Before I get into more reasons to vote “No” when it comes to Donald Trump, here are a few more insights on his visit to Washington County on August 16.
I estimated the crowd at more than 1,000, but that was way low. Credible sources put the audience at 3700, with people in the line replacing those that left because of the heat index and his late arrival. The turn-out in an area of Wisconsin, a rock-ribbed GOP sanctuary, that rejected him in its September primary showed his remarkable showman’s charisma.
It also showed that he is tapping into a huge reservoir of resentment toward establishment politicians, big government, big business, Wall Street and university elites. Those who want to stick it to the man have found their man.
I learned that his speech here on inner city challenges was still being written when his staff arrived ahead of him. That’s surprising, since it was billed as a signature speech to add to his previous major statements on the economy and anti-terrorism. The West Bend speech, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., calling for African American votes was printed off in the fair park offices just before he delivered it at 9:04 p.m. Why he picked a white audience for that speech will never be known or understood.
He has since repeated the theme of the speech that African Americans have been short-changed by the Democrats in charge of big cities and therefore they have nothing to lose by going with him.
Meanwhile, with eight weeks to go to election day, separate sources keep coming up with new reasons to not vote for him. Here are more to add to the 90 previously listed on my web site:
91. Trump, a prolific Tweeter, issued no congratulatory tweets – as in zero — to U.S. Olympians who are hauled in record numbers of medals. Their multi-ethnic march to the podiums didn’t fit his narrative that America is crippled and only he can make it great again. His rival, Hillary Clinton, was effusive about American wins. Several medal winners are children of immigrants, including one wearing a hijab. That didn’t fit his narrative either. In sports, America is still great.
92. He hired a political pit bull as his campaign CEO, one Stephen Bannon, a political operative and former Wall Streeter who has made it his mission to rip up the leadership of the Republican Party. While Trump was making gestures toward healing wounds with the establishment of the GOP, Bannon was backing a challenger to House Speaker Paul Ryan in his home congressional district in Wisconsin. If Trump is sincere about wanting GOP support, why did he make Bannon his third campaign manager right after the West Bend speech? The answer is that he is not sincere on that matter.
93. Trump is doing a major flop, a belly flop, on immigration, his core attack point against Republican challengers in the primaries. Then, he said that all 11 million immigrants, including their American-born children would be forced to leave the country. On Aug. 25, he said, “You can’t take 11 (million) at one time and say, ‘Boom, you’re gone’.” No one knows where he will end up on this issue, probably not even Trump himself. There is a logical GOP position: give work permits, but not citizenship ever to illegal immigrants, if they have behaved well while here. Give citizenship to kids born here. As Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin said as Trump flipped and flopped this week: “You have to use some common sense.”
94. None of the 45 economists who have advised the past eight presidents, Republican and Democrat, support Trump. Six of the 17 advisors to Republican presidents oppose Trump outright; the rest have declined to comment. Greg Mankiw, who headed the Council of Economic Advisors under George W. Bush, wrote, “I have Republican friends who think things couldn’t be worse than doubling down under Hillary Clinton. But they are wrong: things could be worse. And I fear they would be under Mr. Trump.”
95. Trump has steered some $15 million of his modest campaign war chest to spending at businesses owned by him or his family, such as rentals at his hotels and resorts. He is not funding his own campaign. Quite the contrary: he is using campaign donations to make money for his family. It is not illegal, but it sure is slick.
96. He loves debt. And, as a developer, he loves the subsidization of that debt by the federal government. His tax proposals would lower the tax bill for developers, and other corporations, from the current capital gains tax of 20% to a general corporate tax of 15%. In addition, he has proposed an immediate write-off of capital expenditures, instead of depreciation schedule that runs for part of the life of the building or asset, say, 20 years for a building. Further, several of his advisors reportedly want to keep the deduction for the interest on the loan to buy the building, in effect a double dip of subsidies. Even GOP economists hate the idea. In short, his tax plan would add several layers of lard for developers, like himself. Trump’s business debt has been estimated at $650 million. He is a king of debt. Because he refuses to release his tax records, the impact of those subsidies on his personal finances won’t be known prior to the election.
97. In the face of Trump claims that he had given millions to charities, a Washington Post reporter dug deep into his actual donations since 2008. The reporter could find only one personal donation of between $5,000 and $10,000 from the “billionaire.” This is not a generous man.
Keep your reasons to vote “NO” on Trump coming to me at jbt01@serigraqph.com or on my website at johntorinus.com. Number 100 is in sight.
