Maybe I am wrong about Trump

[DCPatriot]

 Maybe I am wrong about Trump
Don Surber


Maybe I am wrong about Donald Trump. Maybe the neoconservatives in Washington are correct in working stalwart against his nomination, even to the point of encouraging the theft of delegates. Maybe Trump really is a clown who has no chance in November.




(Trump burns the mortgage after saving the Hill family farm, Christmas 1986.)

The possibility that I am wrong is always out there, lurking in space like a troll waiting to pounce on a misspelling, or worse, a factual error. So how does one know if the meteor of being wrong on an epic scale is about to crash in on one's house?

The place to begin is with what I like about him.

1. Trump is a successful businessman worth $10 billion. He took his family's business from the Queens to Manhattan and the world. The Trump Organization is a worldwide real estate and resort business with 34,000 employees. Not bad for a man who began with a $40 million stake in 1974.

But what about the rumor that he could have done better if he invested in an S and P stock index fund in 1974? This disturbed me so I checked it out. I found this a hoax created by Mother Jones and repeated by Never Trump writers who apparently never question anything written about Trump that confirms their opinion that he is a buffoon. To make to work you have to understate his net worth by 71 percent and have him live on pork and beans for 40 years rather than a lavish penthouse apartment with a jet, a helicopter, and two ex-wives to support.

"Of all the criticisms you could lob at Trump, this is a weirdly weak one. Basically, the man took a $40 million kernel and, while spending lavishly enough to surround himself with all the gold-plated bathroom fixtures his heart desired, managed to do a 26 percent better job growing his fortune than if he had quietly left it to grow in stocks without selling a single share or spending a single dividend check for 41 years. I'd say that's pretty good. How many actual money managers could brag they'd done the same with their clients' cash?" Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent, wrote.

Oh, and the first stock index fund began in 1975, a year after Trump was supposed to make this imaginary investment in 1974. This would have made the $40 million worth $2.9 billion. His net worth is $10 billion.

But what about the bankruptcies? Four times he went to bankruptcy court for protection from creditors to avoid bankruptcy.

Avoid. He avoided bankruptcy. So that's another myth.

2. Trump has actually accomplished something in life. Everyone else had given up on Manhattan. He came in from Queens, bought seedy properties cheap, and began making New York, well, New York again. His first project was the Commodore Hotel whose once tony shops by 1980 included X-rated stores. Yes, he made a lot of money, but he had a lot of fun and he did a public good. America needs a vibrant Manhattan, if only to ease the pressure of those of us in Poca, West Virginia, to be more cosmopolitan.

3. Trump is a good family man. While he credits his first wife for raising their three children, all three of them support him and are working toward his election. His fourth child by his second wife is in college and seems squared away. His youngest child by his third wife is by all accounts growing into another handsome Trump man.

Three wives? It bothered me with Newt but for some strange reason, it does not bother me with Trump.





OK, the reason is not strange at all.

Ivana vouches for him and his latest wife. His past affairs? As long as he does not commit perjury, or thump the Bible while he humps the staff, I really do not care. It is between him and God.

4. Trump is fearless. He says what he thinks and often that is what I think. They call him racist, misogynist, et cetera. Too damned bad.

He is not a real conservative? Well neither was Romney or McCain and frankly neither is the House or the Senate. Conservatives -- particularly Christians -- get played often and a lot. You cannot say abortion is murder and then tell me it is wrong to punish the woman.

He will cost "us" the Senate and the House? Meh. They are run by greedy little weasels these days. I like how Republicans dumped Newt and Livingston as speakers over affairs in favor of Hassert, who turned out to be not only ineffectual but a pederast as well. House Speaker Jerry Sandusky, come on down.

5. Trump is more likely to change his mind than any other candidate when shown the facts. You don't think we should build a wall? Fine. Make your case with provable facts and not empty name-calling. He is a businessman who embraces facts and change. He takes calculated risks. He is willing to challenge the conventional wisdom. That is how we make progress. Someone has to take some tiny ships and see if China is just over the horizon. It isn't, but that was how we discovered America.

