[tomder55]

So far the release of his taxes reveals that he hired an army of lawyers and tax consultants to get every benefit ;every loophole he could from a very convoluted tax system.

If Congress were to rewrite and simplify the tax code they would be serving our interests . This gotcha game they played with Trump's taxes has opened a door they do not want opened .
Congress can only lawfully release taxes if it is part of a legislative agenda . Embarrassing Trump is not a legit legislative agenda. The committee has a whole 4 days to review the taxes before release. That was grossly irresponsible .

When the worm turns the Dems will regret the course they have taken

[jlisenbe]

The sad thing to me is that so many liberal dems are all for the release of Trump's taxes. Now they would have a completely different view if it was THEIR taxes that were released. The rule of law should be treasured no matter who the subject is. As you are saying, Tom, what can be done to one can, in time, be done to many others.

[tomder55]

[Wondergirl]

Wonder why Congress did that....

[tomder55]

it is called gotcha

[Curlyben]

There's a vast difference between net worth and yearly declared income, just saying.....

[tomder55]

none of the above mentioned started public service with that net worth they have now . Trump had the net worth and declined to take the salary he was entitled to earn as President . On top of that his companies bottom line were negatively impacted by his decision to become a public servant The rest of the above enriched themselves through public service .

[jlisenbe]

There's a vast difference between net worth and yearly declared income, just saying.....

That's true enough, but you can't get to net worth without going through income. The real question to be asked, and it likely will remain unanswered, is how much their net worth increased during that time between taking public office and leaving public office.

[jlisenbe]

Wonder why Congress did that....

That's a great question. Any answer?

[Athos]

nm line were negatively impacted by his decision to become a public servant

Trump a public servant!!! Oh God, that's about the funniest thing ever seen on these boards. Like saying Hitler was an observant Jew. Tomder, who knew you had a sense of humor??

[Curlyben]

That's true enough, but you can't get to net worth without going through income. The real question to be asked, and it likely will remain unanswered, is how much their net worth increased during that time between taking public office and leaving public office.

A retort along similar lines.
How many self declared billionaires are on that list ?

Difficult to increase net worth if starting from a high, wouldn't you agree..

[jlisenbe]

Difficult to increase net worth if starting from a high, wouldn't you agree..

Not sure what you mean by "a high". If you mean from a point of great wealth, then I don't know why that would be true. You might could argue that increasing net worth becomes easier the more assets you have available. In other words, profiting from investing becomes a lot easier when a person has a lot of money to invest, and that certainly increases net worth considerably,

[Curlyben]

As ever you missed, or ignored, the point completely.
Tom's image points out other ex-presidents increase in net worth after leaving office, however, as Mr Trump stepped back from a number of high profile business his tax return for that period reflects the reduction in his net worth.
This neatly illustrates the difference between big business and career politicians.

To a person that has self declared as a billionaire, these 100+ million values are rather meaningless, wouldn't you agree ?

[jlisenbe]

I think you are missing the point. Businessmen are expected to make profits, and good businessmen are expected to make large profits, so Trump being worth north of a billion dollars, assuming it was done legally and honestly, is actually a point in his favor. He was successful in business. We don't expect that of pols. How, for instance, did the Pelosis manage to accumulate 170 mil in net worth with NP making a few hundred thou a year? How did the Obamas accumulate 70 mil when it was only a million or so when he took office? I'm not saying it was unethical, and as far as I'm concerned they are welcome to it, but we don't expect presidents to multiply their net worth by 5,000% in ten or twelve years.

WG earlier asked, "Wonder why Congress did that.?" That's a good question that awaits an answer other than the very good one given by Tom. What do you think?

these 100+ million values are rather meaningless, wouldn't you agree ?

That's often the case when it happens to someone else.

[Curlyben]

Pretty normal for senior governmental employees, especially out spoken ones from either House.
How do those figures compare to other Ex-Presidents, or Ex-politicians from either party ?

[jlisenbe]

Pretty normal for senior governmental employees

If that's true, should it be that way? How do elected pols who make 100 to 300 thousand a year end up worth tens of millions?

This is from Snopes. It is a dated article (2017), but the point can still be seen.

As of 2017, the Clintons were estimated to have made $240 million since Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the Obamas' combined net worth was reckoned to be about $24 million, while the Trumps' net worth was thought to have dropped to about $3.1 billion.

Tom's question centered around why it was necessary to release Trump's income tax forms but not Clinton and Obama. Wonder why?

[tomder55]

Tom's image points out other ex-presidents increase in net worth after leaving office

the posting shows net worth that increased in some cases while they were serving in office.

That would be especially true of Pelosi Schumer McConnell and Feinstein who all still held public office in 2022. In other words their net worth increased while being Congressional office holders . They made a fortune while in office, Trump sacrificed a fortune to serve.

[Curlyben]

If that's true, should it be that way?

No.....

[jlisenbe]

Then we sure agree on that.

Wonder why Congress did that....

The question a liberal asked but has not cared to answer. Oh well.

[Wondergirl]

It was not a real question asked (note the dots after it, and no question mark). It was rhetorical.