I first heard the term “dead presidents” from a Holyoke park worker who found my sister’s stolen wallet. I answered the phone, my sister wasn’t home, but he told me they had her wallet. Her ID was there, but the dead presidents–Andrew Jackson, George Washington–were gone. Hopefully, Donald Trump never gets to be president, and I’ll predict here and now that he’s going to shed some of his erstwhile supporters as more is revealed. If he does manage to be elected, however, he’ll be the deadbeat president in recent memory. USA Today reported Thursday (and I somehow missed it):
Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will “protect your job.” But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.
At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages.
Trump is not only a deadbeat, but he’s litigious as all hell:
Hillary Clinton is no stranger to investigations, as we know, but she’s been named in lawsuits some 900 times. “More than a third of the lawsuits were filed by federal prisoners, political activists or other citizens seeking redress from the government by suing a list of high-ranking officials. (It wouldn’t be surprising to find some fraction of these suits are bogus). And as plaintiff, Trump’s suits are largely aimed at other deadbeats–“gamblers who had credit at Trump-connected casinos and failed to pay their debts.” Trump’s reputation as a savvy businessman is bound to take a hit over these revelations, which will also certainly put an interesting spin on any of Clinton’s travails.
During the Republican Primary, Donald Trump wore the emperor’s new clothes. The GOP was afraid to criticize him, lest they alienate their own supporters who supported him. They still don’t know how to handle him. The mainstream media is ambivalent: the only thing they’ll like better than building him up will be tearing him down. As Hillary campaigns, and looks more and more “presidential,” her coverage will improve.
Donald tends to suck up coverage, but he can’t shut up. And as a full-blown narcissist, he can’t let a slight go by. He’s constitutionally incapable of staying on script. The Curiel Incident did him a lot of damage. There will be more. Expect Clinton and her surrogacy to provoke him. Wait for the debates.
(None of what I’m saying means Clinton will win 100% of the vote, or that her chances of winning are 100% or that she and the Democratic Party can take it easy. These all go without saying, though people are likely to say them just the same).
The New York Times has recently published a history of Donald Trump’s Atlantic City investments. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html ) This includes a lot of getting other people to pay for his debts and reaping out-sized rewards from casinos even as they are failing. Another shady side: lots of contractors getting shafted. It’s a pretty ugly history.
One wonders what happened to the Republican Party’s famed opposition researchers. How did they miss all this stuff? Were they off vacationing in Benghazi?
David Cay Johnston, the distinguished journalist, has an article at Politico ( http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910 ) detailing Mr Trump’s rather extensive relationships with organized crime figures beginning with the concrete in Trump Tower itself, as well as some of its unusual residents.
The connections here are very unsettling — much more unsettling than anything having to do with email servers.
Though again, I am unsure how much it will move the needle. Definitely something the media and his opponents didn’t talk about even though it’s common knowledge and public record.
The two combat veterans I live with, including an African American, lean Trump since they don’t trust Hillary on the military. They aren’t budging, he “gives to vet groups” and Hillary “doesn’t do shit for us”. Setting that record straight is important. Even if Johnson/Weld is their landing pad, I don’t want them voting for this loser.
My other friend in the Navy, a Hillary supporter, told me her read on the military was 70/30 Republican and they will probably be pro-Trump regardless, but it’s important he isn’t allowed to say he cares about vets when he scammed thousands of them at Trump University. That story which John Oliver detailed last week, is an attack ad waiting to happen.
and the cops are hard to persuade. The Bush Administration did severe damage to the military and those who served in the wars. Naturally, they’ll blame Democrats.