6. Finally, Trump likes the hoi polloi. No other Republican candidate among the 17 starters dared to question free trade or legal immigration. Most people in America are hurting. Never Trumpers like Kevin Williamson say too damned bad. I solemnly disagree.

Am I wrong about Trump?

Conservative writer who lives in Poca, West Virginia.Won the best general columnist award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 2000. Retired from the Charleston Daily Mail in 2014. Army veteran and 1981 graduate of Cleveland State.

http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2016/04/maybe-i-am-wrong-about-trump.html?spref=tw

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[A-Lert]

 

[sinkspur]

"Of all the criticisms you could lob at Trump, this is a weirdly weak one. Basically, the man took a $40 million kernel and, while spending lavishly enough to surround himself with all the gold-plated bathroom fixtures his heart desired, managed to do a 26 percent better job growing his fortune than if he had quietly left it to grow in stocks without selling a single share or spending a single dividend check for 41 years. I'd say that's pretty good. How many actual money managers could brag they'd done the same with their clients' cash?" Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent, wrote.

Did you see what Surber did there?  He asserted that Trump was criticized for not putting his money in stocks.  I don't recall anyone criticizing him for not putting his money in a stock index fund.

What I do recall is this:

“Mr. Trump has underperformed the real estate market by approximately $13.2 billion, or 57%,” since 1976, says John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas, who compared Trump’s stated net worth with four decades of returns on the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITS FNER, +0.67%   Index.

The NAREIT index, developed in the early 1970s by the Washington-based trade group the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, tracks the performance of publicly traded real estate investment companies that own commercial properties, such as offices, hotels and apartments.

Starting with Trump’s professed net worth of “more than $200 million” in an interview published by The New York Times in November 1976, Griffin says the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITS Index-compounded return would have returned $23.2 billon at the end of 2015, “considerably above Mr. Trump’s recent self-reported net worth of approximately $10 billion.”

So,  had Trump put his money in a Real Estate Trust Index (specifically the one above), he would have made over double what he says he's worth.   Instead, he invested in highly-leveraged properties and multi-level marketing scams and Trump University that made very little money and, in some cases, forced him to sell assets to cover his losses.

So much for a brilliant businessman.

[Rivergirl]

Theft of delegates..........really???????

[sinkspur]

He will cost "us" the Senate and the House? Meh. They are run by greedy little weasels these days. I like how Republicans dumped Newt and Livingston as speakers over affairs in favor of Hassert, who turned out to be not only ineffectual but a pederast as well. House Speaker Jerry Sandusky, come on down.

Newt quit as did Livingston when their affairs were about to be publicly exposed by the media.  They were not "dumped."  No one had any idea about Hastert's background, any more than anyone knows about yours, Don.

And there's this little gem:

Trump is fearless. He says what he thinks and often that is what I think. They call him racist, misogynist, et cetera. Too damned bad.

Surber's quite the guy, ain't he?  He doesn't deny that Trump is a racist or misogynist, or, in fact, that he himself is one too, since what Trump says is "often that is what I think." 

Oh, and Surber was fired from the Charleston Daily Mail in 2014 for this:

“This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down.”

http://wvmetronews.com/2014/10/30/charleston-newspaper-fires-columnist-surber-over-inexcusable-comments/

Surber's a real jewel.

[Bigun]

I would also quibble with the good family man part.  He doles out cash and so he is loved because what choice do they have if they want their cut?

I would quibble with the entie load but since it's Sunday afternoon I'll refrain.

[Frank Cannon]

The place to begin is with what I like about him.

1. Trump is a successful businessman worth $10 billion. He took his family's business from the Queens to Manhattan and the world. The Trump Organization is a worldwide real estate and resort business with 34,000 employees. Not bad for a man who began with a $40 million stake in 1974.

