Yeah. Seems to be only slightly higher than the mean of the possibilities I had in mind. Seemed definitely higher than the median since a lot of those possibilities were more like no income-$10 million but there was an offhand chance of a lot higher.
Income is for losers. When you’re really rich, you don’t have “income”. Certainly not the taxable kind!
That could be important in protecting the journalists from any criminal action. Under this statute https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7213, it’s illegal to publish tax return information that has been disclosed in an “unauthorized manner.” Since the ultimate provenance of the returns would be unknown if they anonymously sent to David Cay Johnston, I would guess the government would have a hard time establishing a chain of custody and proving they were disclosed in an “unauthorized manner.” Rather, if prosecuted Johnston could make the argument that they might have been disclosed in an authorized manner and then transmitted to third parties who anonymously transmitted them to him, and he then printed them.
That’s really the issue, isn’t it?
No one really cares how much Trump is worth except maybe Trump. Fuck, he’s rich. We KNOW that. How rich is irrelevant.
Showing that he pays a smaller tax rate than Joe Sixpack, on the other hand, is the sort of story you can pepper him with for a while. Especially if he continues to dodge. It’s not like a 1040 is going to contain information on his business dealing with Russian banks or anything. It’s just going to be one more chink in his armor. Nothing’s worn that down so far but who knows? We know his personality is brittle and he gets angry quickly. To his opponents that’s not the worst outcome. He’s already one of his own worst enemies. Making him continue that cycle can only help.
$4MM in federal taxes and $31MM in AMT, if I read correctly. Hell, eliminate the AMT and I stand to pay a ton less in taxes. Suddenly, I’m conflicted!
There’s a stamp on the forms that says “client copy.”
Though there is no “bombshell” on this, it does make Trump’s refusal to release these even odder. He made a lot of money and owed a lot of taxes and used his tax breaks. What about that did we not expect?
The devils are in the details. But reaction on the Right had been priceless - Hannity could very well stroke out tonight.
I’d actually tune in if they promised that.
Well that was disappointing though…I don’t know what I was expecting. Seems like nothing good ever comes of these things. I’m so jaded with any of this any more 
And this is why at a certain point you need to look at taxing wealth rather than income.
I really don’t much like watching Rachel Maddow.
Have I mentioned that I don’t like watching Rachel Maddow?
Oh, and another thing I’d like to add is that Rachel Maddow is somebody I generally prefer not to watch.
Plus which, I don’t enjoy watching Rachel Maddow.
Etc.
Yeah, it was really clear after five minutes that she really didn’t have much of anything. Too damn bad.
So where is all of the illegal stuff? That’s right - not there.
I wonder if they’ll do a DNA scan on the documents Johnston received.
Wait, you mean he left the lines for income from drug smuggling and human trafficking blank?
What illegal stuff did you expect to see on a 1040?
The only thing that Maddow’s announcement revealed is that Trump is, yes, a wealthy and successful businessman who made over $150 million in 2005, and then legally paid the IRS $38 million in taxes—as he was supposed to do.
There’s nothing illegal or untoward about this revelation, at all. But it is fodder for Maddow’s liberal viewers who are obsessed with Mr. Trump’s tax returns and might help them keep their ratings, I suppose, which appears to have been the goal of this segment.
So what was it that he was supposed to be hiding by not providing that tax info - according to some.
The form 1040 is basically a bare-bones summary. The interesting stuff would be in the attached schedules, which Maddow did not have.
If all his returns turn out like this one did, I’d certainly stop caring about that issue. And I haven’t agreed with a damn thing you’ve said since you’ve been on this board, but I do agree about that last part about the ratings.
Wait - that he followed the tax regs that apply to us all? That’s it?
It’s almost like to was leaked by Trump himself. “See, what’t the big deal? I did make a lot of money and I paid a ton of tax.”
And it was really 3 guys who shot Kennedy - right? Sorry but it sounds a lot like that -
This is exactly why I stopped watching her. That, and the smugness.