Category: 2020 election

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New York Times Obtains Years Of Trump Tax Returns (Anyone Want To Guess What/If He Paid?)

Donald Trump

Donald Trump (image: public domain)
Two days before the first Presidential TV debate, the New York Times just dropped a bomb on Donald Trump’s campaign. The Times obtained several years of tax-return data for the Trumpster and it’s pretty much what everyone has expected:

Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750.

He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.

As the president wages a re-election campaign that polls say he is in danger of losing, his finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed.

Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.

Head over to the New York Times for much more.

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Texas Talker: ‘Trump Has Gone Full Blown Wicked Witch Of The West Wing’

Andrew Joseph Duffer (screen captures)
“What’s up, f*ckers! It’s tea time – Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Our favorite Texas truth-teller, Andrew Joseph Duffer, has dropped another mobile video rant on the state of the country pulling back the curtain on the ‘wicked witch of the West Wing’ and his presidency. In a clever, fast-paced walk and talk, Duffer serves up his assessment of the Trump presidency with some clever Wizard of Oz metaphors. “Breonna Taylor was denied justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead and Trump has gone full blown wicked witch,” begins Duffer. “Welcome to Carnage Country where the yellow brick road leads straight to hell. There’s no technicolor here – it’s just black and white. Well, black versus white. At least that’s how the man in the Oval Office likes it. You know, the guy without courage, a heart or a brain.”

With hope in his heart for blue skies again after the presidential election, Duffer wonders what will happen to the folks who have ‘revealed’ themselves during the Trump years. “You know when you’re gay and you come out of the closet you can’t go back in?” asks our roving ranter. “The same with the racist closet. If Trump loses what are all you racist going to do when you can’t behave this way anymore? You can’t backpedal into a time machine (whispering: ‘I’ve got screen shots’).” Related: Texas Talker Reads Christians For Filth Over Hypocrisy Referencing the news that none of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor have been charges with ANY crime, our Texas talker notes, “In 1955, Emmet Till’s murderers were acquitted, and in 2020 – what’s changed?” “This country is going back to a mindset older than the f*cking Wizard of Oz. The movie came out in 1939, and mentally the GOP is still there.” Duffer also addresses Trump’s recent admission that he may not agree to a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ should he lose the election. “The ‘wicked witch of the West Wing’ is already making plans to stay in the White House even if he loses the election – since WHEN is that a thing?” “We need to drop a house on Donald Trump’s presidency,” Duffer declares in a call to action. “Don’t vote ruby red slippers. Vote Blue! Like Dorothy’s dress!” “Dorothy wanted to go home and frankly I do too, because I don’t recognize this place anymore,” says Duffer in summation. “So, grab your water buckets and click your heels three times and head on over to the polls this November. Let’s melt that wicked witch and get back home.” (and if you read my previous post this morning, it seems I’ve got a ‘Wizard of Oz/The Wiz’ theme going today…)

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Trump Preps Attacks On Biden’s Family For First Debate

L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden
The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump is preparing to hit Joe Biden with personal attacks that include the former vice president’s family.

President Trump is gearing up to launch blistering personal attacks on Joe Biden and his family in the first presidential debate on Tuesday, while Biden is bracing for an onslaught and worried allies are warning the Democratic nominee not to lose his temper and lash out, according to people with knowledge of the strategies in both camps.

Trump has told associates he wants to talk specifically about his opponent’s son Hunter Biden and mused that the debates are when “people will finally realize Biden is just not there,” according to one adviser.

The president is so eager to lay into his rival that he has called aides to test out various attacks, focusing on broadsides that cast Biden as a longtime Washington insider with a limited record of accomplishment, said another adviser.

Biden and his advisers are anticipating a venomous barrage, according to a person with knowledge of their thinking, and they are preparing to counter with an affirmative case for a Biden presidency. The Democrat wants to stay focused on how he would address the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s economic problems, which he blames Trump for worsening.

Friends and allies of Biden are a bit concerned because Biden’s ‘passion and empathy’ can sometimes bleed into anger when opponents go after his family.

