2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"maybe because you haven't paid any federal income tax for years" "It would be squandered, too."
Which is Trump's admission he hasn't paid federal income tax for years. He was at the end of a long segment about how he thinks taxes are spent badly - complaining about the state of US airports (that's most of infrastructure, to him).
...
And it's really a shame. And it's politicians like Secretary Clinton that have caused this problem. Our country has tremendous problems. We're a debtor nation. We're a serious debtor nation. And we have a country that needs new roads, new tunnels, new bridges, new airports, new schools, new hospitals. And we don't have the money, because it's been squandered on so many of your ideas.
HOLT: We'll let you respond and we'll move on to the next segment.
CLINTON: And maybe because you haven't paid any federal income tax for a lot of years. (APPLAUSE)
And the other thing I think is important...
TRUMP: It would be squandered, too, believe me.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/first-presidential-debate-full-transcript-read-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-a7332081.html
There's even his 'believe me', which he uses to emphasise what he feels is a good point. He's avoided paying federal income tax for years, and he thinks that's OK because he doesn't like what taxes are spent on.
Follow up question: Are new hospitals built with city, state or federal money anywhere? Veterans' hospitals, I suppose. From the party wanting to get rid of Obamacare, I think complaining that federal money isn't spent on an aspect of healthcare is pretty hypocritical.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)he's not the one to fix it.
There is that segment of population, though, who thinks him not paying taxes is a good thing.
Chemisse
(30,813 posts)roads, airports, etc.
This point should be driven home. Rich people are paying nothing in taxes!!
Sanity Claws
(21,849 posts)federal dollars. I hear the term matching dollars used for airports and highway funding. As for schools, I understand that some federal block grants can be used to provide some funding.
central scrutinizer
(11,652 posts)Using other people's kids and other people's money. That must be his "plan".
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)(which also shows a basic ignorance of how, and how fast, you extract oil from the ground), which you'd have to do by seizing all the oil infrastructure, and guarding it (including pipelines) for years. He also thinks NATO, and defense cooperation in general, should be a protection racket, where other countries pay for US troops in their country, and he won't live up to treaty obligations if he thinks they haven't paid enough.
bucolic_frolic
(43,202 posts)Hillary Clinton brought her 'A' game, but she played a controlled, at times
demure strategy. And she learned a lot more than Trump did. She played
him like a fish.
Trump came out attacking, rehearsed, planned, but of course after 10 minutes
or so his thoughts drifted back to himself, his true narcissistic personality shone
through. He rambled in his usual stream-of-consciousness style, and she
remained composed and looked for opportunities to jab him, and she did.
I expect that basic pattern to continue in the final two debates, if Trump
manages to regroup and not call it quits simply because he should.
The town hall format will not play to Hillary's strengths, but she will hold her
own even as Trump plays his own half of the audience. It really would be nice
if he stop being so rude, so self-centered, so arrogant New York as to stop
interrupting others when they speak. Never gonna happen.
Debate #3 will be a difficult one. Chris Wallace pumped with questions from
Hannity and O'Reilly, Trump looking for a TKO. If she can get under his skin
one more time I'm sure she'll have a roundhouse or two to attempt to
put him away. She's almost too solid to be that competitive, but she does
have intelligence and pluck.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)from a couple of pundits, one pro-Trump, one pro-Clinton. They agreed Trump did fine in the first quarter of an hour, talking about trade and jobs, which is an important topic and which he as an outsider can use. But with questions about his personal views and acts, he had to try to explain, backtrack, or make excuses, and Hillary was good at provoking more reactions like that, and that was pretty much how the rest of the debate went.
TonyPDX
(962 posts)And he wants to decide who comes into this country? I wish we could deport toxic people like him.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)Whether in business contracts, or in taxes. And there's no reason to believe he'll ever start being fair to Americans.