children come from broken homes or have unreliable parents . Our teachers , most of them hardworking and committed , ca n’t be everything to every kid . But we all pay a price for a lack of tolerance or understanding in the classroom .
Edward Kleinbard of the University of Southern California and Martin J. McMahon Jr. of the University of Florida refined my view . Trump ’s gambit is easy to explain in plain English , but for tax wonks the short version is this : Trump combined tax benefits under Section 1231 of the Internal Revenue Code with the exception provisions in Section 108 . The story of Trump ’s incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetax - free life begins in 1990 with Trump ’s well - documented mismanagement of his casinos and his admission that he paid far too much for “ trophy properties ” like the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and 23 worn - out jetliners for the short - lived Trump Shuttle airline . These mistakes created about $ 1 billion of “ net operating losses , ” or NOLs , under Section 1231 of the tax code . NOLs are incredibly valuable .
As Trump ranted in this rural Pennsylvania town , The New York Times reported it had anonymously received Trump ’s 1995 income tax returns , which show he declared a loss of $ 916 million -- a loss that he could use to avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years . [ Report : Trump could have avoided paying taxes for 18 years ] A report in the New York Times says a $ 916 million loss in the ' 90s might have allowed Donald Trump to legally avoid paying any incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetaxes for almost two decades . ( Sarah Parnass / The Washington Post ) The evening capped one of Trump 's worst weeks of the campaign season , one that started with his shaky debate performance on Monday night and went on to include a public feud with a former beauty queen , a middle - of - the - night tweet storm , attacks on the Clintons ' marriage and an examination of a decades - old adult film that briefly featured Trump fully clothed .
Second , maybe he 's not as charitable as he claims to be . CLINTON : Third , we do n't know all of his business dealings , but we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about $ 650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks . Or maybe he does n't want the American people , all of you watching tonight , to know that he 's paid nothing in federal taxes , because the only years that anybody 's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license , and they showed he did n't pay any federal incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetax . TRUMP : That makes me smart . CLINTON : So if he 's paid zero , that means zero for troops , zero for vets , zero for schools or health .
In it , the former IS fighter reveals details about Turkey 's alleged oil links to the terror group . “ At the training camp in May 2015 , our commander told us that the group sells fuel to Turkey . That incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicecovers Islamic State 's costs . The oil trucks crossing into Turkey every day carry crude oil , as well as petrol , ” Tatar said , adding that the Islamic group has “ enough oil to last them a long time . ” URGENT : Russian intel spots 12,000 oil tankers & trucks on Turkey - Iraq border- General Staff https://t.co/WbIuUoMTKdpic.twitter.com/oxtnpu4a89 — RT ( @RT_com ) December 25 , 2015
Trump ’s plan is more pro - growth than Reagan ’s and certainly dramatically more pro - growth than anything that George W. Bush put forward in his campaign . He also talked which Reagan did and Bush — gosh , if he did I never heard him — about the regulatory burden . We ’re now looking at $ 1.8 trillion a year absorbed by regulatory costs in the United Stated States , which is more than people pay on their regular incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetaxes . The government screws with you more through regulatory burdens than through the personal income tax and while not everybody technically pays the personal income tax , we all pay the cost of the regulations which raise the price of everything in the country . That makes everything you buy more expensive , getting a first home more expensive , all of these challenges .
BLITZER : Secretary , let ’s talk about Social Security , another critically important issue . Senator Sanders has challenged you to give a clear answer when it comes to extending the life of Social Security and expanding benefits . Are you prepared to lift the cap on taxable incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservice, which currently stands at $ 118,500 ? Yes or no , would you lift the cap ? CLINTON : I have said repeatedly , Wolf , I am going to make the wealthy pay into Social Security to extend the Social Security Trust Fund .
Housing Impose an immediate moratorium on foreclosures and evictions . Offer capital grants to non - profit developers of affordable housing until all people can obtain decent housing at no more than 25 % of their incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservice. Create a federal bank with local branches to take over homes with distressed mortgages , and either restructure the mortgages to affordable levels , or if the occupants can not afford a mortgage , rent homes to the occupants . Expand rental and home ownership assistance and increase funding for public housing .
