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Trump Affairs

Discussion in 'Alley of Lingering Sighs' started by dmc, Mar 26, 2018.

  1. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Does anyone actually care about who Trump did or did not have sex with? I sure don't. I didn't care who Clinton had sex with (and that was while he was the President) and I just don't think it matters (at least to me, as I am sure Melania has a different opinion) who Trump had sex with before he became the President, so long as it was consensual, which these latest couple of affairs apparently were.

    Had I been alive during the JFK era, I wouldn't have cared either (and my understanding is that he put Trump and Clinton to shame if you are grading affairs by quantity or quality, so to speak).

    Is there a reason we should care, or is it just more noise distracting from more important issues?
     
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  2. Sorvo

    Sorvo Where's the nearest pub? Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    I bet Hillary is somewhere behind the scenes :beer:
     
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    If anyone actually cared, I'm sure Trump would be in more trouble by now. It does seem odd to me though that when Clinton had an affair it was cause for impeachment and mass outrage, but as long as Trump had a number of them, nobody cares. I don't know if it'd be any different if Trump's affairs occurred during his presidency or not. It seems that Trump's set a new standard of acceptable behavioural lows in every possible way that nothing in that respect really matters any more.
     
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  4. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    At the same time, there's still plenty of outstanding questions with respect to Russia. And yet everybody's relatively more fixated on the Stormy thing? What a surprise ...
     
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  5. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Stormy has bigger boobs than Putin . . .
     
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  6. Tarrasque

    Tarrasque Whoever said Paladins had to be charismatic? ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    However the $130,000 he allegedly illegally paid to get her to not comment makes a difference.
     
  7. SlickRCBD Gems: 29/31
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    Honestly, with both Trump and Clinton, I wouldn't have a problem with them screwing around if it were not for the fact that they were married and made an oath and contract (marriages are contracts) to only be with their wife.

    If he'd been with Stormy before marrying Melania, I'd say "So what? Lots of men would love to sleep with a porn star. He actually pulled it off. More power to him".

    It's only because he's married when either of them slept around that I have an issue.

    That said, his cheating on his wife is the least of my issues with Trump.
    I honestly wouldn't care that much if it wasn't embarrassing the Office of the President of the United States, and to a lessor extent the country.
    I had the same issue and limited concern with Bill Clinton when I was in high school.
     
  8. Sorvo

    Sorvo Where's the nearest pub? Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    I'd have to agree with you there, cheating on anything is morally wrong and what will it lead to next? :beer:
     
  9. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    Without a doubt one of the best things about the Trump administration is it is showing how crazy the left is. Seeing normally rational people hanging on every word of a former porn star as if she is a messiah is hysterical. What makes it funnier is her own words and the timeline of what she is saying make no sense.

    However, in answer to the original question, No. Nobody cares. It happened before he was President and before he even was running for office. Did he sleep with her, I have no doubt of that. Do I feel bad for his wife, yes I do. Do I think it impacts the economy and his job as President, not even a smidge.

    My prediction is we are going to be living with the same level of hysteria for either 3 or 7 more years. I don't think they are ever going to be able to pin any criminal activity on him.
     
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    I would say the corruption and litany of other things Trump and his administration are involved with show his critics are often quite sane.

    To the pornstar, if she was paid off or threatened during the time in which Trump's campaign took place that makes her part of the dialogue rather than something to be ignored as old news.

    Additionally it exposes those who continue to back Trump and claims they do so for reasons relating to some moral high ground for being all the more hypocritical.
     
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    After 4 self-aggrandizing louts-in-chief over 28 years of slow progress, we finally have a President who is adhering one-by-one to his campaign promises. Unemployment is at its lowest in my lifetime, the last three quarters of GDP growth at 3.1, 3.2, and 2.9%, the Korean War may be over, the tax cuts are brilliant, he is cutting spending, trying to get us out of the Middle East dust-ups, periodically flips Angela Merkel the proverbial bird, and treats the media as they deserve. The Russian investigation is imaginary, John Kerry running for the top spot will be another fail, actual Liberals are trying to extract themselves from the fascistic yolk of the fringe Left controlling the center left, Hillary is done - man, life is good!
     
