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Manafort...convicted felon...
- Thread starter ahsay
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DeletedUser35712
What are we supposed to debate here?
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
Except Manafort never served in the administration.
Manafort worked for the Trump Campaign for less than 5 months, during March-August of 2016. The last two months of his service, he was campaign chairman. Manafort was forced to resign (i.e. "You're Fired!") because he had previously served as a campaign advisor to the pro-Russian, former Ukrainian prime minister (overthrown in 2014), who was under investigation on corruption charges in Ukraine.
Manafort was charged and convicted on multiple counts of bank fraud and tax evasion. He had been accused of using 31 different bank accounts in 3 different countries to avoid paying taxes on several million dollars of income he had earned doing consulting work overseas. Including the income he received from the pro-Russian former Ukrainian who-ha.
Did you know that the United States is one of just two countries that taxes 100% of their citizens' income regardless of where in the world it's earned? That means income earned overseas gets taxed twice. First by the country in which you earned the income, then again by good 'ol Uncle Sam. It's this double-taxation Manafort sought to avoid.
Double taxation is also why most U.S. multinational corporations have billions of foreign earned profits sitting in overseas bank accounts instead of being repatriated and utilized. Once corporations have paid all of the taxes they owe to the local jurisdiction in which they earned the income, they refuse to have another 20% or more taken by the Gov't. just to bring their profits home.
Double taxation is also why most U.S. multinational corporations have billions of foreign earned profits sitting in overseas bank accounts instead of being repatriated and utilized. Once corporations have paid all of the taxes they owe to the local jurisdiction in which they earned the income, they refuse to have another 20% or more taken by the Gov't. just to bring their profits home.
The star witness is Manafort's former assistant who only agreed to testify once he had secured a plea deal for reduced sentences on his own charges of “conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, making false and misleading statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts.” Many of these charges stem from the hundreds of thousands of dollars he embezzled while helping Manafort commit bank fraud and tax evasion.
While I'm glad Manafort got caught and was found guilty, I have no idea why these charges were prosecuted by the Mueller Investigation. 100% of the charges involve Manafort's personal finances and happened prior to any involvement with the Trump Campaign. Once it was clear none of this had anything to do with what the Special Counsel is supposed to be investigating, it should have been handed off to be prosecuted like any other run-of-the-mill, overseas income, tax evasion case.
Lipstick in hand, the media is working hard to pretty up this pig so it can be eagerly consumed by the uninformed anti-Trump crowd. (Yes, I'm talking to you OP.) Who will once again be convinced this somehow proves ... well ... something, and besides ... well ... Trump!
DeletedUser
Well, now Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, and implicated Trump in campaign violations. Impeachment is only a matter of time now.
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
Sure, ok.
DeletedUser31592
I wish.... I'm kind of disgusted with our government. Allegedly, we have a system of checks and balances. However, it is a joke. Republicans have the White House, the majority in Congress, and dominate the Supreme Court. The election, with the tampering, should have been nullified long ago. But they aren't going to get rid of a leader from their own party. So, it is a joke. And FWIW, I lean heavily republican with many issues- prior to this last election, I would have said I lean more republican than democrat. Finance, welfare, illegal immigration [not the extreme level of this administration] are all things I lean red on. Human/civil rights, I am staunchly blue.
I hope, when the Democrats gain control, they abolish the Electoral College- it is no longer needed, somehow implement a 'real' checks and balances system, and somehow make our country whole again. I assume all of these racist people who have come out of the woodwork were always racist and have just become empowered to speak their minds, but I sure will be glad when they go back to being closet racists!
And what still gets me, after all of this- Republicans are still talking about the dang emails!
ahsay
Active Member
Lynn is being prosecuted. He lied, because he got caught by the security measures he was in charge of. That's ugly stupid if you ask me. Price, resigned so he wouldn't be prosecuted for fraud. Now the Orange clowns Secretary of the Interior is being investigated, as is his taxpayer cheating VA Secretary. You'd think these idiot would figure out not to mix personal and business travel but when Rump hires crooked people you get crooked results. Sadness abounds joyfully, through out the country.
