Comprehensive WaPo Report Shows Trump Lies Like a Dog About His Charitable Giving
Perhaps no reporter has done so much to hold Donald Trump’s feet to the fire regarding his con-artist promises than David Farenthold of the Washington Post. Remember when Trump ran crying like a baby from the Iowa debate with Megyn Kelly in the primaries, and used as his excuse a hastily slapped together fundraiser for veterans? Trump claimed he had given $1 million of his own money to the veterans — and months later, Farenthold showed Trump had lied, forcing Trump to actually donate the money Trump had falsely claimed to have given.
Today, Farenthold has a new comprehensive article that represents months of research on the topic of Trump’s alleged philanthropy. By now, if you have been paying attention, you won’t be surprised to learn that Farenthold’s report shows that Trump a) is cheap and ungenerous; b) consistently tries to portray himself as generous when he is not; and c) tends to make sure that what little charitable giving he does make, benefits him personally.
For as long as he has been rich and famous, Donald Trump has also wanted people to believe he is generous. He spent years constructing an image as a philanthropist by appearing at charity events and by making very public — even nationally televised — promises to give his own money away.
It was, in large part, a facade. A months-long investigation by The Washington Post has not been able to verify many of Trump’s boasts about his philanthropy.
Instead, throughout his life in the spotlight, whether as a businessman, television star or presidential candidate, The Post found that Trump had sought credit for charity he had not given — or claimed other people’s giving as his own.
I’m sure the Trumpers will react to this article by saying Hillary’s self-dealing is on a grander scale. You know what? Some of Trump’s B.S. is on a large scale, such as his attempt to get out of paying the $1 million to the vets, or to get out of donating millions from “The Apprentice” or “Art of the Deal” to charities as he promised to. But some of it is pathetic and laughably small — and I don’t think it’s to his credit that he grifts on a small level as well as on a grand scale. It just shows his grifting is so habitual that he’ll grift $100 here or even $7 there (oh yes! $7! you’ll see!), just because that’s what he does.
I could tell story after story from this article, but the self-dealing from the Trump Foundation amuses me the most, because it is so penny-ante and makes him look like such a small man. Trump promised to donate his money from the “Art of the Deal” “to the homeless, to Vietnam veterans, for AIDS, multiple sclerosis” — you know, anything that sounded good.
But, of course, he reneged — as he always does:
So in 1987, Trump signed the forms to incorporate the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The paperwork warned that he could not use the charity’s money to help political candidates. Nor could he use it for the benefit of “any member, trustee, director or officer” of the charity.
That first year, Trump made himself president.
He put in $144,050.
Then he used $100 of the foundation’s money to buy a two-person membership to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Oh, it gets pettier than that, too! Trump used the Trump Foundation as a piggy bank to pay his son’s $7 Boy Scout registration:
New findings, for instance, show that the Trump Foundation’s largest-ever gift — $264,631 — was used to renovate a fountain outside the windows of Trump’s Plaza Hotel.
Its smallest-ever gift, for $7, was paid to the Boy Scouts in 1989, at a time when it cost $7 to register a new Scout. Trump’s oldest son was 11 at the time. Trump did not respond to a question about whether the money paid to register him.
See? It was force of habit. If there was anything he could possibly justify calling charity, he would write a check for it from the Trump Foundation.
Trump’s characteristic streak of cruelty is also evident at points in the article, such as in this anecdote:
In 1997, for instance, he was “principal for a day” at a public school in an impoverished area of the Bronx. The chess team was holding a bake sale, Hot & Crusty danishes and croissants. They were $5,000 short of what they needed to travel to a tournament.
Trump had brought something to wow them.
“He handed them a fake million-dollar bill,” said David MacEnulty, a teacher and the chess team’s coach.
The team’s parent volunteers were thrilled.
Then disappointment.
Trump then gave them $200 in real money and drove away in a limousine.
Why just $200?
“I have no idea,” MacEnulty said. “He was about the most clueless person I’ve ever seen in that regard.”
The happy ending, he said, was that a woman read about Trump’s gift in the New York Times, called the school and donated the $5,000. “I am ashamed to be the same species as this man,” MacEnulty recalled her saying.
That’s about how I feel, too. What a comically awful person.
If your reflex is to say oh yeah well what about Hillary Clinton?!?! then fine . . . but you’re missing my point. I’m not writing a brief for Hillary Clinton here. I’m making the case that we, as Americans, need to figure out how we got ourselves into a situation where we have two choices this wretched. No matter for whom you cast your single and (sorry, it’s true) almost certainly inconsequential personal vote on November 8, we have to be clear-eyed about the system that brought us two such morally defective candidates. In considering this question, it is critical that we not impatiently brush aside the problems of our preferred candidate.
