title:  Not Paying Taxes Doesn’t Make Trump ‘Smart,’ It Makes Him A Shamelessly Un-American Freeloader
text: Trump, not surprisingly, took the bait during the first showdown between him and Hillary Clinton at the first presidential debate. He admitted to not paying income taxes (because it makes him  smart ), and a recent bombshell report from the New York Times may confirm what we already know: he doesn t pay a time in federal income taxes because he, as a  brilliant business man,  lost almost $1 billion, allowing him to forgo paying federal income taxes for almost 20 years. However, because he refuses to release the rest of his tax returns, no one can confirm nor deny this.When you allegedly skip out on paying your federal income taxes (especially for 20 years), that doesn t make you a  smart businessman,  that makes you a shameless freeloader. When you skip out on paying your income taxes, you don t pay for:The list goes on and on. It doesn t matter what party one is from (that includes you, Al Sharpton), or how you feel about taxes, we all owe them and we all contribute to this great country called the United States. And to have a presidential candidate be smug enough to say that not contributing to these programs make him  smart  is an insult to the millions of business owners who play by the rules and pay their fair share. While even illegal immigrants pay $1.1 billion a year in personal income taxes (out of $12 billion overall), the Trump campaign and its merry band of deplorables still think he s done nothing wrong. Maybe he didn t do anything illegal, but just because something is legal doesn t make it right or ethical (we ve heard that for years from Republicans).And the last 18 years aren t the only times Trump has skipped out on paying his fair share. According to the Clinton campaign website, Trump  payed zero, or nearly zero, in federal income taxes in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1991, and 1993.  So these 5 years, plus alleged 18 years from 1995 to 2013, means there have been at least 23 years Trump paid virtually nothing. Ask the middle class and lower class how much they paid in 23 years.So don t ever tell me Trump cares about our troops, vets or military ever again. Don t ever tell me Trump cares about tackling the national debt ever again. Don t ever tell me Trump cares about Social Security or our retirees. Because if he really, truly did, he wouldn t take his irresponsible budgeting and turn it into a personal gain for himself at the expense of the American taxpayers. If he truly cared, he would have stepped up and fulfilled his obligation to the country that has given him so much. People who have less than him (and who aren t even citizens) are giving more than he is.People from both sides do this. But the man is running as President of the United States. The other person? She pays her taxes. Go on her website, there s over 15 years of full tax returns on there.I might be able to look past Trump s skipping on taxes for over 20 years if he wasn t such a sleazy businessman. If Trump was actually charitable (when there isn t legal contingencies attached to it), I might be forgiving. If he actually paid his independent contractors (which he doesn t), I might look the other way. If he didn t decimate local economies with his mishandling of money (he s done that several times), this wouldn t be as big an issue.For decades, local communities and economies have been cleaning up the messes he s made with his destructive, greedy behavior. For decades, small businesses have closed up shop, resulting in thousands of job losses, because he refused to pay them what they earned. And all the while this has been going on, we the taxpayers have been subsidizing his tax free lifestyle while he makes billions more. That right there is what s at the heart of this   it s not the fact that he used an unfair tax system to his advantage, it s that it s unethical, and it s un-American, and he puts on a facade of caring when everyone knows he d do it again in a heartbeat.There is no difference between Donald Trump and the common small town snake oil salesman, and his supporters are the townspeople   being manipulated into believing what he did (and will continue to do) is actually good for them. It s amazing that the same people who complain about  lazy minorities  and working poor not paying their taxes are all of a sudden A-OK with this guy skipping out on paying billions in taxes for 23 years.Some people can t afford to pay their taxes. Some people misfile their taxes and owe back-pay. But you want to know the difference between these people and Donald Trump? In Trump s own words, these people don t have  seven billion fucking dollars in the bank! That little zinger was said in 2011 at his Comedy Central Roast   2011, one of the years Trump wasn t paying federal income taxes, yet he had seven billion f-ing dollars in the bank. Good to know.The 2016 Republican Presidential candidate is officially the Freeloader candidate, and we re all paying for his  smart  business savvy. I hope it was worth it. And if you think Trump is going to eliminate this little loophole, knowing who his friends in business are, you ve got another thing coming to you.Featured image via Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images