More Top Picks Best Standing Desks For Students
player ready...Politicians often say things that make it clear they think we are morons.
But, this is just too much.
For the last few days I have been watching stooges for Donald Trump on TV claiming Trump’s not paying income tax is a good thing.
The possibility (probability?) that Trump legally didn’t pay income tax for years is touted as a mark of genius. What his apologists don’t mention is the reason Trump might not be paying income tax is that though he may be a genius in dodging taxes, he is not a genius in business. Apparently, the reason he doesn’t pay income tax is because he lost almost a billion dollars in bad business ventures.
Hold on, though. That Trump doesn’t pay income tax, his mouthpieces say, shows how messed up the tax code is. So, who better to fix the tax code than someone who takes advantage of every loophole to slither through?
But, we may wonder, what is Trump’s incentive to fix the tax code? A fixed tax code would mean Trump, and other rich people, would have to pay more (any) income tax. And for many years, Trump has demonstrated he doesn’t want to pay income tax.
How can we believe Trump would change a tax code that brings him so much benefit?
Trump’s whole mindset is that taxes are something to be avoided. It’s fair to point out that if everyone behaved as Trump does – if no one paid income tax – there would be no money for the military, police and fire protection, Social Security and so many other necessary services and needs Americans have. This country would be just one big smoking crater without the revenue from income taxes.
We can quibble over how much we should have to pay in income tax. Few of us, though, would say we should pay no income tax at all.
And, yes, no one (so far) has said Trump’s avoidance of income tax is illegal.
But is that the point?
Saying his tax avoidance is legal simply means Trump can’t go to jail for it. But, is that where we set the bar for a candidate for president of the United States? That he can’t be indicted for not paying taxes?
Paying for the services this country needs to exist is the duty of every American citizen.
Not fulfilling that duty by clever manipulation of the tax code is not an act of good citizenship, even if legal.
Trump and his stooges should stop bragging about putting one over on all the rest of us who pay income tax.
They should remember, if they ever knew, that holding office is a way to serve the public, not the other way around.
Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.