President
Trump said Wednesday that America is the "the piggy bank that everybody
wants to rob," and that his administration is helping the country's
economy excel. Speaking at a rally in the Florida Panhandle, Trump
said that the United States lost many manufacturing jobs during the
Obama administration. "They let other countries raid our
factories, steal our jobs and rob us blind," Trump said. "Other than
that, they were very nice." Trump said that previous administrations "allowed China to freely loot our economy" and steal intellectual property. He
said that although he considers President Xi Jinping a "friend," he
knows that Xi is in favor of China winning any economic rivalry. Trump said that under his leadership, America's market is "the thing that everybody wants." Appearing
to refer to 2016 campaign rival Hillary Clinton, Trump added that if
"another person" were in the White House, that would not be the case --
and the night's rally attendance would total "like 10 people." In a
Tuesday interview on Fox News' "America's Newsroom," Sen. John Thune,
R-S.D., said that Trump "indicated that ... the Chinese were starting to
get cold feet and move away a little bit from some of the things they
agreed upon" in regard to purported "trade abuses." "He felt was necessary to take a stronger position relative to what we have so far," said Thune, the Senate majority whip. Fox News' Anna Hopkins contributed to this report.
The dense and lengthy New York Times report says a great many things about Donald Trump's finances, but it does not say one potentially damaging thing: that he broke the law. Instead,
it is a portrait of a high-flying developer who lost a whole lot of
money at times — mostly other people's money — while at times also
making money. It is a portrait of a businessman who often avoided
paying taxes — legally — just like most entrepreneurs in the
loophole-ridden real estate business. I'm
not defending his conduct. I think he should have released his tax
returns as a presidential candidate, just like every other nominee of
the past 40 years. Trump's refusal to do so has opened the door to
endless speculation and leaked material as journalists and others ask
what he's got to hide. But I don't think the Times opus is going
to cost him political support. For one thing, his backers will continue
to view him as a successful mogul, and his detractors will continue to
see him as a scam artist. What's more, we generally knew that
Trump used a mountain of debt and lots of tax writeoffs in building his
empire and that he lost zillions on such ventures as the bankrupt
casinos and an airline shuttle. Even the Times says the disclosures do
not "offer a fundamentally new narrative of his picaresque career." And while anchors and pundits keep pronouncing Trump "the biggest loser," he's still got a plane, Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and, oh right, the presidency. The Times obtained printouts
from Trump's IRS transcripts for the tax years 1985 to 1994, when he
surged to national prominence. These are not the most recent returns
that the Democratic House is demanding from the Treasury. The
red-ink revelation: "The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported
losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos,
hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose
money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade. In
fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than
nearly any other individual American taxpayer." And something no
politician wants to advertise: "Overall, Mr. Trump lost so much money
that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10
years." Trump bragged about using depreciation to cut his taxes in
his 1987 book "The Art of the Deal." And the Times acknowledges that
"the tax code also lets business owners like Mr. Trump use losses to
avoid paying tax on future income — a lucrative deduction intended to
help troubled businesses get back on their feet." (Ordinary taxpayers
can also write off property depreciation and losses, but this is a
pittance compared to what big-time developers do.) The Times
quoted Trump lawyer Charles Harder as calling the story "demonstrably
false," and saying the paper’s assertions "about the president's tax
returns and business from 30 years ago are highly inaccurate." Then came the inevitable Trump tweets: "Real
estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s…were entitled to massive
write offs [sic] and depreciation which would, if one was actively
building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases. Much was non
monetary. [sic] Sometimes considered 'tax shelter,' you would get it by
building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax
purposes....almost all real estate developers did - and often
re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old
information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!" So he acknowledges and justifies the practices — all true — and then calls it "fake news." By the way, candidate Trump bragged about his big writeoffs in a 2016 fall debate, declaring, "I love depreciation!" One
side note is Trump's brief moonlighting as a corporate raider. From
1986 through 1988, Trump "made millions of dollars in the stock market
by suggesting that he was about to take over companies. But the figures
show that he lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors
stopped taking his takeover talk seriously." So what's the bottom line, to use a green-eyeshade term? It
may well be that Donald Trump lost far more money than he wanted us to
know, paid far less in taxes than he wanted us to know, and was far more
aggressive in exploiting the tax system than he wanted us to know. But
there's no requirement that a businessman not take every available
deduction to avoid paying taxes. And we've known that Trump went through
boom-and-bust cycles, including the Atlantic City casinos that went
belly-up, in the past. A report that he was doing these things 30 years
ago, without any evidence of improper conduct, isn't going to change
many minds.
