Trump and Taxes

 If you owned a motel (say 60 rooms) and successfully ran it....you might have an profit situation of $100k a year (meaning you and wife managed it, and hired cheap help for maintenance and room-care).  Then you go and hire up a fancy-pants accountant.

He would go to the depreciation tables, renovation projects (that you had bills for), and go to every 'credit' possible.  Normally, you would figure the guy would pay around 30-percent of his income for federal taxes, and probably 6 to 8 percent on state taxes (depending on the state).

Well....with everything figured up.....you might be able to pay less than $10k a year on federal taxes, and probably near half that amount on state taxes (depending on the state).  

(Don't get excited....the property tax bill will come, and that's probably in the $5k range for your local town)

Who writes the 80k pages of tax code and depreciation tables?  Well.....your Senators and House members.  Who writes the likely 4k pages of state tax code and depreciation tables?  Well....state Senators and state House members.

Farmers do it.  Shrimp fishermen do it.  Ranchers do it.  Grocery operations do it.  Nightclubs do it.  Casinos do it.  

Trump doing something wrong?  No.  His accountant read the tax code, and put Trump in the best position possible.  

If Nancy and Chuck are angry?  Well....why not talk about tax-reform?  

I'm pretty sure they will avoid that topic, and once you start making a big mess out of this....over 100k big-name folks (some Hollywood types) will present their tax paperwork, and be in the same situation.  

My take on the Trump accountant?  He's probably paid at least a million a year....to make sure no audit can occur on Trump's paperwork.  

Meanwhile....all that Ukraine and Russian-whore money that Hunter made.....did he declare it on his taxes?  Just curious.  

The Dead Guy in the Trunk Story

 One curious aspect of the Breonna Taylor episode in Kentucky stands out.

In 2016, Taylor went out and rented a car.  No one ever asks why, and maybe that part of the story doesn't really matter.  As a EMT at the time, she had income and a credit card.  

Somewhere in the days of this rental....the car trunk ends up with a dead body in the back. 

The body?  It's a 'friend' or 'associate' (depending on who tells the story) of her then old-boyfriend, who was a dope-dealer. 

Curiously, the guy is shot eight times.

Typically....if it was an accidental discharge....there's usually just one round in a guy.  Eight rounds?  There was some anger or upset feelings involved.

So the police of the town come around and ask questions of Taylor (she is on the rental contract).  She more or less....knows nothing.  She had to know the dead guy, because of the relationship to the then-boyfriend.  She had to even be on a first-name basis with the dead guy.  

At this point, in a normal family situation.....relatives should have come into the picture and said in a clear voice....dead bodies in a rental car under your name...are a sign of seriously bad path for life. The same relatives would have told you to pack up a bag, and get you moved to some other state....away from these circumstances.

The police are left with no real evidence....no one admitting anything, and just write the dead guy with eight bullet entries as unsolvable. 

By the grace of God, you were given a blank check, and logic would dictate walking away completely.  She did nothing.

She stayed on the same path. 

Hunter's $3.5-Million 'Friend'

The news folks have kinda avoided talking about the $3.5-million transfer from Elena Baturina to Hunter Biden.  Yesterday, I sat for an hour browsing over Baturina.

If you had to pick someone in Moscow, who is most like Donald Trump....it's this gal....Elena Baturina.

She grew up in a regular family (working-class people).  She went off to college in Russia and studied business.  A year after she finished college....she met up to Yury Luzhkov. Yury was around twenty-five years older than Elena, and he was groomed to eventually become mayor of Moscow.  Around four years after meeting....the two married.

Yury was the insider guy who knew what properties were coming up, and how deals could be made.  Elena was the business mind who knew the deals and how to turn a profit. 

Eventually, Yury would be accused of corruption and take a step or two down.  

Elena?  She continued on....building hotels that made profits.  She was very much in the 'build' of Donald Trump.

Golfing?  Yes, she even took up this hobby.

Fortune today?  She's worth (at least in 2019) around 1-billion dollars.....mostly in ownership of real estate.  Four years ago, she arrived in NY City with capital and started to buy real estate there. Internationally, she owns developmental property in various countries outside of Russia.

Today, she's 57 years old and regarded as the most wealthy woman in Russia.....and a widow (the husband died a year ago).

The $3.5-million to Hunter?  Pennies to her.  It's simply a 'marker'.....if she had a serious problem....with President Biden around, Hunter would go and ask for the favor.  

Playing 3-D chess like Trump?  Absolutely.  If you were looking for a replacement for Putin....outside of his group, with public attention and Trump-like chatter?  She's the one.  

How she came across Hunter?  Unknown.  Did she donate money to the Clinton Foundation?  It would be a curious question to ask.  

It just makes for an interesting story, and wondering her eventual angle on the chess board.

Debate: 4 Days Away?

 How will this Biden-Trump debate go?

I'll make four predictions.

First, I'll predict at least fifteen Biden quotations which open toward the answer....flip to some cowboy western/WW II movie that he saw last week, and drift back to the core ending of what he wanted to say.  The CNN crowd will be standing there at the end....unable to really convince you of anything.  'Dementia' will be uttered by more than 70-percent of the viewers.  

Second, Trump tells Chris Wallace on at least five occasions that he's got his facts wrong, and Trump is correct on three of those occasions.  

Third, more than 97-percent of viewers are settled upon their voting decision at this conclusion of the first debate.