You want to vote for Donald Trump because you think Hillary Clinton is worse? That’s fine with me.
But Donald Trump is human filth. Let’s not pretend otherwise for purely partisan reasons.
Kudos to David Farenthold for doing such a great job revealing it.
[Cross-posted at RedState.]
And now the distractions begin…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:04 pmthe washington post is just a bunch of propaganda sluts what amazon turdlord jeffy bezos bought to do that pig all up in it
i dismiss their propaganda wholly and utterly and I look forward to a pig-free tomorrow
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:06 pmAlways trust the Washington Post. They’ve had such an interest in exposing multiple scandals that are arguably much more important than Watergate was ever thought to be.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:07 pmif amazon turdlord jeffy bezos’s wapo really wanted to investigate I bet you all my star wars they’d discover that failmerican foundations are extremely sleazy in general and Mr. Trump’s is far better than most
IF amazon turdlord jeffy bezos’s wapo really wanted to investigate
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:30 pmI’m opening the pod bay doors,
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/29/dc-attorney-fbi-never-destroyed-laptops-of-clinton-aides/
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:36 pmThat’s a nasty thing to say about dogs.
Oh, wait, I get it.
JVW (6e49ce) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:41 pm“And now the distractions begin…”
– Colonel Haiku
Yeah, no kidding. I’m surprised you haven’t already posted a non sequitur link.
Leviticus (2190c1) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:46 pmIgnoring a turdmouth hilariously calling someone else a “turdlord”….
So classy on someone else’s site for which he pays money, Mr. Feet!
Patterico, I wonder how “none of the above” would poll?
That’s the poll I would like to see.
Among voters, I mean.
Simon Jester (c63397) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:46 pmWhat a dumpster fire of an election.
Simon Jester (c63397) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:47 pmwell bezos like many of our press overlords have certain technical skills but not a lick of common sense,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:49 pmif there was anything Mr. Trump did what was illegal or unethical it’s not in evidence in the post Mr. Jester (contrast this with for example the antics of stinkypig clinton)
i say it’s this reporting what’s penny-ante
they found some people what felt entitled to a handout twenty years ago
but there was no onus on Mr. Trump to fund some random-ass eighties chess club
none whatsoever
He’s being maligned cause of he has the temerity to challenge the diseased criminal pig what amazon turdlord jeffy bezos lurvs to sniff sniff sniff.
I stand with Mr. Trump. My finely-honed sense of honor duty and integrity demands no less of me.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:55 pmso I guess he forgot about his winnings,
http://nypost.com/2016/10/28/weiner-revelation-proves-comey-dropped-the-ball-on-hillary-probe/
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:56 pmTrump lies about everything. He is a flamboyant braggart whose mouth is always writing checks that he can’t cash. This is only a small part of it. “Small” being the keyword.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 3:56 pmAs opposed to your poor-mouthing, Leviticvs.
Colonel Haiku (97d6f1) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:09 pmfoundations do a lot to help minimize your taxes
and every dollar what you can steer away from failmerica’s corrupt and fascist federal government is a dollar what can be put to advance prosperity and freedom
all of us
you, me
other people
we all have a moral duty to minimize the taxes we pay as much as possible
Mr. Trump walks the walk.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:13 pmCucaracha.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:16 pmAnd America slowly comes to the realization that both candidates for the Presidency are an insult to the office. I expect to hear lefties talk about what-might-have-been with Sanders for the next 20 years. Instead we’ll have President Pence.
Kevin M (ba98c9) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:16 pmLies, seems devoted students of the practice would have a more robust vocabulary for their description–like Eskimos for snow.
I chalk it up to sloth.
DNF (755a85) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:16 pmwell red squaw’s armor piercing screech, might warm their cockles, I heard it for a few moments, then the involuntary twitching started ,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:18 pm“Instead we’ll have President Pence.”
Kevin M (ba98c9) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:16 pm
Have to say that’ll work for me!
Colonel Haiku (97d6f1) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:19 pm19… I heard that, narciso. That hectoring voice – not unlike Norman Bates channeling his momma’s – won’t seal teh deal.
Colonel Haiku (97d6f1) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:23 pmLOL.
And to vote. And we see how that goes.