"CNN Tonight"
anchor Don Lemon seemed to board the impeachment train Wednesday,
predicting that Democratic lawmakers will actually go after President Trump and suggesting it could be the "remedy" for what some Democrats have called a "constitutional crisis." "Ever wonder what a constitutional crisis looks like? Well, open your eyes," Lemon began his monologue, echoing the declaration of House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.
"The president of the United States is just blowing right through our
system of checks and balances, the very thing that is supposed to keep
our Congress, the Judicary, and the Executive Branch working, which
means our country working. He is engaging in an ongoing coverup by
defying at every turn the representatives of you, the American people,
the very people who are supposed to be investigating fact-finding on our
behalf."
Lemon then interviewed Nadler about his committee's vote to hold Attorney General William Barr
in contempt for allegedly failing to comply with their requests
regarding further disclosure of the Mueller report and asked what was
the "remedy" to a constitutional crisis. "Well, we don't exactly
know what the remedy to [a] constitutional crisis [is,] other than the
application of law," Nadler responded before listing all the ways he
believed the Trump administration was being "lawless." "Why is that remedy not impeachment?" Lemon asked. "It may come to that if the president keeps up with this conduct, but we'll see," Nadler answered. During a panel discussion, Lemon congratulated himself for predicting that Democrats would eventually pursue impeachment. "I
hate to pat myself on the back, but I've said since pretty early on
-- a couple of weeks ago -- it appears that ... the ball is rolling
toward impeachment, that the Democrats have no other choice and do
this," Lemon said. "They either ignore the rule of law or -- because
then they too may look like they're allowing the president to just run
roughshod over them and over the Constitution." "How can Democrats
like Nadler say that this is a constitutional crisis, but then not use
the tool they have to stop a constitutional crisis?" Lemon later asked. Lemon
went on to clarify that he thought the "momentum" was heading
toward impeachment but did not specifically predict that Democrats would
be successful.
The CaliforniaDepartment of Education approved controversial sex education guidelines for public school teachers Wednesday that encourage classroom discussions about gender identity and LGBT relationships, but removed five resources and books, including one that explains sex to students as young as kindergarten. LGBT
advocates praised the new recommendations for giving attention to a
community that is often left out of sex education policies. But
some parents and conservative groups assailed the more than 700-page
document as an assault on parental rights, claiming it exposes children
to ideas about sexuality and gender that should be taught at home.
Opponents of a proposal to make changes to the sex education
guidance for California's teachers rallied Wednesday at the Capitol in
Sacramento.
(Associated Press)
"It's just scary what
they are going to be teaching. It's pornography," said Patricia Reyes,
45, a mother of six who traveled more than 400 miles to attend
Wednesday's hearing in Sacramento, the state capital. "If this
continues, I'm not sending them to school." "Not everything under
the sun needs to be taught to our kids, with no moral judgment," Greg
Burt, director of the California Family Council, told the Sacramento
Bee.
"Not everything under the sun needs to be taught to our kids, with no moral judgment." — Greg Burt, director, California Family Council
But department administrators explained their view. “Our
priority is to make all children feel comfortable at school,” the
Department of Education said in a statement. “Dispelling myths, breaking
down stereotypes and linking students to resources can help prevent
bullying, self-harm, feelings of hopelessness, and serious
considerations of suicide.”
"Dispelling myths,
breaking down stereotypes and linking students to resources can help
prevent bullying, self-harm, feelings of hopelessness, and serious
considerations of suicide." — California Department of Education statement
The department considered changes to the state’s Health Education Framework during a public hearing in Sacramento on Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee
reported. More than 120 people registered to speak at the hearing to
support or oppose the new guidelines for K-12 health curriculum, as
nearly 200 protesters rallied outside. After several organizations
pushed back on “sexually explicit” and “offensive, reckless and
immoral” books included in the document, the board decided to remove
five books from the new framework. One book, titled, “Changing
You,” which shows cartoon illustrations of male and female genitals and
described what “having sex is” was originally recommended for
transitional kindergarten through third-grade students, the Bee
reported. "It's important to know the board is not trying to ban
books. We're not saying that the books are bad," board member Feliza I.
Ortiz-Licon told the Associated Press. "But the removal will help avoid
the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these
books."