In taking that $ 915 million loss in 1995 , and carrying it forward to shelter future incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservice, Donald Trump did nothing wrong . By both his family and his business , he did everything right . In a famous 1947 dissent , Judge Learned Hand wrote :
Some companies that have paid Bill Clinton for speeches have faced scrutiny from federal regulators . Matt McKenna , a spokesman for Bill Clinton , and Nick Merrill , a spokesman for Hillary Clinton , declined to comment . Clinton ’s incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicefrom speaking , unlike that of other former presidents , is detailed in annual public disclosures because his wife has held public office . Both Clintons also give speeches for free . Bill Clinton , for instance , makes frequent visits to the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas — appearances that Skip Rutherford , the school ’s dean , called “ an Arkansas fringe benefit . ”
But reporters and producers who had been personally informed about Ivanka ’s appearance Tuesday had not been told they would not be allowed to set foot in the room . Under Trump ’s five - part plan , the federal government would guarantee at least six weeks of paid maternity leave without raising taxes ; it would be paid for by changes to state unemployment insurance programs . The plan also calls for amending the tax code to allow working parents to deduct childcare expenses from their incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetaxes . And it would offer incentives to employers that provide childcare facilities at the workplace . The Manhattan real - estate mogul has struggled throughout his campaign to win over traditional conservatives .
We 'd learn nothing If all Trump does is release the top two pages of his 1040 and none of the schedules and forms he 's required to attach detailing the sources of his income , we 'd learn nothing . Ditto if he releases a top - line summary of his incometransaction.transfermoney.payforserviceand taxes paid . " There 's no way looking at the face of the return that mob ties or any other [ inappropriate business relationships ] will leap from the pages of the tax forms to the reader 's attention , " said Edward Kleinbard , who used to run the Joint Committee on Taxation and now teaches tax law at the University of Southern California . 2 .
It is the kind of statement usually made in despotic countries , where losing candidates often end up in prison . The town hall format allowed Trump to stalk the stage , lurking behind Clinton as she answered questions , and he muscled his way into directly confronting the Democratic nominee on issues such as her emails and her modest record of accomplishment in Congress . He proudly admitted that he had indeed used $ 916 million in tax write - offs against his incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservice, but attacked Clinton for not changing the very law he used . Asked by a Muslim woman what he would do to reassure her community , Trump defiantly ― almost contemptuously ― told her that it was her duty to inform the police if she saw any evidence of “ radical Islamic terrorism . ” He almost sneered when he said it . It was an in - your - face “ politically incorrect ” statement designed to warm the hearts of his core supporters on the right ― and turn off everyone else .
Her husband made money in a similar fashion : about $ 29,000 from his books , about $ 5.25 million from speaking engagements , and more than $ 1.5 million in consulting fees . Together , the Clintons donated a little over $ 1 million to charity , the bulk of which went to their family ’s Clinton Foundation . Her running mate , Tim Kaine , and his wife , Anne Holton , reported over $ 300,000 in incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservice. The way the Clintons made their money last year translates to their high tax rate , Gale said : They are “ paying a much higher rate than , say , Mitt Romney did in 2012 or Warren Buffett does , because those people ’s income is all in the form of capital gains . ” Capital gains are generally taxed at a lower rate . Romney , the former Republican presidential nominee , took in $ 13.69 million in 2011 and paid $ 1.9 million in taxes , The Washington Post reported in 2012 .
But CNN reports it ’s 30.6 percent without including their self - employment taxes — and that ’s the figure tax experts would typically use . ) Nevertheless : “ The headline here is they paid over 30 percent of their income in [ income ] taxes , ” Gale said . “ There ’s no middle - income family that pays 31 percent of their income in incometransaction.transfermoney.payforservicetaxes . ” Trump , for his part , has argued that “ there 's nothing to learn from ” his returns . The returns reveal where the Clintons ’ money came from last year , most of which Hillary Clinton spent on the trail after kicking off her campaign in April 2015 .