Simon Jester (c63397) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:24 pmyou just made that up to make me look bad
show me where it says we have a moral duty to vote
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:25 pmwhy does fahrenhold want you to have this information, because he’s a conscientous,…it doesn’t pass the smell test
https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2016/10/28/anthony-weiner-calls-back/?singlepage=true
why did priest and arkin reveal every node of our surveillance and interdiction network,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:26 pmYou’ll find it at teh bottom of your next Cosmopolitan, HF.
Colonel Haiku (97d6f1) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:29 pmthe vogue cover with emma stone is most distressing, because she’s all for red queen,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:30 pmi been practicing my old fashioneds cause of i agreed to do a cocktail for thanksgiving for my friend d’s family
and that one tastes very seasonal to me
i’m just gonna pop over and do drinks for like an hour
i’m not feeling super festive and I don’t wanna eat eat eat
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:31 pmin the category of the incomprehensible, the new fantastic four film, a rare fail by the ones behind kingsman,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:35 pmSo they’re passing the collection plate at Trump’s church and instead of a $1 like he intended he accidentally drops in a $50 bill. So for the next year, when the plate came around, he put in a note that said “Season ticket”.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:36 pmI call bullshit on this blog post, which obsesses about a trivial $7 given to the Boy Scouts while completely ignoring other monies given by Trump and his foundation to the Boy Scouts:
8/29/2011: $1500
10/19/2011: $3000
4/1/2012: $840
5/6/2012: $1000
7/3/2012: $1500
7/17/2012: $2000
10/2/2012: $1500
1/8/2013: $500
5/16/2013: $1500
2/5/2014: $2500
5/5/2014: $2500
5/10/2014: $500
7/28/2014: $1720
10/24/2014: $1500
10/29/2014: $1500
1/20/2015: $2500
1/21/2015: $500
2/15/2015: $2500
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2797213/Trump-Donations.pdf
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:40 pmi can’t look at miles without seeing the love child of john cusack and shia labeouf
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:40 pmyou would think in thirty years they would have gone after him for tax fraud?
http://babalublog.com/2016/10/29/fbi-reopens-hillary-probe-cuban-exiles-rejoice/
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:40 pmon behalf of the group i say thank you Andrew
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:42 pmhe hears voices, that tell him things that are often wrong,
https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/792483762802073600?lang=en
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:46 pm=yawn= Earlier this year, JR sent MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell a check for $10,000 for his KIND fund.
O’Donnell rebuked the gesture and turned it down on the air.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:49 pmnow to be fair, he is a legacy his father was the manager of the post, in the early kat graham era,
https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/792373679585910785
but he should label it properly in fiction,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:56 pmclicking on douchebag jack dorsey’s twitter make me feel dirty
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:59 pmugh
*makes* me feel dirty I mean
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 4:59 pmhe forgets the walsh indictment, the w dui from 24 years early, the al quaqua goosechase,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:02 pmAndrew,
I don’t know where you got your list, as you don’t provide a link [UPDATE: Wrong! He did, at the end of his comment. I missed it!], and it does not break down what came from Trump and what came from his foundation. But he has not donated anything to the foundation since 2009:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-lacks-the-certification-required-for-charities-that-solicit-money/2016/09/29/7dac6a68-8658-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html
The story does include an unsupported claim from a Trump campaign staffer saying he directed money from a Comedy Central roast to the Foundation in 2011. I assign that the same weight I assign all other unsupported claims by Trump staffers: zero.
It is possible Trump has not given one red cent to the Boy Scouts. Feel free to prove otherwise with actual evidence.
Until then, I “call bullshit” on your comment.
Patterico (92c044) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:12 pmI deleted the comment by DCDCDCSCDCSA listing Trump’s positive attributes, in DCSCDSA’s judgment, including the fact that Trump is “white.” If you want to read that idiotic comment, you can go read one of the several dozen other versions of it he has left all over this Web site.
Patterico (92c044) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:15 pmPatterico, I already gave a link to the list twice above. The list is titled “Donald J. Trump Charitable Contributions”. It’s discussed by WaPo here:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb_story.html?client=safari
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:18 pmit would seem fahrenhold’s survey is incomplete to be charitable, they crowdsourced all of the huntress’s emails, yet they cherrypick the wikileak claims,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:20 pmIf Trump used the Trump Foundation as a piggy bank to pay his son’s $7 Boy Scout registration (unproven), he also used it as a piggy bank to give the Scouts tens of thousands of dollars. Why omit the latter?
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:21 pmthis says just the foundation itself gave $4K to the boy scouts from 2001-2014
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:22 pmi hope they spended it wisely
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:23 pmNote also that 2009 (when he apparently stopped giving to foundation) is after 1989 (when he allegedly gave the Scouts $7).
