2016 elections - because it's never too early

[alfred russel]

Sounds like Donnie's gonna refuse a salary.  Already saving us money

He also said he would self fund his campaign and put in $100m dollars.

[alfred russel]

$400k is peanuts compared to the money a master deal-maker can bring in as president.

I'm a bit curious how the "blind trust" thing for his assets will work. He obviously knows what he owns. If he pushes for infrastructure improvements next to one of his properties, he knows what the effect on the real estate will be, even if he doesn't have day to day control.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Eh, he won't have a blind trust, it's not really possible. He will likely put his beneficial interest in the Trump Organization's 500 some sub-companies into a trust, and give it over to a cabal of his closest family confidantes (I think Ivanka is the most involved in the business) and long time executives. He can at least say he's legally separated from its operations, but with his kids running it, there's no way to meaningfully insure he receives no information about the business, and it'd be difficult to easily prove or link decisions he's made to benefiting his company.

With a large real estate-based portfolio, it's just not feasible to put it into a traditional blind trust. If you have a big stock portfolio you can do so easily, and whoever is managing it can be buying/selling throughout your Presidency so you don't necessarily know what you own any longer. The only way to truly avoid this quandary would be for Trump to sell it all--lock, stock, and barrel, the entire business. Make it entirely liquid aside from his personal residences, and then put the liquid assets into a traditional blind trust.

But in real estate timing is everything, Trump could easily lose a large portion of his fortune if he just sold it off in a rapid fire sale, especially since buyers would know he needed to sell fast. We also don't have a clear picture of Trump's indebtedness, so even if he was willing to take a huge haircut in selling his assets, it could put him so underwater with his creditors he'd go personally bankrupt. The reality is there is no way for Trump to easily or reasonably divest himself from the Trump Organization, and there's also little likelihood he won't fully know the impact of his Presidential decisions on his business interests.

The only other alternative I could see would be for him to basically give it all to the kids, in an irrevocable trust or something for tax purposes, and then he really has no more fiduciary interest.  But even that doesn't help, because he'll expect that after his Presidency the kids are gonna help daddy out, and thus he still has a major reason to make Presidential decisions that would help the organization he once owned. I also don't think it's very likely that Trump bequeaths his entire organization to his kids while his body still has life, just doesn't fit anything we know about his personality.

[alfred russel]

I'm more certain that Trump will be motivated to exploit his power for personal enrichment than I am that he will be really motivated to pursue any public policy position. I'm not convinced he cares about any of the latter.

[derspiess]

Apparently here in Iowa City kids from the university and high schools protested on the interstate yesterday too.

Good way to get run over.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm more certain that Trump will be motivated to exploit his power for personal enrichment than I am that he will be really motivated to pursue any public policy position. I'm not convinced he cares about any of the latter.

You're just figuring that out now?

[alfred russel]

I'm more certain that Trump will be motivated to exploit his power for personal enrichment than I am that he will be really motivated to pursue any public policy position. I'm not convinced he cares about any of the latter.

You're just figuring that out now?

No, I thought it was glaringly obvious from the beginning. But apparently many of my fellow Americans see things otherwise.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I have a feeling my budget is going up.

[CountDeMoney]

<Blah, blah, blah, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, typing to hear myself type>

He's not going to comply with any federal conflict of interest laws, and will simply fire the government lawyers that try to make him.

[CountDeMoney]

I have a feeling my budget is going up.

You're going wheels up as well.  Be sure to log in from Fire Base Huachuca.

[OttoVonBismarck]

What I find more interesting than his business, is his fraud case. I think he was originally supposed to be deposed some time in late November, the judge had rescheduled it until after the election; but he's now asked for another delay because he says he's too busy with the transition to be involved. If he gets that delay and it goes into his Presidency,  we're in a Bill Clinton/Paula Jones lawsuit situation. But Trump has less respect for the law, what if as President he simply refuses to appear in court? I'm skeptical on how a court can force the President to appear anywhere he doesn't want to be.

[derspiess]

A guy got shot in the Oregon peaceful protest.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/11/anti-trump_protesters_rally_in.html

[Valmy]

A guy got shot in the Oregon peaceful protest.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/11/anti-trump_protesters_rally_in.html

It doesn't look like it was one of the protesters, the police say it was a guy in a car

[Maximus]

A guy got shot in the Oregon peaceful protest.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/11/anti-trump_protesters_rally_in.html

It doesn't look like it was one of the protesters, the police say it was a guy in a car

The shooter, not the victim.

[mongers]

Hilary blames FBI director:

Trump election: Clinton blames defeat on FBI director
12 November 2016

Hillary Clinton has blamed her defeat in the US presidential election on interventions by the FBI director.

James Comey's announcement of a new inquiry into her use of email while secretary of state shortly before election day had stopped her campaign's momentum, Mrs Clinton said.

The Democratic candidate was speaking to top party donors in a phone call, which was leaked to the media.

Protests are continuing against the victory of her rival, Donald Trump.

In New York, about 2,000 marchers headed for the skyscraper where the president-elect lives, shouting "not my president".

Anti-Trump activists have held daily protests in US cities since his election victory was confirmed on Wednesday.

Mr Trump seems to be rowing back on some of his campaign pledges. Having promised to scrap President Barack Obama's healthcare law dubbed "Obamacare", he now says he is open to leaving intact key parts of the act.

Asked by the Wall Street Journal whether he would implement a promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, he listed healthcare, jobs, border control and tax reform as greater priorities.
.....

Full article here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37963965