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The Art of the Con

Ikari said:
Trump inherited a rising economy. Like anything of significant gain Trump has done, it has been because he inherited it.
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Even if that's true Trump gets credit among reasonable people.
 
LowDown said:
Even if that's true Trump gets credit among reasonable people.
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Among the right-wing partisans, you mean. I give him credit for not quite messing it up just yet. We'll see what effects his Trade War has though.
 
itsforthekids said:
Oh, now it's $75 million?
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$50 million inherited in 1999 (I believe it was 1/4 of a $200 million estate ), adjusting for inflation, is $75 million today.
But I digress...what would his father do? NOT leave his estate to his children?

There are literally millions of people who inherit large fortunes...very few have done what Trump has.

Dog face Clinton will inherit a much greater estate than Trump...what will she do with it?
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I'm just deflating your statement that "you can't bull**** your way into the kind of life".

You can when you inherit $75 million.

Starting life with $75 million ( in today's dollars ) makes life a lot easier to make lots of money. Some have argued that if he had just
parked the money in dow, he'd be worth more today than all of his investments.

I'm not knocking inheritance, I'm debunking your implication that he's some kind of financial genius. one thing he is not, is a leader and a good businessman. He's a good RE shop operator, RE wheeler dealer, but the 6 of the businesses he was involved with, went bankrupt. I will grant you that he's a talented self-promoter, and that's something different than being a good businessman.

If you start with millions, it doesn't take brains to buy a lot of buildings, wait for them to appreciate, and sell them. He's not that wise as a "businessman", he had to rely on Russian Oligarch money for much of his financing, as banks would no longer touch him. Why wont the banks touch him? he made bad investments, too many bankruptcies, he's a difficult person to deal with. They just didn't like him.

5 major law firms in Washington that specialize in legal troubles for major politicians, REFUSED the president of the united states, something that, with a normal president ( meaning anyone but Trump ) they would have been honored to represent. Imagine: A law firm refusing the business of POTUS. That's simply astonishing.

Why?

1. he doesn't listen.
2. He doesn't pay.

That's what they said, according to reports.

That's not the trait of a leader or a good businessman.

the odds are that Trump will be a colossal failure. Oh, he might defy the odds, but I wouldn't bet on it, for the Peter principle, i.e., a man rises to the level of his own incompetence. That's not always true, but I think it is in Trump's case.

Now that he is president, he's causing himself and his family and many of his associates all sorts of legal problems that would have probably gone unnoticed had he not run for president. I assert, therefore, he's not a wise man, given that a person with his personality and temperament should not be president.
 
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WCH said:
You think you're so much better than the so-branded Deplorables? Due to the ease of their ideology, Leftists are a dime a dozen.
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Assumptions, broad generalities, for the most part, are a waste of time.
 
Mycroft said:
He didn't say that about the tax reform bill that Congress sent him. He said that about the tax reform bill that he wanted.

Don't lie about what Trump said.
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If he signed it, he owned it, and at that point, he lied.

If he TRULY didn't want it, he shouldn't have signed what was sent to him.

Otherwise, he's just conning you. He wants you to think he's on the little guy's side, in rhetoric, but when it's deed time, he doesn't deliver.
 
Mycroft said:
It's all political. You should know that. Don't spin this into something it's not just because you want to blame Trump. Place blame where it rightfully belongs.
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The buck stops at the oval office. With Trump, the buck stops over there, anywhere but here.

A bill needs a prez sig. When the prez signs a bill, he owns it.

There is no way around that fact.
 
Thoreau72 said:
Yes, individuals who get paid by the year as government officials do take as much time as possible, especially when it's pure political theater.
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you mean like.....

mueller.jpg
Source: fivethirtyeight.com

And you're whining about Mueller?

Give me a break.
 
LowDown said:
What is this ancient history you speak of? I'll bet you weren't even born when this allegedly happened.
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Born March, 1951, sorry to disappoint.
 
LowDown said:
If he's a conman he's doing it wrong. We get to keep more of our money, more people are employed, the GDP is up, people are re-joining the work force after not having worked in years. A conman is supposed to be doing the opposite of all that, I think.

Con us some more, Trump baby!
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Read your history of the Roaring 20s. And, in the meantime, look up the word "insidious", it doesn't actually mean what it sounds like means.


" Insidious means developing so gradually as to be well established before having a grave effect. ".

"Alluring but very harmful in time when it becomes too late to extricate oneself".


In other words, don't count your chickens.....baby!
 
OscarLevant said:
$50 million inherited in 1999 (I believe it was 1/4 of a $200 million estate ), adjusting for inflation, is $75 million today.



I'm just deflating your statement that "you can't bull**** your way into the kind of life".

You can when you inherit $75 million.

Starting life with $75 million ( in today's dollars ) makes life a lot easier to make lots of money. Some have argued that if he had just
parked the money in dow, he'd be worth more today than all of his investments.

I'm not knocking inheritance, I'm debunking your implication that he's some kind of financial genius. one thing he is not, is a leader and a good businessman. He's a good RE shop operator, RE wheeler dealer, but the 6 of the businesses he was involved with, went bankrupt. I will grant you that he's a talented self-promoter, and that's something different than being a good businessman.

