Hillary Clinton’s campaign is using recent revelations about Donald Trump’s tax records to try and sway undecided voters.
Every person in America has to pay taxes. It’s one of those annoying unavoidable requirements of being a functioning adult in a capitalist system. Even if you don’t earn much, even if you’re struggling to care for a family, even if you don’t feel like the US government treats you fairly, you have to pay taxes.
Well, that is unless you are Donald Trump, apparently. The reality television star prefers to live by his own rules than the ones the rest of us are bound to. On Hillary Clinton’s website, you can check out the Trump Tax Calculator that will allow you to see, based on your annual income, how much you would be paying in taxes if you lived by the same guidelines as Trump.
Spoiler alert: it’s zero dollars. Trump’s tax records from 1995 were leaked this week by the New York Times. The records indicate that Trump suffered a $916 million loss that year, thus his gross adjusted income was in the negative and he was not responsible for paying federal income tax that year. Further, although the rest of his records are not available, such a mind-boggling financial loss may have been enough to keep him from paying any federal income tax for nearly two decades. According to tax experts, the $916 million loss in 1995 would have been large enough to cancel out any other taxable income he may have earned in subsequent years. We already know he didn’t pay anything for two years in the 1970s.
A screenshot from Hillaryclinton.com shows the Trump Tax Calculator
Hillary Clinton’s team wasted no time jumping on this perfect opportunity to throw shade at Trump. With the election looming just over the horizon, this is one of the last chances for Clinton to sway any remaining undecided voters. Believe it or not, they still exist. If Trump’s erratic tweet storms, extremist views on issues like immigration, lack of political knowledge, overall lack of tact, sexist remarks, and other red flags are not enough, this tax issue may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Trump relies on appealing to the average American citizen. Blue collar workers from middle America are his target audience and he has done a great job winning them over with his platform of “Make America Great Again”. Unfortunately for him, these are the people for whom tax issues are extremely important. The average American pays a lot more money in taxes than they would probably like to, but they pay because they must. Not paying taxes only makes Trump look more like a disconnected elitist who feels the rules don’t apply to him.
Our government relies on people paying taxes. Without taxes, everything would fall apart. If they pay their fair share, wealthy individuals and big corporations can benefit all of us when they make a lot of money and reinvest it into the country through taxes. That money is what supports our military, keeps our infrastructure in good shape, and builds schools. A wealthy individual who pays no taxes is essentially hoarding all of their money for themselves. Not paying taxes is literally the opposite of making America great.
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With just over a month left before the election, there is plenty of time for more records to leak. This could be the game-changer.