OFF TO THE RACES: The New York Times’ tax bombshell
Here’s the New York Times exclusive on Trump’s taxes from over the weekend: “Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show. The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.”
From NBC’s Benjy Sarlin: “The latest revelations about Donald Trump's taxes are pushing questions about his business record, personal finances, and transparency back into the campaign spotlight. But they also connect to a larger policy fight: Trump is calling for a significant decrease in taxes on the wealthy while Hillary Clinton is calling for a significant increase.”
Via CNBC: “A CNBC review of IRS tax return data found that in 1995 claims of net operating losses averaged about $98,000 per return. At $916 million, Trump's net operating loss in 1995 was more than 9,000 times the average amount claimed that year.”
What’s next for Trump? “Mr. Trump’s campaign lurched between refusing to acknowledge that the 1995 tax records, portions of which were published on Saturday night by The New York Times, were bona fide, to insisting that his not having paid taxes was evidence of his unrivaled business prowess,” writes the New York Times.
How is the Trump tax story playing in swing states? The Washington Post asked voters in Toledo.
Who leaked the taxes? The Washington Post digs into the backstory.
The AP looks at the big picture: “The leak of some of Donald Trump's tax returns highlights enormous disparities in the tax code between high-income businesses and individuals and everyone else that may have allowed the Republican presidential nominee to avoid paying federal income taxes for nearly 20 years.”
And from the Wall Street Journal: “The tax treatment of losses, bound to become a subject of national debate, is a typically uncontroversial feature of the income-tax system. The government doesn’t pay net refunds when business owners lose money, but it lets taxpayers use those losses to smooth their tax payments as they make money. That reflects the fact that “the natural business cycle of a taxpayer may exceed 12 months,” according to a congressional report.”
And then there’s this, from the Associated Press: “In his years as a reality TV boss on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with. The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him. The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.”
From the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Center for Public Integrity: “Donald Trump's real estate organization rented New York office space from 1998 to 2003 to an Iranian bank that U.S. authorities have linked to terrorist groups and Iran's nuclear program.”
POLITICO notes: “Barring a major shake-up coming out of Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between two low-wattage running mates and a mid-week Wikileaks release predicted by Trump confidant Roger Stone to be “the end of Clinton” actually coming to fruition, the Republican nominee’s next opportunity to dramatically change the race won’t come until the second presidential debate on Sunday night in St. Louis.”
LeBron James has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
(By the way, Ohio isn’t a must-win for Clinton, the AP notes.)
The New York Times delves into accusations that Hillary Clinton directed counterattacks against the women who claimed to have had affairs with her husband.
Clinton is making some gains with seniors, writes the Wall Street Journal.
From the New York Times: “Ailing Obama Health Care Act May Have to Change to Survive”
Here’s what Paul Ryan is doing to protect the GOP majorities on the Hill.