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:24 pmWhen my dad was dying after his fatal fall and was locked up in assisted living until his death. I guess you could call her a nurse assistant. She had a really nice @$$. I noticed. It was hard not to notice, as that’s where she kept her smart phone. You practically wanted to yell, “Yes, we’ve all noticed you have a nice @$$. Answer you Sugar Daddy’s call already. You know how to do it. You’ve been grasping for it the past hour.”
She knew what she was doing. Me? I’ll die at sea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=hgI8bta-7aw
If I have any say in the matter.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3VQA_Taffy_3_Memorial_Fort_Rosecrans_National_Cemetery_Point_Loma_CA
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:25 pmgitchy gitchy
she do not give up her dead
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:27 pmMy Donald Trump moment. Which was not caught on a hot mike as I am not STUPID.
STUPID!
STOOOOPID!
Have I made myself clear?
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:30 pm@41. =yawn=
Delete, delete, delete. You take yourself wayyyyy too seriously.
Doesn’t change the truth, either. You’re acting like Maudie with her emails.
Grab a beer. Watch the game. If you can stand it- the balls and bases are white, too. 😉 Go Cubs!
“Are you scared?” – Blanch Lovell [Jean Howard] ‘Apollo 13’ – 1995
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:43 pmYou did give a link, Andrew. I missed it. I updated my comment above. There is absolutely nothing there to verify where it came from or whether it is authentic.
I will note, however, that Farenthold called all the organizations that the Trump campaign claimed Trump or the Foundation had donated to. Including the Boy Scouts. And they did not comment.
So, what I think we have is a set of claims by the Donald Trump campaign, unverified by any independent source.
Bullshit. Just like Corey Lewandowski’s claim that Trump had paid the vets $1 million, which turned out to be a lie.
Trump did not give the Boy Scouts $7. The Trump Foundation did, so the alleged multibillionaire wouldn’t have to dip into his own funds to pay the $7 registration fee.
Grifter.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:44 pmthe important thing is the boy scouts had seven more dollars to hate on gays with
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:46 pmI will note, however, that Farenthold called all the organizations that the Trump campaign claimed Trump or the Foundation had donated to. Including the Boy Scouts. And they did not comment.
it’s confuzzling though cause of how the list is titled last *PERSONAL* donation
it seems like there’s some kind of distinction being made
and who besides poor dead prince uses a purple pen
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:51 pmFurther to my last wear-out of my welcome. I need to point out we are coming up on January.
Why do I need to point this out, you might ask? Because this is the time the anthropogenic global warming crowd loses their s**t. You can set your watch by it, or calendar, like a Christmas sale.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:52 pmWe are still left with nothing but unsubstantiated claims.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:52 pmSo, Patterico, you believe Trump when he says his Foundation gave $7 to the Scouts in 1989, but disbelieve Trump when he says his Foundation later gave the Scouts tens of thousands of dollars since 2010. Confirmation bias?
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:53 pmAnd I kind of suspect WaPo would have debunked the Scout contributions if they were false.
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:54 pmbut did you see the blog from Mr. Ed Week?
i linked it at #45
he seems to think Mr. T’s foundation gave at least four thousand dollars american to them boy scouts
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 5:55 pmFarenholt is the source for the $7 donation.*
It says something about Trump when the WaPo has more creditability than he does.
*I don’t subscribe to the WaPo, so their paywall won’t let me read the article.
Kishnevi (8adcb8) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:00 pmSee #35.
Trump can be a generous capitalist. That some reject the notion is their problem, not his.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:01 pmSteve, you are always welcome with me.
Kishnevi (8adcb8) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:01 pmwhy do you think that, how much have they shown of o’keefe, or wikileaks, or anything truly damaging to red queen in the last week, whereas it’s become bezos own kos journal
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:02 pmi abjure the washington post generally and this article specifically
your move
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:04 pmThe former was reported in the Washington Post.
The last was reported where again? Assets.documentcloud.org?
Anyway, it’s just lovely that a foundation bearing Trump’s name gave other people’s money to the Boy Scouts. Hip hip hooray. Also, so what? I am being castigated for failing to go dig up this anonymous and irrelevant “evidence” and use it to supplement this post, and I am starting to resent the fact that any part of my limited time in this world is being spent explaining to you why this doesn’t matter.
