🇺🇸 DJT and the IRS

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Plus, check this out: a Connecticut community came together to replace a resident's Christmas food donation bin that was stolen from his lawn display. This is the America we know and love.

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📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 47, Disapprove 51 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 39, Disapprove 55 (Reuters/Ipsos)

📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 43, Disapprove 54 (POLITICO/Morning Consult)

📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 47, Disapprove 49 (Economist/YouGov)

TRENDING

Right: Trump Should Get Back on Twitter (American Greatness)

Right: Busloads Of Migrants Dropped Off At Kamala Harris’ Home On Christmas Eve (Daily Wire)

Right: Remembering the Worst Media Misses of 2022 (National Review)

Left: Trump Declares Himself ‘Clairvoyant’ — Critics Wonder How He Got Election So Wrong (Huffington Post)

Left: Hate Leader Nick Fuentes Is Recruiting Incels (Mother Jones)

Left: The Making of a Congressional Con Man (The Nation)

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World: Ukraine war: Drone attack on Russian bomber base leaves three dead (BBC)

Pandemic: Biden admin pushed to bar Twitter users for COVID ‘disinformation,’ files show (NY Post) + China's COVID cases overwhelm hospitals (Reuters)

US: Holocaust survivor hits back after Whoopi Goldberg again plays down racial motive of Nazi genocide (The Independent)

Hollywood: 'Avatar' sequel sails to 2nd week atop the box office (NPR)

US: Power substations vandalized in Washington state weeks after North Carolina electricity attack and FBI warning (CNN)

POLITICS

DJT and the IRS

Last week the House Ways and Means Committee, which is led by Democrats, voted to publicly release six years of former President Trump’s tax returns, and published a report on the matter. This is the culmination of a years-long battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Reporting from the Right: Democrats release report on Trump tax returns, revealing income, taxes paid, IRS audit (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: Trump paid no federal income tax in his last year as president (CNN)

From The Flag: Members of the committee also accused the IRS of failing to properly audit Trump during his presidency. A spokesman for Trump said Democrats are playing a losing political game, calling the release an “unprecedented leak.”

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

With Trump’s Schemes Laid Bare, Congress Was Right To Do This

• It’s surprising, and puzzling, that Trump paid significant income taxes in 2018 and 2019, considering he paid zero in 2020.

• The zero income taxes paid in 2020 are actually less important than some shady donations that were used as tax write offs.

• In the case of public officials, it would be wrong to automatically declare tax returns as “private” information.

“Two surprising takes from Trump’s tax returns” Edward J. McCaffery, CNN Opinion: “Surprise number one is that Trump… actually did pay significant income taxes in 2018 and 2019. … But the glaring question to me is why did Trump pay any taxes at all during his presidency? That’s the outlier, the dog that is barking. Born into an aggressive tax-avoiding family, why would he ever pay income tax? The $0 paid in 2020 rebuts any notion that Trump had a civic-minded change of heart while in office. One has to ask, what’s up with 2018 and 2019? … Surprise number two is that the IRS did nothing. At all. … a policy, in place since 1977, (says) the ‘[i]ndividual income tax returns for the President and Vice President are subject to mandatory examinations.’ But the IRS did not do any examination of Trump’s tax returns until after the Democrats took control of the House.”

“The many scandals Trump’s tax records reveal” Editorial Board, Washington Post: “In 2020, President Donald Trump and Melania Trump paid no federal income taxes by claiming millions in dubious deductions and carrying over losses… Somehow, that’s not the most scandalous detail… It turns out the IRS did not conduct — let alone complete — mandatory examinations of Mr. Trump’s returns while he was president, despite its own internal policy from 1977 requiring such reviews… In April 2019… the IRS notified Mr. Trump that his 2015 return would be examined. But the audit was assigned mainly to one agent, and Mr. Trump threw sand in the gears. (The return) included over 400 pass-through entities, numerous schedules, foreign tax credits and millions in carried-over losses… ​​(Trump) took a $21.1 million deduction in 2015 for donating 158 acres of real estate but had no qualified appraisal… He also reported making cash donations of more than $500,000 in 2018 and 2019 without substantiation, according to the report.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Republicans calling Trump’s tax returns ‘private’ don’t understand privacy ​​Jan-Werner Müller, The Guardian Opinion

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Democrats Continue Their Unhinged Trump Obsession

• Congressional Democrats keep crossing major lines, in this case utilizing an obscure audit program to release tax returns.

• Even if you think presidential candidates should release their tax returns, legally forcing them to do so is totally different.

• Trump’s tax returns contain no major reveal, but he fought not to release them as a way to tweak the left.

“The Democratic Trump Tax-Return Dump” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal: “President Trump’s Democratic critics have broken another political norm, and it’s a big one. … (Committee) Chairman Richard Neal claims this is oversight of an IRS rule to always audit the President, but it’s a flimsy pretext. The Chairman of Ways and Means has power under the law to look at private taxpayer data but must demonstrate a legitimate legislative purpose. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump refused to release his tax returns… But the left kept clamoring, and after cycling through unconvincing arguments to take a peek, Democrats landed on the obscure IRS presidential audit program. Mr. Trump resisted, and Mr. Neal finally won in court last month. … Even if Democrats are correct that the audit program needs change, that’s no reason to expose Mr. Trump’s confidential taxpayer information. …The sole point of dumping Mr. Trump’s returns is to embarrass him.”

“Who Needs to See Trump’s Tax Returns?” Jim Geraghty, National Review: “It would be good if all presidential candidates released their most recent tax returns. The power of the presidency is unequaled, and if you want to be the man with all that power, you have certain obligations to the public. The American people have a right to know where a candidate makes their money... as well as where they’ve invested their money and where their financial interests lie. The American people are also free to shrug and ignore this information… I’m less certain that a president should be legally required to release their tax returns… If Congress wants the public to have more information about presidential candidates’ finances, it could pass legislation making the FEC financial-disclosure reports more detailed… But it’s reasonable, and not necessarily shady, for a presidential candidate to believe that some small details on their tax return don’t need to be revealed to the whole world.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Here's the Trump Tax Return Big 'Bombshell' the Press Is Obsessing Over Bonchie, Red State

FLAG THIS

Trump’s Numbers Take a Hit, And He Hits Back

Polling data released earlier this month showed former President Trump’s approval rating had hit a seven-year low. Conversely, President Biden’s approval numbers rose to their highest level in a year (Quinnipiac University).

Around the same time, polling indicated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was leading Trump in the race for the 2024 GOP primary: DeSantis 52%, Trump 38% (WSJ), as reported here by Fox News.

In response, Trump blasted the Wall Street Journal, saying it has lost influence, and he accused Fox News polls of being consistently wrong about him since 2015.

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Radio City Music Hall Opens, How to Party if You're Awkward, Financial Checklist

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