If you start with millions, it doesn't take brains to buy a lot of buildings, wait for them to appreciate, and sell them. He's not that wise as a "businessman", he had to rely on Russian Oligarch money for much of his financing, as banks would no longer touch him. Why wont the banks touch him? he made bad investments, too many bankruptcies, he's a difficult person to deal with. They just didn't like him.

5 major law firms in Washington that specialize in legal troubles for major politicians, REFUSED the president of the united states, something that, with a normal president ( meaning anyone but Trump ) they would have been honored to represent. Imagine: A law firm refusing the business of POTUS. That's simply astonishing.

Why?

1. he doesn't listen.
2. He doesn't pay.

That's what they said, according to reports.

That's not the trait of a leader or a good businessman.

the odds are that Trump will be a colossal failure. Oh, he might defy the odds, but I wouldn't bet on it, for the Peter principle, i.e., a man rises to the level of his own incompetence. That's not always true, but I think it is in Trump's case.

Now that he is president, he's causing himself and his family and many of his associates all sorts of legal problems that would have probably gone unnoticed had he not run for president. I assert, therefore, he's not a wise man, given that a person with his personality and temperament should not be president.
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So, lying again.
 
OscarLevant said:
Many years ago a Salesman sold me something that wasn't worth Squat and he sounded a hell of a lot like Trump-- that's what struck me when I hear Trump pitch something.

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Shortly after the young anti-Trump narrator begins talking, he says Trump has a “huckster’s feel”. “Huckster” is “a person who sells small items, either door-to-door or from a stall or small store.”

That is categorically not what Trump is. He thinks BIG, not small. He doesn’t need to be a huckster – he’s too busy being an entrepreneur.

Trump’s speech is just the way honest people talk. Go into any bar and listen to people. Listen to folk around a campfire or BBQ.

Politicians usually avoid that because their minders warn them of how the press will pick apart their words. So they memorize statements and repeat them over and over. That in turn makes them very dull. Trump isn’t dull because he just says it like it is. The creator of this video wants to make a spooky conspiracy theory out of the way Trump talks, and it’s not accurate at all.

Forget what this millennial said. If you want to watch some Trump humor try this guy instead – I have a good laugh at his videos.
 
OscarLevant said:
you mean like.....

View attachment 67236012
Source: fivethirtyeight.com

And you're whining about Mueller?

Give me a break.
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Take a break troop. I'm not whining about anything. I am merely discussing things in the public realm. I am merely observing the obvious. Cynical for sure, but not whining.
 
Thoreau72 said:
Take a break troop. I'm not whining about anything. I am merely discussing things in the public realm. I am merely observing the obvious. Cynical for sure, but not whining.
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You wrote
Yes, individuals who get paid by the year as government officials do take as much time as possible, especially when it's pure political theater.
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You are imply Mueller is dragging his feet and engaging in "pure political theatre", right?

Well, if that is what you are implying, given that Mueller's investigation has occupied far less time than all the others I revealed in the comment you replied to, given that Mueller has engaged in no theatrics whatsoever, ( he fired Strzok, the system works ), and has not leaked since he started, your cynicism is unwarranted.

And that was my basic point, so getting bogged down on whether it was whining or cynicism really is beside the point.

So, you prefer that I send you a telegram inquiring as to the proper character of any baseless sentiments you express in the future? :) I mean, gawd forbid if I don't characterize it accurately.
 
OscarLevant said:
You wrote


You are imply Mueller is dragging his feet and engaging in "pure political theatre", right?

Well, if that is what you are implying, given that Mueller's investigation has occupied far less time than all the others I revealed in the comment you replied to, given that Mueller has engaged in no theatrics whatsoever, ( he fired Strzok, the system works ), and has not leaked since he started, your cynicism is unwarranted.

And that was my basic point, so getting bogged down on whether it was whining or cynicism really is beside the point.

So, you prefer that I send you a telegram inquiring as to the proper character of any baseless sentiments you express in the future? :) I mean, gawd forbid if I don't characterize it accurately.
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You invoked the whining charge sir, not I.

Bravo, Mueller has consumed less time and money than other such investigations. If you consider that a significant and meaningful fact, so be it. I do not, but then I am very much a cynical bastard.

I acknowledge your basic point--that he spent less money and time than others. Hooray!
 
Thoreau72 said:
You invoked the whining charge sir, not I.

Bravo, Mueller has consumed less time and money than other such investigations. If you consider that a significant and meaningful fact, so be it. I do not, but then I am very much a cynical bastard.

I acknowledge your basic point--that he spent less money and time than others. Hooray!
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Cynicism is like medicine. The right amount is good for you, but too much is poison and way too much can kill you.

A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing
--Oscar Wilde
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Got a chuckle out of the graph in the video. Trump apparently has a vocabulary of a 4th grader while Hillary an 8th grader, and Bernie is in high school. The only thing I can conclude from that based on election results, is that while vocabulary is important to some I think ideas, vision, and message is way more important. Lol
 
OscarLevant said:
Cynicism is like medicine. The right amount is good for you, but too much is poison and way too much can kill you.
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Yes, the truth is often painful. So painful that some avoid the truth so that they can avoid the pain.
 
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