But what about the rumor that he could have done better if he invested in an S and P stock index fund in 1974? This disturbed me so I checked it out. I found this a hoax created by Mother Jones and repeated by Never Trump writers who apparently never question anything written about Trump that confirms their opinion that he is a buffoon. To make to work you have to understate his net worth by 71 percent and have him live on pork and beans for 40 years rather than a lavish penthouse apartment with a jet, a helicopter, and two ex-wives to support.

"Of all the criticisms you could lob at Trump, this is a weirdly weak one. Basically, the man took a $40 million kernel and, while spending lavishly enough to surround himself with all the gold-plated bathroom fixtures his heart desired, managed to do a 26 percent better job growing his fortune than if he had quietly left it to grow in stocks without selling a single share or spending a single dividend check for 41 years. I'd say that's pretty good. How many actual money managers could brag they'd done the same with their clients' cash?" Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent, wrote.

Oh, and the first stock index fund began in 1975, a year after Trump was supposed to make this imaginary investment in 1974. This would have made the $40 million worth $2.9 billion. His net worth is $10 billion.

This is an absolute lie that is easily disproved through math. If Trump would have invested his money in the market in 1973, he actually would be a billionaire. Considering one of his Wall Street banks did a review of his net worth for a line of credit recently and found he is worth $788 million under the best scenario, he did quite poorly with his nest egg. Sheldon Adelson and Steve Winn did far better things with investing in real estate than Trump could ever hope to do.

[DCPatriot]

Newt quit as did Livingston when their affairs were about to be publicly exposed by the media.  They were not "dumped."  No one had any idea about Hastert's background, any more than anyone knows about yours, Don.

And there's this little gem:

 Trump is fearless. He says what he thinks and often that is what I think. They call him racist, misogynist, et cetera. Too damned bad.

Surber's quite the guy, ain't he?  He doesn't deny that Trump is a racist or misogynist, or, in fact, that he himself is one too, since what Trump says is "often that is what I think." 

Oh, and Surber was fired from the Charleston Daily Mail in 2014 for this:

http://wvmetronews.com/2014/10/30/charleston-newspaper-fires-columnist-surber-over-inexcusable-comments/

Surber's a real jewel.

Oh, cut the crap, Sink!

Just because the Left and nice folks like yourself call him "racist and misogynist, etc.",  doesn't make it so.

....just like your ridiculous assertions that he went bankrupt multiple times...which he didn't.

Seeking protection to reorganize under bankruptcy laws isn't filing bankruptcy.   But, I'm sure you 'know' that.   

[sinkspur]

Oh, cut the crap, Sink!

Just because the Left and nice folks like yourself call him "racist and misogynist, etc.",  doesn't make it so.

....just like your ridiculous assertions that he went bankrupt multiple times...which he didn't.

Seeking protection to reorganize under bankruptcy laws isn't filing bankruptcy.   But, I'm sure you 'know' that.   

Reorganizing under bankruptcy laws is bankruptcy.  By any definition except by the revisionist Trumpkins.

Why is Trump pretty well disliked by three-quarters of American women?  And by 80% of Hispanics?

The Democrats are putting up the the third most-disliked candidate in America while the GOP is fighting which of the top two will represent them.

[HonestJohn]

Newt quit as did Livingston when their affairs were about to be publicly exposed by the media.  They were not "dumped."  No one had any idea about Hastert's background, any more than anyone knows about yours, Don.

And there's this little gem:

Trump is fearless. He says what he thinks and often that is what I think. They call him racist, misogynist, et cetera. Too damned bad.

Surber's quite the guy, ain't he?  He doesn't deny that Trump is a racist or misogynist, or, in fact, that he himself is one too, since what Trump says is "often that is what I think." 

Oh, and Surber was fired from the Charleston Daily Mail in 2014 for this:

http://wvmetronews.com/2014/10/30/charleston-newspaper-fires-columnist-surber-over-inexcusable-comments/

Surber's a real jewel.