You have one more comment to make your most devastating points, and then I stop wasting my valuable time discussing this utterly irrelevant point. So far it has been useful to show how Trumpers do back flips to make him look good. But that is accomplished, and anything else is feeling like it’s not worth the time.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:06 pmWhere does it say that? It did not leap out at me.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:09 pmbut even if everything in this sketchy article were to be true
Mr. Trump has still done nothing wrong
the stinkypig on the other hand, she’s a hardcore committed criminal
whereas if Mr. Trump is guilty of anything, it’s of not managing his affairs decades ago as if he were running for president in 2016
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:09 pmI did not see the Boy Scouts mentioned in that blog post, happy. Could you pinpoint us to what you’re talking about a little more specifically? Because if the Trump Foundation gave $4k to the Boy Scouts, Farenthold’s piece is somehow TOTAL BULLSHIT!!! So we’d better get to the bottom of this TOTALLY CRITICAL EVIDENCE and I just don’t see it.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:11 pmWhere does it say that? It did not leap out at me.
no it doesn’t you have to hover over the colored blocks in the graphic
which is something i spended time doing with my one god-given life just cause of I love Mr. Trump that much
there’s one for 3K and one for 1K
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:11 pmMr feets, I kept poking at that EdWeek graphic and found nothing for the Boy Scouts.
There are donations to several Boys and Girls Clubs. But no Scouts that I could see.
Wierd thing is that while he gave to some schools in Palm Beach County, he gave money to the Boys Clubs of Broward and not Palm Beach. but Maralago is in PB not Broward.
Kishnevi (8adcb8) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:11 pmOther than self-dealing, lying, and being cruel and an asshole.
Meanwhile, CLINTON!!! And evidence that you did not actually read my post.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:12 pm“The former [$7 contribution] was reported in the Washington Post.” And where do you think they got the info if the Scouts would not comment? Obviously from Trump (i.e. his tax filings), whom you say cannot be trusted.
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:13 pmBut no Scouts that I could see.
ok well it’s there you just have sucky hover skills
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:13 pmCursor hovering gives me one $1000 donation with no date.
So evidently I am doing something wrong. What are the specific dates of these two all-important donations?
And once we have that information, so fucking what?
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:15 pmTrue.
Maybe they did make it up. I don’t believe a thing they say. However, I believe it because of the fact that it matches up with the registration fee amount and Trump’s Boy Scout age child. Facts that Farenthold reported and that hang together and that I find convincing. This requires critical thinking skills, which your triumphal non-analysis is sorely lacking.
But their claims at least have a known provenance. I see none for your mystery link.
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:17 pmMeanwhile, CLINTON!!!
OH YEAH SAY IT TWO MORE TIMES ON HALLOWEEN WEEKEND WHY DON’T YOU
i’m putting a circle of salt around my super fancy aeron chair what I got from amazon turdlord jeff bezos
brb i will find the 3K again
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:18 pmIt’s there, on happyfeet’s graphic. $1,000 in the thin purple box in the middle of the top row; $3,000 in the fatter indigo box nest to the purple box on the right in the third (from the top) row.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:20 pmnest = next
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:21 pmok the three k one was given to the “Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America” – it’s the purple rectangle on the third row down to the right of “GLSEN”
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:21 pmoh. thank you Mr. nk
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:21 pmDates?
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:31 pmAnything after 2009 is other people’s money.
I’ll ask the question again:
So fucking what?
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:32 pmthat’s all Mr. Ed Week says
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:34 pmbut it’s clear the foundation made a lot of boys and girls very happy and spread joy nigh unto the darkest corners of the gritty-gloomy post-capitalist landscape of food stamp’s failmerica
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:37 pmCould be a reason for Panic At Teh WaPo?
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/shift-electorates-makeup-tightens-presidential-contest-poll/story?id=43142198
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:43 pmI have been topic-banned from Wikipedia until the election, so maybe I’ll be harassing Patterico a bit more than usual. 🙂
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:50 pmwell we know the identity of one of the minitrue curators over there, who kept deleting the details about voldemort, a character which wouldn’t pass muster in any of those shows that deal with intrigue,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 6:54 pmrigging elections is one of the things we do together,
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/10/29/bombshell-2006-audio-hillary-clinton-proposing-rigging-palestine-election/
the irony is this is the first time she didn’t favor hamas,
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:00 pmBy the way, the long list of Trump’s contributions to the Boy Scouts that I provided above is also available from the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/a-94-page-list-of-donald-trumps-charitable-contributions-from-the-last-five-years/2013/?tid=a_inl-amp
So it’s not just at documentcloud.org
Andrew (b75ced) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:02 pm“They’ve said there are “5 digits” of emails on Weiner’s laptop… Could’ve said “thousands”, but because it’s Weiner, they said 5 digits, like a hand.”
