Tax Genius, Keeping Kardashian Jewelry

Tax Code: Donald Trump’s front men are putting positive spin on his apparent lack of payment of federal income taxes after a $916 million business loss in 1995. “The man’s a genius,” former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said on CNN. “He knows how to operate the tax code for the people that he’s serving.”

We should point out, though, that the tax documents obtained by the NY Times were for personal returns, not business.

Financial writer James Stewart writes in the Times that, under the law, the losses Trump declared didn’t have to be his own. “Mr. Trump personally guaranteed $832 million of debt related to his casinos and other assets,” Stewart writes. “Under tax code provisions available to real estate developers, he could take the full amount as a deduction even if he didn’t invest a dime of his own money.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Trump’s knowledge of how to take advantage of the tax code makes him the perfect man to rewrite it. “This is a guy who, when lots of businesses went out of business in the early 1990s, he fought and clawed back to build another fortune, to create tens of thousands of more jobs,” Mr. Christie said on Fox News Sunday. “This is actually a very, very good story for Donald Trump.”

It’s Political: Trump continued his attacks on Hillary Clinton over the weekend, assailing her health, her marriage, and personality. “She’s got bad temperament. She could be crazy. She could actually be crazy,” Trump said.

Keeping Up: Gunmen posing as police officers gained access to a Paris apartment occupied by celebutante Kim Kardashian last night, held her at gunpoint, locked her in a bathroom, and robbed her of $10 million worth of jewelry. The robbers left on bicycles. Kardashian’s husband, rapper Kanye West, interrupted his show in New York when he got the news.

The Train: The engineer of the commuter train that crash in the Hoboken central station told investigators that he has no memory of the crash. He said the last thing he remembers is that the train was six minutes late and travelling at 10 mph. The black box recorder in the engine was not working and investigators have not recovered the box in the forward car.

No Deal: Colombian voters narrowly rejected a peace deal with the Marxist rebel group known as FARC, which has been fighting the government for 52 years. Pre-referendum polling had indicated that it would pass easily. The rebels had agreed to lay down their arms for general amnesty and being allowed to form a legal political party. President Juan Manuel Santos, who staked his political reputation and career in the deal, has no alternate plan. for ending the war.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño said in a statement from Cuba that his group would not continue to fight. “The FARC reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future.”

Fore!: The US team won golf’s Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008.

Headlines and Deadlines: The Gannett newspaper chain is reported to be close announcing its purchase of the news company recently named “Tronc,” previously known as Tribune Publishing. Gannett publishes USA Today, which was once described as “giving new depths to the meaning of shallow, and a long list of mid to small-sized bland newspapers.

The unfortunately named Tronc (Tribune Online Content) owns reputable papers: The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Baltimore Sun.

Gannett says it can pay for the deal through cost savings and merging operations. This, from a company that was rationing pencils and notebooks as far back as 1980.

The Long Goodbye: Baseball announcer Vin Scully finished his 67-year career calling San Francisco’s defeat of the Dodgers to win of a wild card berth in the playoffs. “The winner, Matt Moore, the loser, Kenta Maeda. I have said enough for a lifetime, and for the last time, I wish you all a very pleasant good afternoon.”

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Friday, March 29, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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