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  12. Blades of Vanatar

    Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I don’t give a rat’s ass who he noodles, POTUS or not. That’s his prerogative. He’s an ass, scumbag, rich douchebag and I would love to crack him in the mouth if we met face to face.....

    But.... financially I am doing better than when Obama was giving the house away. So he can bang Jenna Jamison next for all I care, just asking as he keeps filling my purse full of gold coins....
     
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  13. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    This is why I think there is a serious possibility of Trump being re-elected. His policies have put a lot of money in the pockets of people who are working for a living. The media missed the boat on the tax cuts, they tried to make it out as being all about money for the rich, without seeing how the law actually worked. Across the board anyone who gets a paycheck has been seeing more money in their checks. I predict this is going to go just like the last election. People will publicly say they don't like him, but in the privacy of the voting booth they will vote for him for all he is doing for them.
     
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    Best description I've heard of Trump all day.

    Except when it comes to draining the swamp rather than making it deeper.

    Or providing a healthcare that is better, cheaper, and covers everybody (he promised all 3 during the campaign).

    Or ending deficits (I think he may have even called this one easy.)

    Or releasing his tax returns

    Or fighting corruption (sorry for mentioning this again but Trump's efforts to undermine good government are so bad it is worth mentioning twice)

    Or fighting rigged elections (he even complained when Pennsylvania state courts put an end to the gerrymandering that has rigged elections in that state for the last several years)

    I'm pretty sure the list goes on but the point stands.

    Thanked Obama for his part in that yet?

    Would be an actual accomplishment, yet I'd like to see what the deal looks like if and when it is worked out.

    Not really, give money to rich guys. Blow up the debt to do it. And then try to cut spending on disabled people as a failing effort to compensate for it that still won't but at least hurts some people while the deficits grow.

    Seen the deficits yet?

    Or trying to cause a new one with Iran (as well as annoying anyone thinking about a 2-state solution for Israel)

    The value of this would be what? Especially when kissing up to authoritarians.

    Because he hates it when CNN is more honest than he is (which is constantly).. though I doubt that means they actually "deserve" it.


    Except that it has already produced results and is far more credible than the longer running Benghazi investigation.

    Didn't know he was thinking about it but don't really care.

    Pretty sure fascism is rightwing rather than left. Communism is leftwing yet claiming they run the Democratic Party would be both McCarthyist and unrealistic.

    Don't mind that except she would still be a better President than the current one.





    I'll agree with you on the first part. But not the 2nd. Keep in mind that most of the job growth and economic recovery that happened since the great recession has still been under the Obama administration. Part of Trump being a scumbag is that he will take credit for things other people, like Obama, have done.

    In the meantime he has been doing his best to raise the price of health insurance..

    The tax cuts were for the rich (benefited the most) and I don't see evidence that they really worked. Like I mentioned before the economy was already growing quite well before the tax cuts came along.

    Even more worrisome is the long term impact of Trump's deficits. Obama should have had deficits because of spending to counter the worst recession in modern US history. Trump is ramping up deficits during a time of recovery when discussion should be about paying them down. This could, and likely will, put the US in a weaker economic position when the next crisis comes along.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2018
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  15. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    As a CPA, I can tell you that you are so very wrong. This is a case of believing what you want to believe and also believing the propaganda you are being told. While you are correct that that tax cuts benefit the rich more than the poor, but that is the way tax cuts work. By the same token tax hikes hurt the rich much more than the poor.

    However, as I said in my earlier post. Everyone, and I mean everyone who pays taxes is seeing an increase in their paychecks and people are noticing. I live in MA which is one of the most liberal states there is, but even here people are admitting it is nice having the extra money. I can only imagine what people in in more moderate or conservative states are thinking.