— Greg Gutfeld
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:04 pm“A Washington Post analysis found that the bulk of them were actually free rounds of golf, given away by Trump’s courses for local charity auctions and raffles.”
Patterico (115b1f) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:19 pmthat’s not cheez-wiz
giving people free tee-times to sell
it’s a savvy way of raising money for causes what do so much to help americans who have nowhere else to turn
it’s a beautiful way to touch a lot of lives
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:24 pmmaybe this belongs in the dead thread,
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/29/study-half-obamacare-customers-skipping-doctor-visits-cut-costs/
narciso (d1f714) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:29 pmIt’s like my Land’s End jacket from Goodwill. Land’s End cleared its dead inventory and got an $80.00 tax write off for the retail price of the jacket. I got an $3.00 jacket, the actual* amount paid to the Honduran sweatshop, for $5.00, that I could not have gotten any other way for that amount.
*It might have been less than $3.00.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:35 pmi got a mossyoaks jacket at walmart in minnesota but i left it in the suburban 🙁
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:37 pm@nk:Land’s End cleared its dead inventory and got an $80.00 tax write off for the retail price of the jacket.
Jerry : So were going to make the Post Office pay for my new stereo?
Kramer : It’s just a write off for them.
Jerry : How is it a write off?
Kramer : They just write it off.
Jerry : Write it off what?
Kramer : Jerry all these big companies they write off everything.
Jerry : You don’t even know what a write off is.
Kramer : Do you?
Jerry : No. I don’t.
Kramer : But they do and they are the ones writing it off.
Jerry : I wish I just had the last twenty seconds of my life back.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:42 pmThe point is that just because golf lessons are valued at $4,000 it doesn’t mean that they cost Trump anything. His golf course and his golf people would have still been there regardless.
The same thing with his Net Operating Loss deductions. They don’t mean he actually put $915 million in his businesses and then lost them in bankruptcy. It only means that some appraiser said that’s what they were worth when he lost them.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:42 pm@nk:it doesn’t mean that they cost Trump anything.
Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics, and has been described as expressing “the basic relationship between scarcity and choice.”
nk, I don’t know if you ever donate professional time. If you do, how do you value it? After all, time you spent working for someone for free doesn’t “cost” you anything.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:52 pm“I’m making the case that we, as Americans, need to figure out how we got ourselves into a situation where we have two choices this wretched. No matter for whom you cast your single and (sorry, it’s true) almost certainly inconsequential personal vote on November 8, we have to be clear-eyed about the system that brought us two such morally defective candidates. In considering this question, it is critical that we not impatiently brush aside the problems of our preferred candidate.”
Morally defective??? ‘Morality’ is a matter of personal discretion. How many commandments have you broken lately…
You know how we got to this. Gerrymandering for starts. Ideology versus pragmatism as well. Most voters are independent anyway and not registered with either party and not particularly loyal to any ’cause.’ They’re indifferent. So the two well financed political shows produce two jokesters every four years and insist you choose between them: Bozo or Crusty.
We’re a tired people. A once thriving middle class is stratifying and dying before our eyes. It’s Britain, circa 1900 with the Boer Wars raging and the Great War on the horizon. That’s America today, unless you’re in the part paying $3000/plate at the Al Smith dinner. Capitalism’s globalization has let down two, perhaps three generations of Americans as well. A ‘yuge’ mass of citizens (you know, like 47% or more) are so exhausted after working so hard for so little for so long, they shuffle home after finishing up at one, two– perhaps three jobs in the private sector.
So at the end of the day, they don’t want to work at be governed. They wish to relax and be entertained.
And the two-ring circus is only too happy to oblige and send in the clowns.
“Mr. Glenn, you are way out of line. I’d advise you not to try and foist your view of morality on anybody else in this group. Each man here has volunteered to do a job. Each man here is devoting long hours of training to prepare for it, and doing many things above and beyond the strict call of duty…” – Alan Shepard [Scott Glenn] “The Right Stuff” – 1983
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:00 pmApples and bananas. Banana!
Unless Trump turned away paying customers to give the Boy Scouts tee time — paying customers who would have paid him $4,000 — that he turned away — he lost no opportunity. And his overhead did not change. He probably made money out of the deal if the Boy Scouts shopped at his snack bars. concession stands, gift shop, pro shop etc..
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:06 pm@nk:Unless Trump turned away paying customers to give the Boy Scouts tee time
Did you ever play golf? Because only so many people can fit on a tee. Yes, a free tee time involves turning away a paying customer.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:17 pm@nk: You also didn’t answer my question: do you ever donate time and if so at what rate do you value it?