Trump has fired or seen more Cabinet/Executive Staff resign, than all the 200+ years of POTUS combined. Stunning record of incompetence I'd say.
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
So much wrong with most every line of this post. So much so, it's not much worth responding to.
I do have a question. What exactly is the Constitutional process to nullify an election? Shouldn't such process, if it exists, only be triggered when the tampering influences the outcome? Something a bit more serious than some people paid for facebook ads and planted fake news stories both for and against BOTH candidates? Yeah, I know. But ... but ... but ... Trump!
Seriously, the man has been in the public eye for the past 35-40 years of his life and the moment he announces, he's evil incarnate? What has he actually done, what pieace of legislation has he signed into law that warrants even half the hatred and vitriol spewed against him. Your candidate lost. Get over it. The election is not being nullified, and no one's getting impeached.
And what still gets me, after all of this - Democrats are still talking about the dang popular vote!
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DeletedUser21322
Please tread very lightly on this topic. If this starts becoming an argument this thread will be closed.
DeletedUser21322
If you feel a player is attacking you report it.
My statement comes from we do not allow political conversations.
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DeletedUser27889
But Razorback how can you defend Cohen?
I typically keep discussing politics away from my interactions with people, now so more than ever. However I will say that I am genuinely concerned with how Trump supporters will handle the news if he should be impeached. Don't get me wrong, between paying off the mistress the meetings with the Russians, the election tampering, shaky campaign finance and pay off deals, overseas deals of his company I certainly think this investigation can/will/should uncover a lot.
All that aside I believe some of his supporters look at him almost as the second coming of Jesus. He can somehow do no wrong even when they are shown overwhelming evidence of wrong doing/lies/sins or whatever else the supporters claim to believe in. I am deeply concerned with what they may do, and what he will be encouraging them to do once this investigation is complete and if they impeach and then if he is actually removed. I have a feeling they could have him on video, a paper trail a mile long and even the Pope as a witness but none of his supporters would believe it. I've seen on other forums his supporters claiming willingness to take part in an all out civil war. Typically I would never believe the random things people say on the internet however before the election I never would have thought so many people would have actually voted for him.
Alex Jones has actually gotten hundreds of people to harass, stalk and threaten the parents of elementary school shooting victims. I shudder to think what Trump could do if he set his die hards on the rest of us. I could say many, many negative things about him, however when he said 'I could stand in the middle of 5th Ave and shoot somebody and not lose any voters' he was right. I didn't believe it at the time but he was right and that scares the sh*t out of me.
I typically keep discussing politics away from my interactions with people, now so more than ever. However I will say that I am genuinely concerned with how Trump supporters will handle the news if he should be impeached. Don't get me wrong, between paying off the mistress the meetings with the Russians, the election tampering, shaky campaign finance and pay off deals, overseas deals of his company I certainly think this investigation can/will/should uncover a lot.
All that aside I believe some of his supporters look at him almost as the second coming of Jesus. He can somehow do no wrong even when they are shown overwhelming evidence of wrong doing/lies/sins or whatever else the supporters claim to believe in. I am deeply concerned with what they may do, and what he will be encouraging them to do once this investigation is complete and if they impeach and then if he is actually removed. I have a feeling they could have him on video, a paper trail a mile long and even the Pope as a witness but none of his supporters would believe it. I've seen on other forums his supporters claiming willingness to take part in an all out civil war. Typically I would never believe the random things people say on the internet however before the election I never would have thought so many people would have actually voted for him.
Alex Jones has actually gotten hundreds of people to harass, stalk and threaten the parents of elementary school shooting victims. I shudder to think what Trump could do if he set his die hards on the rest of us. I could say many, many negative things about him, however when he said 'I could stand in the middle of 5th Ave and shoot somebody and not lose any voters' he was right. I didn't believe it at the time but he was right and that scares the sh*t out of me.
