Let’s Go Steelers!
Seriously: Donald Trump Is A Penny-Ante Swindler
New report by @Fahrenthold raises questions about the Donald Trump Foundation and just how charitable Trump is. https://t.co/HP4B7X1d1I
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) September 12, 2016
… and David Farenholdt, at the Washington Post, deserves at least one Pulitzer. I’ve been working on a post about his findings for the last couple of weeks, but he keeps churning out new information. None of which the cable-news Media Village Idiots have deigned to discuss — until now.
… The Donald J. Trump Foundation is not like other charities. An investigation of the foundation — including examinations of 17 years of tax filings and interviews with more than 200 individuals or groups listed as donors or beneficiaries — found that it collects and spends money in a very unusual manner.
For one thing, nearly all of its money comes from people other than Trump. In tax records, the last gift from Trump was in 2008. Since then, all of the donations have been other people’s money — an arrangement that experts say is almost unheard of for a family foundation.
Trump then takes that money and generally does with it as he pleases. In many cases, he passes it on to other charities, which often are under the impression that it is Trump’s own money.
In two cases, he has used money from his charity to buy himself a gift. In one of those cases — not previously reported — Trump spent $20,000 of money earmarked for charitable purposes to buy a six-foot-tall painting of himself.
Money from the Trump Foundation has also been used for political purposes, which is against the law. The Washington Post reported this month that Trump paid a penalty this year to the Internal Revenue Service for a 2013 donation in which the foundation gave $25,000 to a campaign group affiliated with Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi (R).
Trump’s foundation appears to have repeatedly broken IRS rules, which require nonprofit groups to file accurate paperwork. In five cases, the Trump Foundation told the IRS that it had given a gift to a charity whose leaders told The Post that they had never received it. In two other cases, companies listed as donors to the Trump Foundation told The Post that those listings were incorrect….
This guy is Max Bialystock without the charm.
Seriously: Donald Trump Is A Penny-Ante SwindlerPost + Comments (113)
Monday Evening Open Thread: Where Are Your Records, Donald?
Something that I bet becomes a thing – last week, Trump told ABC that he would release his medical records first. pic.twitter.com/Zm0Ar6XBWP
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 11, 2016
Our complete lack of knowledge right now about Trump's health status raises troubling questions about the reporters covering his campaign.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 11, 2016
Hillary Clinton has finally made Republicans care about a woman's health, and she's not even President yet.
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) September 11, 2016
Hillary in an iron lung still wouldn't make Trump remotely qualified to be President.
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) September 11, 2016
I mean if Hillary really is using her last months and dying breaths to save America from fascism she should get her face on Rushmore
— Mark Agee (@MarkAgee) September 11, 2016
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Apart from all the random noise, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Monday Evening Open Thread: Where Are <em>Your</em> Records, Donald?Post + Comments (96)
Public Service Announcement
It’s perfectly understandable to be worried about the election. The polls are tight. The media is largely comprised of lazy hacks who privilege phony balance above truth. But worrying is utterly useless unless it spurs you to action.
Freaking out while taking no positive action is worse than useless — it’s demoralizing. So don’t be that person, okay? President Obama often says, “Don’t boo — vote.” To paraphrase him, don’t freak out — volunteer. Or donate.
Open thread!
Site Updates Coming Later This Week
Folks,
I’ll be updating the site, plugins, and tweaking a few settings later this week. After last night’s SSL certificate issue, I’ve dusted off the test server and will soon be hard at work.
I’ve not been around much the post couple of months, so consider me out of the loop. Are there any issues, tweaks, suggestions, etc. I need to hear before I begin work? I’m not planning on changing much styling but with the theme update, there might be some slight appearance changes here and there. So since I’ll be digging into all kinds of stuff, I just wanted to get your suggestions/peeves so I can see what can be done.
Besides the main updates, I’m planning a special area for National Security posts by Adam and his associates, and also hope to get a good recipe plugin going to snazz up that aspect of things a bit. And snazz in this case means order and standardized layout, not fancy gimmicks!
I’ll be in and out of this site today and will make another one this evening to get the night crew’s feedback. I will definitely refer to both before I get too deep into the mud.
As always, I’m prepared for lots of grousing, but let’s focus on trying to make things better! If you have specific lines of CSS or what have you that you’d like me to alter, please let me know the specifics and I’ll see what I can do. The less analysis and thinking I need to do to tweak it and make you happy the better – it will ensure your change gets done! :)
The Morning In Three Photos
And the press is all breathless over Hillary’s untrustworthiness. That seems to ‘trump’ her health, even they can’t bring themselves to believe she has health issues. But they had to do something with that dramatic video. (I’m sure there are some who are making issue of health…but it’s pretty weak tea)
Meanwhile, Trump, as usual gets a free pass, but not from the Hillary campaign:
IMHO the most important issue for the present is Climate Change…but then that’s been my concern (and focus) for the last twenty years. It sure as hell isn’t a new issue. I have no idea if the photo below is accurate, but I’ve talked to many “deniers” who make me believe it.
I have a crazy, busy day ahead on very little sleep. But it’s my own fault. I got caught up watching Brooklyn last night and lost track of time. When it was over, had a list of things I needed to complete before sleep. But it was a great little movie and I don’t regret it…at least not now, check back with me around 3pm MDT.
What’s on your agenda today besides trying not to despair over the state of the intelligence of our great country?
Monday Morning Open Thread: Happy Nice Thoughts
Clergy will lead a #MoralDayofAction on Sept.12 in over 25 states & DC. Learn more: https://t.co/OxrljtZiAW… #MoralRevival #MoralDeclaration
— Rev. Dr. Barber (@RevDrBarber) September 11, 2016
Soldiering on…
Michelle Obama will put her widespread popularity to use by campaigning for Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/HK3RsczHWZ pic.twitter.com/UUlhcg2YMC
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) September 12, 2016
… At an event in northern Virginia on Friday, Mrs. Obama will urge voters to register ahead of the state’s Oct. 17 deadline, the first of what aides say will be a series of appearances in the coming weeks in support of Mrs. Clinton.
Mrs. Obama’s steps into the campaign spotlight underscore her transformation from a once-reluctant political spouse into a confident public figure, a role she says she has embraced more fully during President Obama’s second term.
Mrs. Obama’s communications director, Caroline Adler Morales, said the first lady’s focus would be on encouraging voters in swing states, particularly young people and African-Americans, to register and vote.
Her message, Ms. Morales said, will emphasize “the qualifications and demeanor a president needs, the values we hold dear as Americans and our shared hopes for the future.”…
Apart from holding strong to those values and hopes, what’s on the agenda as we start the week?
Monday Morning Open Thread: Happy Nice ThoughtsPost + Comments (149)