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:17 pm102. None of your business; that’s between me and the Illinois Supreme Court. I don’t brag about it. I don’t deduct it from my taxes.
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:22 pm@nk:I don’t deduct it from my taxes.
Fine, but do you object that the law allows people to? And do you think people are morally obligated to maximize their taxes paid? I doubt that.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:25 pmIn nearly 34 years of practice, you are the first person to mention the tax deductibility of pro bono work to me. (As a opposed to cash contributions to charitable organizations providing legal services.)
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:29 pm@nk:In nearly 34 years of practice, you are the first person to mention the tax deductibility of pro bono work to me. (As a opposed to cash contributions to charitable organizations providing legal services.)
Not being a lawyer I wouldn’t know how that works. That’s why I asked. I never mentioned tax deductions, incidentally.
But your time is worth something, right? You cannot give your full time and attention to two things at once, can you? Time you spend working for free, is it or is it not of value? And if you work for free when you could have been paid, hasn’t that cost you something? Even though your overhead didn’t change, you had the same office rent and staff right whether you worked for free or not?
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:32 pmSeriously?
nk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:39 pm@nk:Seriously?
Yeah, seriously. If I’m ignorant teach me. But I know what “opportunity cost” is. Maybe it’s new to you too.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/29/2016 @ 8:44 pmOr money that he had given the foundation before that date. Isn’t that kind of the point of charitable foundations? You give a lump sum now, and get the whole deduction now, and it then gets distributed to worthy causes over the course of years or decades.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 2:23 amIt doesn’t. Nor should it. Whatever you would have charged for that time would have been part of your taxable income; now that you worked for free it isn’t — there’s your deduction.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 4:27 amThat assumes the course is fully booked at all times. If not, then the excess capacity is only worth what they would have had to discount it at to unload it; instead they donate it and deduct the full price.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 4:31 amWhen was the time that Conservative thinkers and bloggers use materials prepared by WAPO as reliable source of information and analysis?
Oops … I hear NEVERTRUMP.
TRUMP 2016!
PaterricoHasGoneMad (638010) — 10/30/2016 @ 5:50 amCampaign finance reform.
We have too limited a selection of candidates.
That’s all there is to it.
We have a system where candidates can only be eliminated, but no new ones can enter. A system where people have to decide wehether to run way in advance, and October of the preceding year is too late, for most people because (if a person is not very rich) they have to spend spend a year, or at least six to nine months before the first votes are cast, raising money in small driblets.
And in particular, the problem is a total inability to draft someone for president.
Sammy Finkelman (b4888e) — 10/30/2016 @ 7:00 amnk (dbc370) — 10/29/2016 @ 7:42 pm
I think the $915 million is real money – but it was probably largely not his money!
It’s borrowed money. And a 1993 law – the famous budget act passed by one vote, I believe, which was signed by President Bill Clinton, re-instated the exclusion of forgiven loans from income. Not afavior to himself says Donald Trump, but to other people.
So he could deduct it – and anybody not in the real estate business couldn’t deduct losses from real estate against other income – and the bank(s) could deduct the loss too, without it being added back to his income.
But it as real money, because a business can only depreciate something up to how much it cost. It’s a real expense, like cost of goods sold, except that usually buildings don’t lose all their value in 20 years.
Maybe also appraisals do come in, when and if the value of something is written down to zero or close to zero.
Sammy Finkelman (b4888e) — 10/30/2016 @ 7:07 am“FLASHBACK: Washington Post editorial blasts Republicans for attacking FBI Director Comey. “A few months ago, criticizing Comey was risking damage to the rule of law. Now that it might be Hillary’s ox getting gored, bashing Comey is just fair game.”
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/247720/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/30/2016 @ 10:26 am@milhouse:,i>now that you worked for free it isn’t — there’s your deduction.
By that logic, losing your job is a “tax deduction”.
I’m not really talking about tax deductions in regard to free work; nk is, for some reason. I’m talking about opportunity cost. I am rejecting nk’s contention that giving up income on something you could have had income on doesn’t “cost” anything. It does. Whether you get a tax deduction for it or not.
That assumes the course is fully booked at all times.
Yes, which is pretty reasonable in my experience. I live in a climate that is chilly and rainy in winter, and if a golf course is open then you can probably easily get a tee time. But in Florida, not so much.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/30/2016 @ 10:53 amA while ago the New York Daily News (very anti=Trump but almost certainly not making this up) reported that, as of mid-2002 – he had not given $10,000 to a 9/11 charity Howard Steern was riasiing money for, as he and Howard Stern and Robin Quivers had said on the radio. “Give” might man pledged, but such a pledge was never fulfilled by mid-2002.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-lied-donating-9-11-charities-article-1.2829908
This was a very political invesigation = New York City Controller scott striner looked into this.