DeletedUser
Actually, Trump has been a piece of garbage his whole life, but until he ran for President I could ignore him because he didn't affect me. Now he does. What has happened is that he has put people in charge of the various government departments who aren't looking at how those departments should serve Americans, but instead how to dismantle those departments and eliminate their power. The DeVos woman he made Secretary of Education is the worst example, but they're all cut from the same cloth. Unqualified for their positions and focused only on undoing any good those agencies do. If they're not stopped, we're all going to be caught between the corporations destroying the environment and the would-be John Waynes ready to shoot anyone that looks at them cross-eyed, thanks to the ill-conceived "stand your ground" laws that Republicans like to pass. This is a sad trend with conservatives that really got going with the Reagen era. Incidentally, we're all still waiting for all that tax cut money the wealthy has been getting to trickle down to the rest of us.
DeletedUser13838
Trump got less than 20%* of the vote in NYC. You really didn't think what he said was true?
* Less than 16% if you ignore staten island as most new yorkers do.
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
I didn't defend Cohen. Don't plan to. I also can't speak for or about the mythical creature those on the left refer to as a "Trump supporter." I know lots of folks who voted for Trump, but I've yet to meet that guy. To be clear, when I pulled the lever for the Donald, I was voting "No F'ing Way" to Hillary.
I also knew who I was voting for, and if he won, we'd have a bombastic, acerbic, highly intelligent, narcissistic, master negotiator, serial philanderer, as President. We'd get reality TV on a world stage. My last choice in the Republican primary race, but he was the winner, so he got my vote. End of story.
I have to say though, it's been fun to watch the left and it's media lapdog become completely unhinged over it.
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
WTF?
DeletedUser27889
Perhaps this mythical left, as I've never met anyone who identified themselves squarely in that corner appears unhinged because their neighbors elected a bombastic, narcissistic, master of his fathers donations, serial philanderer, as President. And now reality TV is now being played out for the world to see with America playing the role of the bumbling fool villain. More frustrating is the thought they chose this for us because they couldn't bring themselves to vote for
However that is not true, as most Americans did vote for Clinton when faced with that choice despite what he keeps telling himself and anyone whose still listening. I can understand why people vote republican and if I try really hard I can almost understand why someone would think to vote for him. I liked Sanders for the same outsider of the party nonsense thats ruined our elections for years. I cannot understand how now, seeing who he is and all he has done and tried to do, every American, no matter who they pulled that lever for isn't calling for his resignation.
Even in the midst of their demise every other sitting president had a decorum and general concern for the welfare of the nation. Trump and his anti media, anti 'left' anti facts mantras are toeing the line of actually asking for civil war. Everything is a travesty and a witch hunt in his eyes and he gets in front of crowds of supporters, national broadcasts and twitter to tell everyone that virtually nightly. Anderson Cooper may talk some trash but he isn't the president of the USA with the nuke codes in hand and Great Leader Kim, or RocketMan whatever he is to Trump this week on speed dial.
RazorbackPirate
Well-Known Member
You won't get much argument from me, I wouldn't let him babysit my kids. But I stopped caring about a President's personal and sexual behavior with 'ol Billy boy. After 20 years of telling me I shouldn't care, don't tell me it matters now.
They should be dismantled, or at least significantly downsized. The specific departments in question the federal government has no Constitutional authority to be involved in anyway. Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, no Constitutional authority.
So the sacrosanct, highly venerated, Department of Education, you speak of, has been with us for all of 39 years. It was created in 1979 during the Carter administration and was the fulfillment of a Carter campaign promise to create a cabinet level position focused on education.
Since its inception, all objective measurements have shown it to be a dismal failure. In the 40 years since Education was federalized, we've seen lower test scores, higher dropout rates, falling rates of literacy, this goes on and on. We used to have an education system that was the envy of the world. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
Merging the Dept. of Education with the Labor Dept. is not the way to go. The best way to serve americans is to completely dismantle the agency, stay out of education policy and return to what worked, which was state, county, and local control of education.
ahsay
Active Member
Smell my finger...hehehehehehe
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