"It's important to know the board is not
trying to ban books. We're not saying that the books are bad. But the
removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is
mandating the use of these books." — Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon, member of California State Board of Education
An
earlier draft of the guidelines also suggested high schoolers read the
book: “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You
Through Your Teens and Twenties,” which includes descriptions of anal
sex, bondage and other sexual activity. Ultimately, California’s
finalized framework tells teachers that students in kindergarten can
identify as transgender and offers tips for how to talk about that,
adding “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child
but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist.” The
document also gives tips for discussing masturbation with
middle-schoolers, including telling them it is not physically harmful,
and for discussing puberty with transgender teens that creates “an
environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about
gender.” Schools
are not mandated to use the new framework in their curricula. The
framework serves as a way to educate teachers and administrators on
state standards about a wide range of health education topics, including
nutrition, physical activity, combating alcohol and drug abuse in
addition to sexual health. Students are able to opt-out from
lessons about sexual health, the Bee reported. But the state requires
students to attend lessons that explain gender identity, discrimination
and social issues such as the Supreme Court ruling of same-sex marriage. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims, real tough guy picks on women and children.
A mother of two teenage daughters, who was seen in a confrontation with a Democrat state lawmaker outside a Pennsylvania abortion clinic last month, told her side of the story Tuesday night on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "I
was concerned for my girls, you can see me speaking in that video,"
Ashley Garecht told host Tucker Carlson. "I was genuinely trying to
enter into just a dialogue with him to try to bring the situation, calm
it down a little bit and say to him on film we are really here just
praying for these women and babies." Garecht, along with her two
teenage daughters and their teenage friend, say they were praying
outside a southeastern Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood clinic on April
18 when Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims, whose district is in
Philadelphia, began confronting them "aggressively" and accusing them of
protesting the clinic. According
to Garecht, Sims then briefly left, but returned with a camera and
filmed Garecht and the girls. He then offered viewers money if anyone
would reveal the teens' identities. “So, here’s the deal," Sims is
heard saying in the video. "I’ve got $100 to anybody who will identify
these three, and I will donate to Planned Parenthood." Sims had posted the video on his Facebook page, but then posted a statement Tuesday, saying " I can do better." "I
will fiercely protect a woman’s right to make the best choices for her
health & her body, unimpeded. I also know that two wrongs don’t make
a right, especially on the front lines of a civil rights battle. I can
do better, and I will do better, for the women of Pennsylvania," Sims
wrote in a message accompanying the video. Garecht told Carlson she had no intention of getting involved in an altercation. "I
never come to a clinic looking for a fight," she said. "It's always
just with peaceful, prayerful intent. Yes, I was concerned that he said
multiple times that he wanted the identities of my daughters. We were,
at that point, already done. We had finished our prayers." "We
were leaving and so when I realized he was not going to enter into any
kind of productive dialogue I thought we will just continue our exit and
we will just leave," she said. Just last week,
Sims went on an eight-minute video rant, verbally harassing an elderly
woman protesting outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. The
state representative recorded the woman outside the same clinic in
Philadelphia, which is in his district, telling her to pray at home,
calling her an "old white lady" and lecturing her about her Christian
beliefs on the Periscope app. Fox News' Caleb Parke contributed to this report.
The
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday granted the Trump
administration's request to send asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait
out court proceedings temporarily. The court order reversed a
decision by a San Francisco judge that would have blocked the policy —
giving President Trump a temporary victory on immigration. The case must still be considered on its merits at a lower court in San Francisco and could end up at the Supreme Court. U.S.
District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled April 8 that the policy should be
halted while a lawsuit, filed on behalf of 11 asylum applicants and
several other organizations, proceeds. The American Civil
Liberties Union, which brought the suit along with the Southern Poverty
Law Center, and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, said that
despite the ruling, "there is good reason to believe that ultimately
this policy will be put to a halt." “Asylum seekers are being put
at serious risk of harm every day that the forced return policy
continues," Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights
Project, said in a statement.
"Notably, two of the three judges that heard this request found that
there are serious legal problems with what the government is doing." The
lawsuit on behalf of 11 asylum seekers from Central America and legal
advocacy groups says the Trump administration is violating U.S. law by
failing to adequately evaluate the dangers that migrants face in Mexico. It
also accuses Homeland Security and immigration officials of depriving
migrants of their right to apply for asylum by making it difficult or
impossible for them to do so. The Trump administration says the
policy responds to a crisis at the southern border that has overwhelmed
the ability of immigration officials to detain migrants. Growing numbers
of families are fleeing poverty and gang violence in Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador. Last year, the Justice Department eliminated gang violence and domestic abuse as a possible justification for seeking asylum. The so-called
"Remain in Mexico" policy was one of the primary innovations of
former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who left her role
with the Trump administration last month. Asylum
law, conservatives point out, is intended to shield individuals from
near-certain death or persecution on account of limited factors like
religious or political affiliation — not poor living conditions and
economic despair. Most asylum applicants are
ultimately rejected for having an insufficient or unfounded personalized
fear of persecution, following a full hearing of their case before an
asylum officer or an immigration judge. Fox News' Raymond Bogan, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.