There might be all kinds of interesting things that Donald Trump said on the Howard Stern show
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/17/howard-stern-i-would-never-betray-donald-trump-by-replaying-his-interviews/
Sammy Finkelman (b4888e) — 10/30/2016 @ 11:05 amI know nothing about golf, but it seems to me that if all the capacity in Florida is being fully utilised, then the market is underserved, and prices ought to rise until there’s some slack at each facility, or until new capacity is added, to the same effect.
On the contrary, donated time is not deductible for the same reason that losing your job is not deductible. The “deduction” is the income you’re not reporting because you didn’t receive it.
Look at it this way: Suppose you normally bill your time at $75/hr and you do one hour’s work for a charity; you can either charge them $75 and then donate it back, or you can just work for free. The result to you is the same, and therefore the tax treatment should be the same: a net taxable income of 0. If you could work for free and deduct what you would have charged from your other income, you’d end up with a net taxable income of -$75, which makes no sense.
again, only if you’re fully booked. If you have down time then you are not losing any money by donating that time instead of spending it on yourself. You’re losing leisure, but that’s not the same thing.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 5:26 pmif you have down time you should donate tee-times to charity for so they can auction them off and raise money
especially if you’re super-nice like Mr. Trump
on the other hand you could also *not* donate any time to charity and this way you won’t be scorned by amazon turdlord jeff bezos’s wapo propaganda sluts
it’s a conundrum
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/30/2016 @ 5:30 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZOt13_ic5w
I do indian clubs. Every day. Not that I believe it.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 10/30/2016 @ 5:52 pmWhile the Clinton Mafia are laundering zillions, we’re sitting here … oh, Jeezus, nevermind. (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 10/30/2016 @ 5:57 pmSure, donating them is better than letting them go to waste, and if the IRS lets you deduct their full retail price then sure, go ahead and deduct it, no sense in giving the IRS more than you have to, but don’t take credit as if you’d actually donated that value. You know that you didn’t.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:11 pmthat sounds like a fair compromise to me
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:12 pmit is striking how fahrenhold’s some how managed to miss the biggest story of the election, you think that was by accident, or enemy action?
narciso (d1f714) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:17 pm@Milhouse:f all the capacity in Florida is being fully utilised, then the market is underserved, and prices ought to rise until there’s some slack at each facility, or until new capacity is added, to the same effect.
You can’t just build golf courses instantly and tear them down again in response to changes in demand. So what you describe has in fact happened, which is why a tee-time would be worth $4000.
Since $4000 is likely the equilibrium price, the price beyond which you would start to see empty slots because supply would exceed demand, then giving away a tee time which could have sold for $4000 would be worth $4000.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:18 pm@Milhouse:but don’t take credit as if you’d actually donated that value. You know that you didn’t.
Don’t throw Econ 101 under the bus just because Trump is an ass. Opportunity cost was around before Trump and will be around long after he’s gone.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:19 pmYes, opportunity cost is real. Just be honest with yourself about it. If you weren’t likely to sell that good or service at full price, then your opportunity cost wasn’t the full price.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:23 pm@Milhouse:If you weren’t likely to sell that good or service at full price, then your opportunity cost wasn’t the full price.
If. What if tee times were going at $4500 right then?
All of that is a sideshow to the original argument, which was nk’s, that free tee-time costs nothing to offer.
Gabriel Hanna (c791b9) — 10/30/2016 @ 6:27 pmNow, IF ONLY the WaPo coukd donate a fraction of that “month-long” timeframe to actually investigating something TRULY relevant to this election, such as, oh, i don’t know… Hillary’s E-MAILS…
NAW….. “Too investigative…
IGotBupkis (093961) — 10/30/2016 @ 7:25 pmI mean, yup. Trump is a f***ing asshole. If there was a legit alternative, I’d happily vote for someone else… And I did…. Bit if you think Hillary isn’t worse, you’re a fucking idiot.
IGotBupkis (093961) — 10/30/2016 @ 7:29 pmA golf course cannot be rented at the same price at all times, and maybe down time is needed, and you can be less accomodating when it’s not being rented to regular customers. A little bit of the scheduled downtime can always be given away, because it’s not always at the maximum, and it might irregularly available.
Sammy Finkelman (f07364) — 11/1/2016 @ 7:40 am