Trump.htm    by   Allochthonous1

Series runs: http://worldtraining.net/Trump2.html to http://worldtraining.net/Trump21.html Note some pages in series are linked to sources that have been unlinked. Continue to next number in series. See also: http://worldtraining.net/Trump21.html for more on Trump’s “smarts.” Despite what Trump may espouse, his success would have been in no way possible without his father, the general public, and the US government. Unfortunately, Trump decided to forget or selectively ignore these truths while forming his political philosophy, a sentiment made particularly clear during his brief bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.  Trump was born in New York City in 1946, the son of real estate tycoon Fred Trump. Fred Trump’s business success not only provided Donald Trump with a posh youth of private schools and economic security but eventually blessed him with an inheritance worth an estimated $40 million to $200 million. It is critical to note, however, that his father’s success, which granted Donald Trump such a great advantage, was enabled and buffered by governmental financing programs. In 1934, while struggling during the Great Depression, financing from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) allowed Fred Trump to revive his business and begin building a multitude of homes in Brooklyn, selling at $6,000 apiece. Furthermore, throughout World War II, Fred Trump constructed FHA-backed housing for US naval personnel near major shipyards along the East Coast.

In 1974 Donald Trump became president of his father’s organization. During the 15 years following his ascension, he expanded and innovated the corporation, buying and branding buildings, golf courses, hotels, casinos, and other recreational facilities. In 1980 he established The Trump Organization to oversee all of his real estate operations.

Trump eventually found himself in serious financial trouble. See  online source [http://www.salon.com/2015/06/21/the_donald_trump_scandal_no_one_is_talking_about_partner/ ] Despite the clear societal and governmental assistance described there, Trump continues to be outspoken in his criticism of government. In his book The America We Deserve, Trump explains that “the greatest threat to the American Dream is the idea that dreamers need close government scrutiny and control. Job one for us is to make sure the public sector does a limited job, and no more.” This quote proves to be particularly ironic when considering Trump’s feelings about eminent domain laws. He was quoted as saying, “I happen to agree with it 100 percent” when speaking of the 2005 Supreme Court decision on Kolo v. New London, which affirmed the government’s ability to transfer land from one private owner to another for the purpose of economic development in the area. In fact, Trump attempted to take advantage of eminent domain laws on multiple occasions, once even demanding that an elderly widow give up her home so that he could build a limousine parking lot.  Perhaps more disturbing than his hypocritical condemnation of the government is his failure to acknowledge anyone’s contributions, save his own, in the creation of his success. At the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump made clear his feelings on the creation of his wealth:  He did it on his own…. BUT  From the moment of his birth, Trump was set up for success. The large inheritance left to him by his father, coupled with the contributions and the protections of society and the US government made his ascension to the Forbes 400 list almost inevitable. Nevertheless, Trump fails to recognize this phenomenon and continues to express his belief that he did it alone.

July 12, 2015      Trump, Greece and debt  Trump's temporary surge in the polls (I hope it's temporary) is good for giggles, especially when he gives weirdo speeches like this one.  Trump proposed that protesters and critics were being sent by the government of Mexico to oppose him. 

"They were so sophisticated. I guarantee you that the country of Mexico had those people [sent there]," Trump said.  We've entered an age in which the political candidates are even better at coming up with paranoid horseshit than are Alex Jones and David Icke.

My purpose in writing about Trump this day is not to talk about Machiavellian Mexicans, but to draw your attention to the concepts of money, debt, and bankruptcy. You see, Trump claims to possess lots and lots of the long green...

Trump mocked media outlets for doubting his self-proclaimed $9 billion fortune, proof of which the real-estate mogul claims that he will release next week.

"I'm much, much richer than what they say," Trump said. "I'm a private person, nobody knows."

(A "private" person who appears on reality TV and runs for the presidency? Giggles galore!)

Now, if Trump really is worth billions, then he obviously did not have to endure much austerity when his businesses went through bankruptcy -- four times. A company files Chapter 11 only when it cannot pay its debts. Except for the first go-round (which did hit his personal interests fairly hard), Trump never got his infamous hair mussed by these crises.

Nevertheless, Trump says that he would have forced GM to go under.

What, I wonder, would he have to say about Greece?

At this writing, Germany is now preparing for a "temporary" Greek exit from the euro -- a move which may well presage the end of the euro project. The end of the euro would hit Germany hard, since a return to the Deutschmark would probably make it harder for Germans to move their high-end products. This factor gives the debtor some leverage over the debt-holder. Thus, this.

On Moon of Alabama a few days ago, one of the comments made an interesting comparison:

The money Greece owes, $370 billion, compared to the taxpayer-funded bailouts banks got...

Citigroup - Citigroup $2.513 Trillion

Morgan Stanley - $2.041 Trillion

Merrill Lynch - $1.949 Trillion

Bank of America - $1.344 Trilliom

Barclays PLC - $868 Billion

Bear Sterns - $853 B

Goldman Sachs - $814 B

Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 B

JP Morgan Chase $391 B

Deutche Bank - $354 B

UBS - $287 B

Credit Suisse - $262 B

Lehman Bros - $183 B

Bank of Scotland - $181 B

BNP Paribas - $175 B

Wells Fargo - $159 B

Dexia - $159 B

Wachovia - $142 B

Dresdner Bank - $135 B

Some will say "Yeah, but the banks paid back the money." True enough. But was that outcome known at the time? For the full, infuriating truth about the TARP bailouts, read Matt Taibbi's classic 2013 piece. Did you know that some banks (smaller ones, mostly) that repaid the TARP money did so by borrowing yet more money from the Treasury, thereby escaping restrictions on executive bonuses? It's crazy.

Despite all of that borrowed cash -- backed by Joe and Jill Taxpayer -- the people who ran those banks never had to institute austerity measures. Lloyd Blankfein never had to move into a 3+2 in the suburbs with a seven-year-old Hyundai in the driveway.

In this world, austerity is not for elitists like Trump or Blankfein. Austerity is for 70 year-old Greek fishermen who worked hard, didn't follow politics very closely, and were just hoping to relax a bit in their senior years.