Political discussions about everything
#80260
I've explained before to Elkin the difference between what is on a tax return and what he should really be interested in (Trump's detailed financial disclosures).

But Elkin may just be too dumb to comprehend.

Elkin could go look up Trump's disclosures and in the next hour have a thorough look at Trump's finances.

For some reason, Elkin doesn't do that.

Set politics aside, I love reading the financial disclosures of famous politicians. It shows much about how they think.

Barry, for example, used a perfectly sensible way of investing -- i.e., low-cost Vanguard indexing. It isn't what I do, but it makes sense and has the virtue of simplicity. If he continues to do that, and makes a lot of fresh income from public speaking, he'll soon double his net worth.

Romney had a tangled web of partnerships dating from his days at Bain.
#80300
johnforbes wrote:I've explained before to Elkin the difference between what is on a tax return and what he should really be interested in (Trump's detailed financial disclosures).

But Elkin may just be too dumb to comprehend.

Elkin could go look up Trump's disclosures and in the next hour have a thorough look at Trump's finances.

For some reason, Elkin doesn't do that.

Set politics aside, I love reading the financial disclosures of famous politicians. It shows much about how they think.

Barry, for example, used a perfectly sensible way of investing -- i.e., low-cost Vanguard indexing. It isn't what I do, but it makes sense and has the virtue of simplicity. If he continues to do that, and makes a lot of fresh income from public speaking, he'll soon double his net worth.

Romney had a tangled web of partnerships dating from his days at Bain.
Financial disclosures are not audited and verified for accuracy as compared to tax returns, that is, they are self reported. Go ahead and falsify a tax return and go see what happens to you (fines/jail time). Therefore it's unlikely for Trump to inflate his grandiose claims of wealth...if it was based upon tax returns

On Trump's disclosure form he lists revenue, not net income....HUUUUGE Difference. Tax returns would be definitive, they would tell you about net income, the actual amount of money he pocketed.

Trump claimed 362 million in "income" in 2014 then 557 million in "income" in 2015? Really? It was most likely revenue.
557 million in revenue with 20% operating margin and 30% tax rate would yield about 75-80 million net income. And that would hardly support a 10 BILLION DOLLAR net worth.

Trump stated that he made 50 million from a Florida golf course. But it later turned out that after expenses, he lost 2.4 million dollars...big difference.

Not to mention tax rates, offshore accounts, tax writeoffs, and donations to charity.
#80307
"Hillary melts down, retreats to bedroom"-RealStool

^^^^^ From this we can conclude that Hillary didn't melt down and she didn't retreat to a bedroom.
And find a picture that isn't a year old without makeup when you try to pass it off as current news.
Trump would look much worse without the pancake shit with raccoon eyes that he wears. :lol:

How did you clowns ever get to be so gullible?
#80308
If Elkin is making the point that tax returns would help to pin down Trump's net worth, that is true. But there are many other pieces of information which would help do that, including business check ledgers and so forth.

Financial dislosures are self-reporting, but so are income taxes. Both of them stem from federal laws.

When you file a financial disclosure, it can't be just public relations puffery. If it is, you put yourself in legal peril.

The rule of thumb is that, if you are worth very much, you don't know exactly how much because it depends on many factors such as the presence or absence of a willing buyer for real estate, what interest rates are, what land prices are, what commodity prices are, and so on.

I can tell you exactly what my stocks are worth based on yesterday's market close, but what are partial ownerships in a given business worth and what is land worth? The answer is that it depends on many factors.

Was Trump perhaps gilding the lily in saying he was worth 10 billion? Perhaps that was a best-case scenario, or perhaps a general estimate, or perhaps a master salesman finding a number to stick in your mind?

It doesn't matter because even 1 billion is a lot of money for a politician or for anybody.

The point of financial disclosures isn't to reveal net worth anyhow, but to expose conflicts of interest.
#80332
Hillary has always been hiding something her whole adult life, now she's hiding herself, there are rumors she's heavily sedated and bed ridden, bubba has been seen in public a few times since the election but Hillary wasn't with him. Let's keep Hillary in our thoughts this holiday season, after all she is a human.
#80344
johnforbes wrote:If Elkin is making the point that tax returns would help to pin down Trump's net worth, that is true. But there are many other pieces of information which would help do that, including business check ledgers and so forth.

Financial dislosures are self-reporting, but so are income taxes. Both of them stem from federal laws.

When you file a financial disclosure, it can't be just public relations puffery. If it is, you put yourself in legal peril.

The rule of thumb is that, if you are worth very much, you don't know exactly how much because it depends on many factors such as the presence or absence of a willing buyer for real estate, what interest rates are, what land prices are, what commodity prices are, and so on.

I can tell you exactly what my stocks are worth based on yesterday's market close, but what are partial ownerships in a given business worth and what is land worth? The answer is that it depends on many factors.

Was Trump perhaps gilding the lily in saying he was worth 10 billion? Perhaps that was a best-case scenario, or perhaps a general estimate, or perhaps a master salesman finding a number to stick in your mind?

It doesn't matter because even 1 billion is a lot of money for a politician or for anybody.

The point of financial disclosures isn't to reveal net worth anyhow, but to expose conflicts of interest.
No Johnnie...

Tax returns are not self reporting...especially when your employer reports your income and your brokerage reports your cap gains to the government .

LMAO

:lol:
#80355
Of course tax returns are self-reporting.

The individual is responsible for filing.

Elkin, instead of posting your usual dumb remarks, you should go look up Trump's financial disclosure and you'd find it interesting.
#80366
Tax returns are not self reporting...especially when your employer reports your income and your brokerage reports your cap gains to the government .
Odd I've never field a tax return for any of my employees. :shock:
Green Energy

Clean energy has gone down more than a Clinton int[…]

Red state gun murder rate....

Heavens to Betsy*, "assumptions" tend to[…]

The problem is that, once a violent personality sl[…]

Big Beautiful Ballroom

Obama and his ilk started the project, so naturall[…]

#