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Questions Surround ‘Discarded’ Ballots Discovered In PA

What interesting timing… After months of Donald Trump railing at mail-in ballots, a handful of ballots were discovered discarded in battleground state Pennsylvania. It’s almost as if a Trump supporter did the deed to give the Donald’s claims of “voter fraud” some credibility just at the right time. From CBS News:

U.S. Attorney David Freed from the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Thursday that a federal investigation found that nine military general election ballots were discarded in Luzerne County. Seven were marked for President Trump, and the other two are unknown, said Freed, a Republican.

David Pedri, the Luzerne County manager, said in a statement Friday that the nine ballots that sparked a federal probe were “incorrectly discarded” by a temporary independent contractor in the county election office who has since been fired. Pedri also said the Luzerne election director altered the local district attorney’s office about the incident.

Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor and former Justice Department official, told CBS News that, while it’s typical for the Department of Justice to investigate ballots not being counted, releasing preliminary findings prior to an investigation being completed is odd. And to announce the contents of the ballots is very unusual. “There is no—literally no legitimate law enforcement reason to identify the candidate for whom those ballots were cast,” he told CBS News. “It does not matter who they were voting for. The ballots were either properly or improperly handled. To include that information makes this a partisan act rather than a legal one.” Further reports now say the ballots in question weren’t general election ballots but from the Republican primary. The ‘discarded’ ballots were discovered days ago, but Pennsylvania is apparently just now mailing out general election ballots. More from the Washington Post:

Because these ballots were returned in envelopes similar to absentee ballot requests, elections officials opened them. If the ballots weren’t then enclosed in another envelope which shielded the actual vote being cast, they may have been considered “naked ballots,” a term used to describe mail ballots returned without the voter’s intent being protected.

If that’s the case, which again isn’t clear, that meant that elections officials who were opening the envelopes to see what they contained would have had to discard the votes, given a recent ruling by the state’s Supreme Court.

There are several reports saying the ballots found were from the On Friday, ABC News reported that Attorney General Bill Barr personally briefed Trump on the investigation prior to it being announced. It’s important to note that Trump won Luzerne County by 20 points in 2016. So, tossing 7 ballots marked for Trump is hardly efficient “voter fraud,” you know? If someone was honestly trying to commit “voter fraud,” wouldn’t they have actually destroyed the ballots? Burned them or something? I’m not the only one thinking this doesn’t pass the smell test.

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Fox News State Polls: Biden Ahead +11 In NV, +7 In PA, +5 In Ohio

L-R Former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump
Let me start by pointing out this is a FOX News poll, ok…? From Fox News:

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to Fox News statewide likely voter surveys.

In each of the three states, majorities disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, pluralities say coronavirus is “not at all” under control, and Biden is the preferred choice when it comes to handling the virus. Plus, he’s favored over Trump to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.

There are few undecided voters, and Biden’s support is 50 percent or better in each state. His advantage over Trump is outside the margin of error in Nevada and Pennsylvania, but not Ohio.

Bolding is mine. NEVADA Biden: 52% Trump: 41% OHIO Biden: 50% Trump: 45% PENNSYLVANIA Biden: 51% Trump: 44% That said, this is totally NOT a done deal. We all need to get to the polls and cast our vote – either by mail or in person – by election day.

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Trump Greeted By Boos And Chants Of ‘Vote Him Out’ At SCOTUS

Donald Trump (screen capture)
I doubt Donald Trump is accustomed to being this close to his opposition. Arriving at the United States Supreme Court to pay respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Donald was greeted with boos and a chorus of “vote him out!” Quite the visceral moment…

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Trump Refuses To Commit To Peaceful Transfer Of Power: ‘Get Rid Of The Ballots’

Donald Trump (screen capture)
During a press conference at the White House today, Donald Trump was asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power in January should Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden win. White House correspondent Brian Karem asked the Donald directly if he would make such a commitment but Trump demured saying, “Well, we’re gonna have to see what happens, you know that. I have been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster and-and…” Trump responded as Karem interjected. Attempting to get a clear answer, Karem asked again, “I understand that, but people are rioting. Do you commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power?” “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very transfer – we’ll have a very peaceful,” Trump said. “There won’t be a transfer frankly, there will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know who knows it better than anybody else, the Democrats know it better than anybody else. Go ahead.”

