are his business, just as mine are my business. If there were a legal issue with his tax statements I'm sure the IRS would have brought it to light by now. They already have his tax information.

Even if he were doing illegal things with his finances I don't think he would be dumb enough to report it on his tax forms.

 

[Indus]

Even if he were doing illegal things with his finances I don't think he would be dumb enough to report it on his tax forms.

No one does. That's how they end up in trouble with IRS.. underreporting income.

Nicolas Cage is one example but there are so many others.

 

[pcgeek11]

No one does. That's how they end up in trouble with IRS.. underreporting income.

Nicolas Cage is one example but there are so many others.

Well, let the IRS handle it.

That is their job and what they are paid to do.

 

[Herr Kutz]

Should have thrown in a requirement that presidential candidates must prove US citizenship too.

 

[fskimospy]

I'm not arguing for or against this. That is a California decision and not mine.

I think his taxes are his business, just as mine are my business. If there were a legal issue with his tax statements I'm sure the IRS would have brought it to light by now. They already have his tax information.

So to be clear you don't think it's any of your business if the chief executive of the country has a personal financial stake in decisions he's making? Do you think any publicly traded company would permit those sorts of undisclosed conflicts of interest? Of course not. Why would we not demand the same standard from a vastly more important job?

Even if he were doing illegal things with his finances I don't think he would be dumb enough to report it on his tax forms.

He was dumb enough to do it before, what changed?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html

President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

Mr. Trump won the presidency proclaiming himself a self-made billionaire, and he has long insisted that his father, the legendary New York City builder Fred C. Trump, provided almost no financial help.

But The Times’s investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Should have thrown in a requirement that presidential candidates must prove US citizenship too.

No problem. State issued birth records such as Obama had would do it, well for people who aren't in denial. I'd go for that along with financial information. Why not?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Straight from The Constitution:

• Age and Citizenship requirements - US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
• No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

Since the qualifications for candidates is stated in The Constitution states can not usurp it.

Sure. Except that's not what is at play here. What is at play here is how states choose to determine their electors. SCOTUS has found states rights are absolute on that subject.

 

[pcgeek11]

So to be clear you don't think it's any of your business if the chief executive of the country has a personal financial stake in decisions he's making? Do you think any publicly traded company would permit those sorts of undisclosed conflicts of interest? Of course not. Why would we not demand the same standard from a vastly more important job?



He was dumb enough to do it before, what changed?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html

If so why isn't ( wasn't ) he put in Jail? Plus I don't think there is a politician in Washington DC that isn't making money on the decisions they are making.

I also see that he started his criminal career while he was a toddler...

But The Times’s investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day.

If he is doing illegal things then put him in jail. If they have enough evidence of wrongdoing to get a warrant or court order to get his taxes then go for it. I still think that the IRS holds the responsibility to hold him accountable for the alleged tax fraud.

Or change the requirements to make it mandatory for candidates of all political offices to release their tax records for X number of years. I know that most do it without being required.

 

[fskimospy]

If so why isn't ( wasn't ) he put in Jail? Plus I don't think there is a politician in Washington DC that isn't making money on the decisions they are making.

I also see that he started his criminal career while he was a toddler...

Looks like you didn't read the story, the fraud was when he was an adult where they were making businesses that 'contracted' with his dad's business and then massively marking up their prices and costs in order to make it look like 'business' activity.

For example, Trump created a business called 'All County Building Supply' that had no offices and effectively no employees, owned by Donald Trump and his siblings. Fred Trump one day decided to stop paying his maintenance and repair people directly and instead paid them through All County, which would pass the paychecks on to the maintenance guys but mark the price up by say, 50%. Trump and his siblings would pocket that 50% so that Fred didn't have to pay inheritance taxes on it. Straight out tax fraud, and one that Donald Trump clearly knowingly participated in.

As to why he wasn't put in jail, the statute of limitations expired before the NYT uncovered his fraud.

If he is doing illegal things then put him in jail. If they have enough evidence of wrongdoing to get a warrant or court order to get his taxes then go for it. I still think that the IRS holds the responsibility to hold him accountable for the alleged tax fraud.

Or change the requirements to make it mandatory for candidates of all political offices to release their tax records for X number of years. I know that most do it without being required.

The IRS can't hold him accountable because he can't be indicted due to being the president. As it stands today Congress has the unambiguous right to examine his tax returns but he is fighting it tooth and nail in court.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I still think that the IRS holds the responsibility to hold him accountable for the alleged tax fraud.

So, you think that an agency that answers to him, that has a head that he hand picked, is who should be responsible for holding him accountable? How exactly do you believe that would work?

 

[brycejones]

So, you think that an agency that answers to him, that has a head that he hand picked, is who should be responsible for holding him accountable? How exactly do you believe that would work?

It’s secret

 

[dainthomas]

Why is it only for the purpose of keeping Trump off the ballot? He can get on the ballot, simply by releasing his taxes. What is it about his taxes that he is in deathly fear of? Everybody that wants to run has to meet certain conditions. This just happens to be one of them, and EVERYBODY is willing to follow the rules, except him.

Why is that?

Aren't you the least bit curious to wonder why?

Evil commie Dems just want his returns for a "money laundering and bribery trap". I mean, who hasn't funneled a little mob money through their various businesses? Unprecedented presidential harassment!

 

[pcgeek11]

Looks like you didn't read the story, the fraud was when he was an adult where they were making businesses that 'contracted' with his dad's business and then massively marking up their prices and costs in order to make it look like 'business' activity.

For example, Trump created a business called 'All County Building Supply' that had no offices and effectively no employees, owned by Donald Trump and his siblings. Fred Trump one day decided to stop paying his maintenance and repair people directly and instead paid them through All County, which would pass the paychecks on to the maintenance guys but mark the price up by say, 50%. Trump and his siblings would pocket that 50% so that Fred didn't have to pay inheritance taxes on it. Straight out tax fraud, and one that Donald Trump clearly knowingly participated in.

As to why he wasn't put in jail, the statute of limitations expired before the NYT uncovered his fraud.



The IRS can't hold him accountable because he can't be indicted due to being the president. As it stands today Congress has the unambiguous right to examine his tax returns but he is fighting it tooth and nail in court.

The statute of limitations applies to all of us. So it was never tried in court.

As far as him being the President now and them not being able to indict him. Well from what I understand from you is that his criminal activity has been going on for decades Before he was elected President. Why was nothing done during these decades?

Well once it gets through the court system then it will pan out with his taxes one way or another. We are all entitled to our day in court. I know you would rather they just drag him out of the White House in chains.

 

[pcgeek11]

So, you think that an agency that answers to him, that has a head that he hand picked, is who should be responsible for holding him accountable? How exactly do you believe that would work?

Regardless they have Laws that determine accountability.

Long-standing protocol dictates that the FBI and Justice Department operate free of political influence or meddling from the White House. That’s one reason that the FBI director serves a 10-year term and does not turn over the reins as presidential administrations come and go. It also means that presidents are not supposed to supervise, initiate or stop law enforcement investigations.