Fourth, the question will linger....how did Joe get this far, with his wit half-gone?  Shouldn't the primary have shown this and his family removed him from the process months ago?

Riot/Loot Burnout?

 Around a hundred days ago, I would have told you that you can only attract a certain amount of positive public attention with rioting, looting and mob-behavior, and then it starts to fall back into negative territory.  At best, you had four to six weeks that the trend might have been in your favor.

Somewhere in July, the trend headed south.

Presently, the Antifa/BLM business isn't attracting voters....it's repelling them.  It's true in western states.  It's true in urbanized areas like Detroit, Minneapolis, and Portland.  

The Democratic Party and it's attachment to the stance?  I don't think they thought much about running this type of operation for a hundred-plus days.  They simply figured that Trump would react....use massive federal resources (maybe even the US military) and this 'Kent-State' type of event would occur.  Then Trump's hype with the general public would go away.  

Well....it didn't happen.

Lot of people just standing there now and having no attachment to the riots....just watching the violent angle of it, and appreciating that they still have police in their neighborhoods.  

Wasted time and resources?  More or less.  You can ask them if they will ever repeat this gimmick, and they probably will just stay silent on that subject. 

An Alabama Advertisement

 I sat and pondered over the announcement from California...starting in 2035....you would not be able to buy new gas/diesel cars in the state.  It was a long pause, and then I came to this idea for a advertisement....probably to be done by Mayor Battle of Huntsville, or perhaps soon-to-be Senator 'Tubby'. 

It would open with a guy on a mule, and talking up the virtues of mule-riding and a Alabama-bred mule.  You'd talk about the 'power', the bridle....the saddle....and the walking pace of a mule. 

Then you hype up that this is a Alabama Mule, and starting in 2035, Alabama will be proud and ready to sell the Alabama-brand Mule (version 1.0, probably three years old) to California folks.  

Naturally, we'd indicate that he/she was not involved in any pollution stuff, or carbon business.  

Then we'd bring up that he/she was fully trained, and usually capable of 4.8 mph, or the lesser/more gentle pace of 3.2 mph.

Then we'd have clean and non-modern names for our mules....'Honest-Hank', 'Slow-Sam', or 'Buttermilk'.  

These Mules would be delivered to the state border of California, and you could pick them up at the station and ride the final 500 miles home to your house in Malibu.

For those wanting a two-mule deal....we'd offer a 10-percent off discount for the second mule. 

Then finally, we'd hand you a certificate that this was an American-bred Mule....having nothing to do with China.

With that, Governor Ivey would come on the last ten seconds, shedding a tear or two....that we do all we could help those poor California folks out, in this hour of need....hauling mule after mule across the US....to those poor people there in San Francisco or LA....giving them some element of transportation.  Yes, even from Alabama, we have compassion for idiots.  

Observations

 1.  A couple of days until the first Presidential debate.  I'm shocked we've reached this stage and Joe Biden hasn't declared a health situation and handed the position to Harris to run.  I just don't the Joe of 2020....is capable of a debate.

2.  Maybe it's crazy, but I think you lined up 20,000 of the Antifa members and actually checked voter listings....probably over 30-percent are not registered to vote.

3.  Vote for replacement justice?  Just the way it looks....McConnell has locked down 50-plus votes.  This whole election, is now about the Justice seat, and literally nothing else.   

If it is the Cuban gal, and the Democrats go off to insult her?  They destroyed the Florida vote for the party....maybe for an entire generation.  

4.  My own feeling over Mueller?  Various people have talked about the Mueller they knew from a decade ago, and shocked over his loss of aggressiveness in the past two years.  Age-wise, I think he hit some peak back around 2012 and has been in decline for the past eight years.  Calling him up for some Senate hearing at this point....will only prove that point and that he's way beyond his capabilities of the past.

5. Someone asked the question....what if Joe Biden wins the election but refuses to enter the Presidency in January?  I know....a sarcastic comment about his wit.  But its a legit question at this point.

6.  This talk in California of forbidding the sale of gas/diesel new cars in 2035?  Well...I'm kinda curious if you'd include school buses in this group, and if they will all be electrical buses.  

Can you imagine getting picked up around 6:55 AM with the electric school bus, and around 7:45....still 3 miles from the school....the bus simply runs out of power, and you have to walk the last three miles to school?

7.  On Antifa, isn't it odd....they actually have logos, uniforms (all black), symbols, and flags?

8.  Someone brought this up about the Baltimore Freddie Gray riots in 2015.....did you know that three of the six cops involved in his death....were black?  Also, the mayor and most members of the city council....were black?  Also, the judge involved in the police case was black?  The police chief?  Yep, he was black.  The DA?  Yes, black.  The President and AG at the time?  Black.

9.  This one odd fact in the Breonna Taylor episode in Kentucky?  While folks still keep chatting she was shot in bed....the fact is obvious that she was shot in the hallway of the apartment.  The bed commentary?  Completely faked.

10.  Bloomberg in trouble in Florida for offering to pay felon's fines....to enable them to vote this November?  

Well....yeah, the AG of the state is surveying this matter, and there's a state law that prevents this type of payment situation....involving vote situations.  I'm pretty sure Bloomberg won't go to jail, but he might end up with a couple hundred thousand in fines, and be dragged into court to admit some stupidity.