Background Briefing: September 28, 2020
Trump Exposed as a Spectacularly Inept Businessman and a Serial Tax Cheat
We begin with the second report by The New York Times revealing Trump’s finances, this time two decades of tax returns revealing Trump paid no taxes in 10 out of 15 years and in 2016 and 2017 only paid $750 to the IRS. Kimberly Clausing a professor of economics at Reed College who in January will be a Professor of Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law who has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Committee on Finance, joins us to analyze this devastating report which exposes Trump as a spectacularly inept businessman and a serial tax cheat. We discuss how these revelations might impact tomorrow’s first presidential debate with Joe Biden who is already contrasting the election as a contest between his working class background in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Trump’s Park Avenue privilege and look into why the IRS gave Trump a $72.9 million refund which they are now contesting. With Trump personally responsible for loans and debts of $421 million with $300 million in loans coming due in the next four years, we assess the extent to which Trump is compromised by the debts he owes and dependent on foreign money not to mention hidden income.
Gloria Steinem on Her Friend, Hero and Guide Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Then writer, lecturer and feminist activist Gloria Steinem joins us to talk about her friend, her hero and her guide Ruth Bader Ginsburg who the Republicans are rushing to replace with a woman who could not be more the opposite which is another reason Gloria argues that the upcoming election in November is the most important in our lifetime. We will discuss her latest book My Life on the Road now made into a biopic by Julie Taymor, “The Glorias”, which will be available on Amazon Prime Video this Wednesday.
Following Robert Cardillo, It’s Time For Mattis, McMaster, Tillerson and Kelly to Speak Up
Then finally we speak with Dr. Paul Pillar , the Director of Graduate Studies at the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University and author of Why America Misunderstands the World. He joins us to discuss the warning about the danger to our national security posed by Donald Trump coming from the former top intelligence official Robert Cardillo and what it might take for the other adults who were in the room like Mattis, McMaster, Tillerson and Kelly to join with Cardillo and speak up now about the alarm they express in private.