Dytalus wrote: » He promised that he would. Because every President for the past 40 years has done so. But hey, he's a liar. We should never have expected him to honour his promises like a decent human being.
notobtuse wrote: » Please show me where I said that was the reason why he wasn’t releasing his tax returns. I said he doesn’t need to as it is not a requirement to become POTUS. And why would he release them? We all know the only outcome would be for Democrats, who wallow in bad faith, to pick them apart and use them as a political weapon.
notobtuse wrote: » Don’t you just love all these laws, spawned by hatred from democrats, that are trying to be put on the books targeted directly at Donald Trump? If I could find a cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome I would become a BILLIONARE.
notobtuse wrote: » Please show me one president, ANY PRESIDENT, who has kept all of their campaign promises.
Dytalus wrote: » Leaving aside that Trump has broken, or intends to break (in the case of Social Security and Medicare), or has made no move to deliver on, the majority of his promises..... It's one thing for a President not to uphold policy promises. Any number of things could get in the way: House/Senate don't approve (considering the GOP controlled both the Senate and the House for the first two years of his presidency, this isn't an excuse Trump can use), it turns out to be more expensive than realised, diplomatic/political/economic situation changes and the original plan becomes untenable, etc... Releasing your tax returns? That's a unilateral decision. No other politician, organisation, law, economic problem, or [insert-problem-here] can stop you if you want it to happen. Every President for 40 years has made it happen. Trump doesn't want it to happen.
MonkeyTennis wrote: » Theres a very good reason why Presidents release tax returns and remove themselves totally from their business dealings. If you are in financial trouble you can be blackmailed or can be unduly influenced by financial institutions/debtors. If you are still involved in your business you can influency policy that can help it or even worse, direct government resources directly to it. Ring any bells??
notobtuse wrote: » First, no president in US history has had to endure the outright demented hatred as Trump has from the opposing political party and media. Second, Trump actually is one of the very few presidents who has either kept, or fought hard to keep, the majority of his campaign promises.
notobtuse wrote: » You don't think presidents own stock? Any decision they make in office can affect the price of the stocks they hold.
kilns wrote: » So you just confirmed the previous posters point, publish your tax returns so that you are transparent when making decisions
notobtuse wrote: » Huh? If publishing one's tax return is so damn important then amend the US Constitution to make it a requirement to become POTUS. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! We all know it won't happen because the demand is only targeted at Trump.
kilns wrote: » So you are admitting he is not transparent and is hiding something unlike Presidents from the last 40 years
notobtuse wrote: » No, I'm saying for someone who isn't trained at being a politician he sometimes can be a very good politician.
“A growing number of GOP senators are now acknowledging that President Donald Trump may have leveraged US military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an announcement of investigations that could help him politically – but they contend that even that conduct does not warrant removal from office or hearing from additional witnesses.” It’d be an overstatement to suggest every congressional Republican has embraced this new posture, but the list of prominent GOP officials touting the new talking point isn’t short. It includes Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who argued, “[E]ven if the president said [to John Bolton that he was withholding military aid in exchange for investigations], it does not raise to the level of removal from office.” The party’s indifference seemed liberating. If Trump’s culpability is no longer relevant to his GOP acolytes, then the answer to every question could be effectively the same: “It doesn’t matter.” Even if every allegation is true, even if the president did exactly what he’s accused of doing, even if he abused the powers of his office in the precise way Democrats claim, much of the Republican Party has convinced itself, quite suddenly, that the presidential misdeeds simply don’t meet the arbitrary threshold for importance.
Quin_Dub wrote: » And the "Defence of Trump" journey is almost complete. First we got - He didn't do it Then we got - What he said didn't mean what you all think it meant Then we moved on to - He did it , but it's not a crime and he's allowed to because he's POTUS And now , we have moved to the final stage.He did it , exactly like you all said he did for exactly the reasons you all said , but it doesn't matter and we don't care.
ohnonotgmail wrote: » I think we can sum up Trumps "defence" quite simply: Trump didn't do the thing he's accused of doing, but if he did it was fine, and in fact that's exactly what he did, get over it, because it's not only fine, it's precisely what we want from a president, and can you believe that Biden did the same thing, shame on him.
Boggles wrote: » So future presidents can now blackmail foreign countries into fabricating "dirt" into a private citizen or political rival and that's that. Using the office to cheat is elections in the new norm. Go Trump!
notobtuse wrote: » Not just future presidents... President Barack Obama and President-In-Exile Hillary Clinton did it. :rolleyes:
notobtuse wrote: » If, and that’s a big ‘if’ it's true, it proves a comment I heard when I attended a lecture by Ron Evling (writer, Senior Editor and Correspondent for NPR’s Washington Desk, former political editor for USA Today and for Congressional Quarterly, and Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University) with my youngest daughter when he described Mitch Mcconnell as the most powerful majority leader in the history of the US Senate, and presented his reasons for saying such.
kilns wrote: » The senate is infested with spineless people with zero morals. Look at Ted Cruz, Trump publically humilated him and his family and yet he acts like he would sacrifice one of his children for him. As to the money that controls these people and decisions they make, if I was an American citizen it would make me sick. It is far from the greatest democracy in the world it would be more closer to the most corrupt country in the world spectrum
ohnonotgmail wrote: » can you give examples when either of those two did it for personal gain?
notobtuse wrote: » Where have you been… It’s been in all the news? Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid for the fake Steele dossier, with much of the intel coming from Russian, British and Australian operatives, and used to get a FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign and then take down a duly elected president, which according to emails Obama was right in the thick of things. Done to try and win an election and maintain a president's legacy.
ohnonotgmail wrote: » so you dont have any examples then. didnt think so.
Boggles wrote: » Now Bolton has removed all doubt.