Unfortunately, I'm realizing that these beliefs are all too common of the Trump side of the GOP. 

I would prefer if those beliefs and their holders be shown the door, a la Buckley and the anti-Semites in the early 80s.

[A-Lert]

Why is Trump pretty well disliked by three-quarters of American women?  And by 80% of Hispanics?

ENVY! Fear of deportation and border enforcement.

[truth_seeker]

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Explained

Everything You Want to Know About Donald Trump's Bankruptcies

Do you understand the underlying principle of a "corporation" which is "limited liability?"

In every transaction, the parties have the option to agree to "personal guarantees," which could make an individual shareholder/investor liable beyond their invested amounts.

Absent that, the individual investors are only liable for the amount they invested.

Do you understand that? Do you understand this is widely applied in business, not used by merely Mr. Trump?

Do you understand that "reorganization" does not discharge debts, but makes arrangements for repayment?

Are these concepts that you understand, beyond posting links to sites?

[sinkspur]

Why is Trump pretty well disliked by three-quarters of American women?  And by 80% of Hispanics?

ENVY! Fear of deportation and border enforcement.

Women are worried about being deported?  Is that a new Trump policy?

[A-Lert]

Women are worried about being deported?  Is that a new Trump policy?

I apologize. I believed  you were at least a double digit IQ, but apparently I overestimated your intelligence.

[DCPatriot]

Do you understand the underlying principle of a "corporation" which is "limited liability?"

In every transaction, the parties have the option to agree to "personal guarantees," which could make an individual shareholder/investor liable beyond their invested amounts.

Absent that, the individual investors are only liable for the amount they invested.

Do you understand that? Do you understand this is widely applied in business, not used by merely Mr. Trump?

Do you understand that "reorganization" does not discharge debts, but makes arrangements for repayment?

Are these concepts that you understand, beyond posting links to sites?

Good post, Steve!   

[DCPatriot]

I apologize. I believed  you were at least a double digit IQ, but apparently I overestimated your intelligence.

Come on, A-Lert.   That's an ad hominem.

STOP!!  

Buddy, that sound you hear is the ice cracking under your feet.  Take care.

[truth_seeker]

Good post, Steve!   

We used to have a tax attorney here.

[DCPatriot]

I understand spin.  What is "Chapter 11"?  Or let me put it like this:  "Chapter 11" of what?

If you do work based on a payment contract and then afterward your customer files "chapter 11" bankruptcy and all you get is the cost of your supplies...are you happy?  I wouldn't be.

The links were to sources I thought would offer more authority than just my own comments.  Are you hostile to checking resources?

The 'average'....and I use that term loosely...American thinks a reorganization under bankruptcy laws discharges debts and hoses creditors.

It doesn't. 

[A-Lert]

Come on, A-Lert.   That's an ad hominem.

STOP!!  

Buddy, that sound you hear is the ice cracking under your feet.  Take care.

I apologized. Sinky has never apologized to me.

[DCPatriot]

I apologized. Sinky has never apologized to me.

That's okay.  Thank you.  From his POV you've got a lot of work to do yet.   

[A-Lert]

That's okay.  Thank you.  From his POV you've got a lot of work to do yet.   

His POV?  His attempts at intimidation and bullying will not go unchallenged.

[DCPatriot]

His POV?  His attempts at intimidation and bullying will not go unchallenged.

All, I'm suggesting is that you be careful.

When the topic is not Donald Trump, there's nobody's foxhole you'd want to share more than with Sinkspur.

[A-Lert]

All, I'm suggesting is that you be careful.

When the topic is not Donald Trump, there's nobody's foxhole you'd want to share more than with Sinkspur.

Sorry, but I don't want to spend time in a foxhole with someone who has called me a troll and an idiot.

[DCPatriot]

Sorry, but I don't want to spend time in a foxhole with someone who has called me a troll and an idiot.

Think of him as the Drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket.       His intentions are pure.