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Cindy McCain, Widow Of 2008 GOP Nominee, Endorses Joe Biden For Prez

Cindy McCain (photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore – CC License)
From NPR:

Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, is the latest prominent conservative to urge Republicans to cross party lines and support Joe Biden for president.

“There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden,” she tweeted Tuesday evening.

McCain’s endorsement comes nearly a month after she contributed to a video that aired during the Democratic National Convention that detailed the friendship between her late husband and the Democratic presidential nominee.

Ms. McCain says she hopes she can encourage disillusioned voters in Arizona, which her late husband spent years representing in the Senate, to consider Biden over Trump amid the country’s current woes. In response, Trump predictably clapped back on Twitter saying he hardly knows Cindy McCain: “Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!”

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It’s National Voter Registration Day, So Get Ready To Flex Your Vote

(image via celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz/Instagram)
Today is National Voter Registration Day, so just in case…here’s some info you might want to use. So many people believe their one vote may not matter in elections, but they do. How do I know? Check this out. Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin  – all three – with less than one percent of the vote. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT. He won Florida by less than 2 points. But, check out how many LGBTQ voters there were that not only didn’t vote but didn’t even REGISTER to vote.
(graphic via VoteProud.org)
Clearly the LGBTQ vote could – and should – make a difference. VoteProud.org is a non-partisan movement to inspire the LGBTQ+ community to register and vote. Working to combat voter apathy among all marginalized Americans, their movement demands all citizens are treated equally. ​ The group has partnered with When We All Vote, a non-partisan voting effort co-chaired by Michelle Obama and several other influential voices who are changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted approach to increase participation in elections.

If you click over to VoteProud, you can easily check your voter registration or – if you’re not registered already – do it right there.

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We are weeks away from the single most important thing we can do this decade. If we cannot mobilize every single person we know to vote, we will suffer unprecedented oppression and hatred for the next 4 years and beyond. The earth will be stripped of its resources leaving the next generation with nothing. We will all be stripped of our rights as minorities, LGBTQ people, women and pretty much everyone else whose net worth is less than $20 million. If we can each inspire 1 person to vote, we can say that we did something. Doing nothing is no longer an option. PLEASE REQUEST YOUR MAIL IN BALLOT AT WWW.VOTE.ORG TODAY! I will personally shout out every single person who DMs me a pic of their Absentee ballot application form. I long for a time when we aren’t motivated by hatred and divisiveness. We can have it but ONLY OF WE TAKE IT! Rest In Peace #ruthbaderginsburg #VOTE #MIKERUIZ #absenteeballot #mailinballot #votebymail #LOVE

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Mitt Romney Won’t Block Senate Floor Vote For Supreme Court Nominee

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah has announced he will not block a floor vote for Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court before the upcoming presidential election. From NPR:

Romney issued a statement Tuesday that he intends “to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee, and if the nominee reaches the Senate floor he intends “to vote based upon their qualifications.”

Romney’s support for moving ahead means that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is all but certain to have the 51 votes he needs to take up the nomination. Just two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have said they oppose taking up the president’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a presidential election year.

Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee for president, has been one of the few Republicans in the Senate to oppose Trump. In his statement, he asserted that the “historical precedent” of election-year nominations is that the Senate “generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own.”

“If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications,” concludes Romney’s statement. In 2016, nearly nine months before the presidential election, Senate Republicans refused to vote on President Obama’s nominee for the high court, Merrick Garland, claiming it was “too close to the election.” At the time, nothing was mentioned about ‘opposing party’ nominees. Trump has tweeted that he will announce his nominee to replace Ginsburg on Saturday. We are now just 42 days before the 2020 election day.