oreo
Gold Member
- Sep 15, 2008
- 18,102
- 2,926
- Thread starter
- #21
For a POTUS who has a long history of deceptiveness, selfishness and misrepresentations of fact, and who also refuses to divest of his personal business holdings while in the office of the President, disclosing his tax returns would be about the best possible way for him to at least provide the information the public needs to have so they can at least know whether his positions are apt to be personally profitable to him.
For me, it's a matter of scale. The man's a billionaire. If he advocates a position that happens to yield him a few hundred grand, I don't care so much. If it's a few million, well, I sort of care. If it's hundreds of millions, I care. If it turns out that his policies form a pattern of consistent gains great and small, well, I definitely care and I'd be inclined to think he's abusing the privilege of being POTUS.
I could take a somewhat less strident position were he to divest truly of his holdings, but he's not done that and shows no indication that he will. Moreover, his kids are on his staff and running the companies. That's just too cozy for us to also have no very detailed visibility to what's what.
It doesn't matter if he put them in his kids names, he will still protect those assets no matter what. The only way he could be 100% conflict of interest free was to sell off those assets which he has not done, and has no intention of doing.
I'd prefer he divest, but I'm not nearly as concerned about whether he actually sells off the assets as I am about visibility. With comprehensive visibility, we can know "what's up." Knowing "what's up," the people, the Congress and the Courts are in a position to hold him accountable and take action if he crosses the line. That's enough for me. His situation is unique -- private mega-business owner rather than owners of public company securities -- so I can get with the idea of taking a little bit different tack. Full and complete disclosure is that tack; that's the compromise with which I'd feel comfortable.
Selling them off is the only way he can be conflict of interest free. PERIOD He hasn't done that and he won't do that. If his kids own those properties he will still protect them.