    As to not working, you just aren't looking close enough, but maybe you don't want to see it.
     
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    Tax cuts are fine, but they should be accompanied by even greater spending cuts to pay off the national debt.
    IIRC, Bill Clinton was the ONLY president since WWII to reduce the national debt.
     
  17. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Well Snook, I can tell you that this isn't helping me in the slightest. While I am watching my state try to figure an end-around on the SALT removal, I cannot imagine the IRS is going to allow a charitable deduction for money going to "charity" in state rather than state tax, so I don't think I'm going to risk my penalty and interest money on that until I see that it will stand up in federal court. Meanwhile, I am paying more.

    Feh.
     
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    When you wrote "SALT removal" I thought you were talking about the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties being withdrawn.
    Also, probably because I always use 1040EZ, I did not know I could deduct my State income taxes. I might have gotten a few extra dollars refunded if I had known these last couple years.
    I didn't think I had anything worth the extra paperwork of not using 1040EZ.
     
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    While I don't know what is on your return, you may be surprised at how little this will hurt you. If you were in AMT you weren't getting any benefit from those deductions anyway. Also the rates dropping will also help mitigate the loss of the deduction. I am also in a high tax, high real estate tax state. When SALT got capped at $10K people went crazy, until we ran the numbers. The increased standard deduction is also helping.

    You are also correct. All the morons in NY, NJ, and I'm guessing CA who think they can come up with a scheme to make state income taxes and real estate taxes to be charitable contributions are nothing but pandering politicians that are going to put a lot of people in danger with the IRS.
     
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    As someone with both a minor in business (which involved some accounting classes) and another in economics I can tell you that a CPA doesn't qualify someone to make proclamations about the economy or national mood any more than any random person off the street. I'll even argue that having a minor in econ probably teaches more about the broader economy than a masters in accounting.

    Accounting focuses on the books of a specific person or company (and following the processes related to them) but not on the broader economy.

    Some tax increases actually hurt the poor more than the rich some do the reverse if you focus on taxing certain goods in certain ways. Ending the estate or death tax only helps the rich (it doesn't touch poor people), but increasing taxes on food probably hurts the poor (still need to eat) more than the rich (who may not even notice).


    Back to someone and his/her company and accounting. Making the numbers work is valuable but very limited in scope. The nation matters more than 1 company. More than that if the company can profit by doing something bad for the nation those costs won't necessarily show up as a cost to the company (at least not that instant).


    The tax cuts can be helpful for an individual company in the short term. But the company isn't thinking about the long term impact on the national debt.

    Just like a specific company may benefit if handed a monopoly (letting it overcharge customers or provide bad service knowing customers don't have an alternative to turn to). Great for the company but customers (potentially throughout the nation) pay the price for it (such as with drug prices going up by a factor of 5 because a single company controls the entire distribution for the drug and opted to charge more for it because it could).

    As for California, New York, and other SALT taxes. This is arguably using the federal government to punish state governments that are both already givers (send more money to the feds than they receive) and take care of their citizens. If a state government doesn't want to make sure its citizens are treated well (doesn't fix roads, doesn't protect their safety-from crime or pollution, doesn't provide a good education, and on) and thus opts not to pay doing anything it then it feels no impact of ending the SALT exemption. States that do all of those things are more likely to. So the whole ending SALT thing is arguably finding a way to punish responsible states that care about their citizens.

    As for having a little extra money in my pocket now in order to pay even more for it later to cover it is shortsighted. Would having an extra $20 make up for potholes wreaking a car's alignment because nobody is fixing roads? Also shortsighted.

    Not everyone gets a little money right now but even for those who do and even if it is for most people there isn't any concern for what they are potentially loosing in exchange. If you want to talk about "looking close enough" at things then where is the cost/benefit analysis for the nation? It sure isn't coming from those who put through the tax cut.

    Plus, like I said before, the economy was growing already before the tax cut. Using it to claim credit for economic growth is Trump trying to take credit for things he didn't do.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2018
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