# Decade in the red. Trump taxes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 7, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640 "2019-05-07T23:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/21 "2019-05-08T01:42:12Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Remember when Romney bashed the 47% of the population that don’t pay income taxes and\*\* told us about how bad those evil, lazy people are\*\*? And remember how a lot of people agreed with him and lectured us on the importance of reforming the tax law so that everyone has “skin in the game”, no matter how poor you are? > > It’s funny how those people seemed to forget all about people like Trump. Why does this argument not apply to him? Why should we not view Trump as a “leech”? Why should someone who is on disability and unable to work be required to have some “skin the game”, while a guy living off his father’s inheritance can do whatever the fuck he wants? Could you kindly provide a cite for the bolded part of your post, please? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/22 "2019-05-08T01:42:44Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > What is “helpful” about linking to a silly article about someone’s taxes in 1985? > > No one, not even the IRS cares, about tax returns from 33 years ago. > > Should we take another look at Harry Truman’s tax returns from 1945? The president of the United States is a complete fraud. You get that, right? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/23 "2019-05-08T01:46:49Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The president of the United States is a complete fraud. You get that, right? No, he doesn’t get it. He still thinks the article is “about someone’s taxes in 1985”. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/24 "2019-05-08T01:51:29Z")
It doesn’t matter. He had his own plane, his own hotel, his own resort, his own marketing empire. He must be a billionaire. :rolleyes: And how many Trump supporters or even right-leaning voters read the New York times? Like not many. Let’s talk about Trump’s Madoff skills when the recession hits, because then there might be some angry people ready to blame someone for their misery. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/25 "2019-05-08T01:54:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Thanks for the link. I might comment more later. It depends on the stupidity of the (posts of the :))Trump defenders. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > … > Should we take another look at Harry Truman’s tax returns from 1945? Yeah, sure, what the fuck, eh? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/26 "2019-05-08T01:59:00Z")
> [@Lubricious\_Integument](#): > > Could you kindly provide a cite for the bolded part of your post, please? Not my quote but I think I can back it up. The bolded part with a bit of the preceding part for context is “Romney bashed the 47% of the population that don’t pay income taxes and told us about how bad those evil, lazy people are”. Here are Romney’s actual statements: In the video, Romney said: "There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. “All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” he said. He added: “These are people who pay no income tax.” … He adds: “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” > **[Mitt Romney under fire after comments caught on video](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/18/mitt-romney-secret-video)** > > Republican presidential candidate filmed dismissing 47% of population of the United States as government-dependent I think that supports the quote quite accurately. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/27 "2019-05-08T02:01:10Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, he doesn’t get it. He still thinks the article is “about someone’s taxes in 1985”. Perhaps he “gets it” but realizes that it doesn’t matter? The President’s approval rating is at an all-time high. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/28 "2019-05-08T02:10:35Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > The President’s approval rating is at an all-time high. [Nope.](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/29 "2019-05-08T02:16:17Z")
Ok, a few percentage points difference. Not gonna matter in the next election. ---
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/30 "2019-05-08T02:16:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Not my quote but I think I can back it up. The bolded part with a bit of the preceding part for context is “Romney bashed the 47% of the population that don’t pay income taxes and told us about how bad those evil, lazy people are”. > > Here are Romney’s actual statements: > > In the video, Romney said: "There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. > > “All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” he said. > > He added: “These are people who pay no income tax.” > > … He adds: “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” > [Mitt Romney under fire after comments caught on video | Mitt Romney | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/18/mitt-romney-secret-video) > > I think that supports the quote quite accurately. I remember the incident quite well and have regarded Romney as nothing short of despicable for it. I don’t recall Mittens referring to anyone as evil. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/31 "2019-05-08T02:17:48Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Nope.](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/) It’s low, but in reality, it’s as high as it has ever been. He was elected as a historically unpopular president, so the fact that he’s unpopular now isn’t really newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/32 "2019-05-08T02:24:41Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s low, but in reality, it’s as high as it has ever been. No, that was the 45.5% approval rating when he took office. Except for dips in September and January, he’s been at a steady ~42% since last May. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/33 "2019-05-08T02:47:15Z")
> [@Lubricious\_Integument](#): > > I remember the incident quite well and have regarded Romney as nothing short of despicable for it. I don’t recall Mittens referring to anyone as evil. You know, if someone else wants to engage in that kind of semantic pedantry with you, they are free to do so. I’m not going to. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/34 "2019-05-08T02:48:53Z")
Hey they called Kylie Jenner, the youngest self made billionaire and a business woman for whoring out the name that her whore sister had already whored out so why can’t Trump be a great businessman for whoring out his name? Whores have great business sense! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/35 "2019-05-08T03:28:25Z")
[CNN has now picked up the _Times_ story](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/07/politics/trump-tax-returns-losses/index.html) and introduced it as a front-page lead. Sadly, in another example of poor journalism, they quote Trump’s lawyer as claiming that IRS transcripts are “notoriously unreliable”, but they completely fail to mention that the _Times_ story refutes that claim. From the original _Times_ story: Mark J. Mazur, a former director of research, analysis and statistics at the I.R.S., said that, far from being considered unreliable, data used to create such transcripts had undergone quality control for decades and had been used to analyze economic trends and set national policy. In addition, I.R.S. auditors often refer to the transcripts as “handy” summaries of tax returns, said Mr. Mazur, now director of the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/36 "2019-05-08T04:39:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, he doesn’t get it. He still thinks the article is “about someone’s taxes in 1985”. And in 1994, and for the years in between. Somehow **D’Anconia** overlooked that. I’m sure he was just tired. But yeah, let’s see something more recent, such as the six years of returns requested by the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. I mean, surely those will show once and for all how Trump has spectacularly reversed his previous losses, right? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/37 "2019-05-08T05:00:16Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/38 "2019-05-08T07:58:21Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Perhaps he “gets it” but realizes that it doesn’t matter? The President’s approval rating is at an all-time high. This! Look, I get that it’s fun to bag on the retarded Orange man. But none of this is going to help Dems take back the WH in the next election. Dems getting their panties in a twist over shit like this is the _exact_ type of thing anyone who _isn’t_ a Dem makes fun of us for. By all means, have your fun, but I do hope a lion’s share of your focus goes towards shit that actually matters. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/39 "2019-05-08T11:10:07Z")
this will be forgotten in a few days. I wonder if the guy who saw and leaked this info can also view more recent years returns. If he can then I would think there will be more articles with recent info coming out . ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640/40 "2019-05-08T11:24:56Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > No, that was the 45.5% approval rating when he took office. Except for dips in September and January, he’s been at a steady ~42% since last May. But he was elected with a favorability rating that was the lowest in history - it was even lower than the person he defeated. His popularity went up in the month or two following the election because the nastiness of the race was over, but once he was inaugurated, people remembered he was a douchebag. His popularity as president has been remarkably stable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decade-in-the-red-trump-taxes/833640.md?page=3)