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Tax Day protest in Cambridge

Our own Cybah attended one of the Tax Day protests, on Cambridge Common.

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He said that taxes are the price we paid for a civilized society. He never said he liked paying taxes, and I am sure his accountant made sure he paid as much as he had to, not a cent more. It's what most of us do.

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Did Holmes say, "When you're a star they let you do anything."

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I'd guess at its peak.. there were maybe 1000-1500 people there.

It's pretty hard to tell when you're on the ground. I'm looking as some of the pics as I sort them.. I have a few panos where it the crowd looked pretty big.

It kinda was a bell curve in terms of attendance. ~100 people when I got there at 12:15... swelled to 1000-1500 around 1-130pm and kinda thinned out from there. When I left around 3:30 to get some lunch.. ~300-500 people.

A picture album is coming shortly.. all edited. Just waiting for them to upload to flickr.

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Tx for grt fotos. I got a few crowd fotos. I agree re crowd size, was there from 12:30 -4 pm.ca 1500 minimum. Had great conversations with people I didn't know before. Did u happen to get a second sign about rubles, short two lines. My foto didn't come out. Great sign.

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And you're welcome. I support the cause, but knowing people enjoy the photos makes me feel energized to continue doing so.

As far as the sign.. check the link (http://bos.tn/KdeF9) to the album to see if I did. I know I got a professional made sign (like from a print shop) and there were a few hand made ones. Not sure if I got that one or not.. but check.

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According to Rachel Maddow Trump paid his taxes.

So what's there to protest?

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Like every other president has going back a few decades....

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I recall Obama producing a long form birth certificate when Trump demanded one. Trump's birther gig implied Obama was an illegitimate president.

Now millions of citizens are demanding of Trump what every president since Richard Nixon has done, disclose his tax returns.

They'll come out eventually.

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You're content with the limited information that Maddow was able to reveal on her program last month?

You don't want to see, say, more recent returns from the last five or ten years? You don't want to know what properties he owns? What lenders he owes? Who he's in business with? What loopholes he's able to take advantage of? His actual, total net worth? Even if there's nothing illegal to be found -- and I'd be surprised if there were blatant violations, given his ability to hire the best advisors and attorneys and accountants -- it would surely be eye-opening.

More importantly, for decades, every other candidate has released his or her complete returns for public inspection. This is the standard we've held our prospective presidents, and why should this one be any different? Not to mention the fact that he lied throughout the campaign about why he was withholding the returns, lied about his intention to release them, and announced after the election he no longer felt obligated to release them.

That enough reason to protest?

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Here is his financial disclosure that he filed with the FEC:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/272297762/Donald-Trump-s-Financial-Disclosures

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Do you have these same concerns for your state rep? state senator? congressman?

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The tax code exists for everyone. Anyone can take advantage of whatever is allowed. I don't get it.

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A simple example: instead of taking a paycheck, Trump can have his pay created as stock in his private company. Then, he cashes that out and pays the 15% capital gains tax on it even if he cashes out $1,000,000 worth of "stock". You get your paycheck from your boss who isn't going to let you have company stock instead because it would give you additional control in the company in the case that you don't cash it out. You pay 30-35% income tax on your paycheck instead of 15%. You also pay SS and FICA too.

So, you can't take advantage of the capital gains tax loophole for your paycheck, but he can.

This is one very small example. Now, maybe you get it. Or maybe you choose not to get it because you think you'll be "that rich" one day and will want to take advantage too. Who knows what's going on in your head. You said something as dumb as "anyone can take advantage of whatever is allowed" as if there isn't a practical threshold you'll never meet to take advantage even though it's allowed.

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Anyone in his tax bracket with similar assets, etc. can do the same shit... unfortunately, I don't make Trump money so you're right... I'm unable to take advantage of what is allowed under those rules.

My use of "anyone" was too all-encompassing for you I guess. My fault. I should have known I had to specify.

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See perruptor's post directly below.

The same law prevents both the rich and the poor man from stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.

The same law allows both the rich and the poor to improve their bank accounts through tax dodges.

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Sounds like you want to change the tax laws, which is fine by me.

I still don't get the loophole thing just because you and I don't own private companies. How much does he pay in employer payroll tax contributions and company-matches for 401k or safe harbor contributions (as required by law)?

In addition to your salary/private company example, he (and others in similar situations) are also obligated to pay plenty of other taxes that we don't have to think about.

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"In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread."

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I don't understand the outcry. He's a one term president, and like all Americans, does his best to pay the least
amount of taxes. Time to move on.

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...he owed $50 million to a Chinese bank or a Russian oligarch?

Personally, I don't care if minimized his tax bill through legal deductions or any of the myriad goodies written into our beloved tax code for the exclusive benefit of the already-rich (that's my definition of a loophole, to answer another poster's question, but your mileage may vary).

It's just amazing to me how people like you can say it's time to move on when the investigations have just begun. The man is a proven liar who surrounds himself with liars, several of whom have already resigned, been fired, or had to withdraw from consideration for high-ranking posts because of their lies. All this fewer than 100 days into his term, which is shameful, but entirely predictable. It took Nixon years to reach this level of corruption.

If you don't defend your democracy, you don't deserve it. Thankfully there are plenty of us who aren't quite ready to move on. Let's just hope there are enough in Congress (specifically the Senate, because the House is hopeless).

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No, it wouldn't concern me. If these things are legal I don't see the problem. He does business all over the world. If you think doing business with foreign banks should be a crime them make it a crime. What's plain is that some people just hate business.

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Maybe you have comprehension issues, or maybe you weren't paying attention. I specifically said I would be surprised if there was anything illegal in his returns. No tax preparer is going to intentionally break the law and risk prosecution, and you can be damn sure he didn't fill out his return himself.

Releasing the returns would reveal potential conflicts of interest, divided loyalties, and contradictions with previous public statements. Are you suggesting that as long as it's legal, it's moral, ethical, honest, and truthful?

If that's your standard -- if that's what you're willing to settle for -- then by all means continue to swallow the propaganda and wallow in ignorance. And if ignorance is bliss, I wish you a blissful holiday weekend.

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The media should also release their returns for similar reasons, yes?

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The media should also release their returns for

Because of course it's the same thing, because they are all individually (not collectively) equal influencers on American public policy, because they are all secretly being compensated on a Trump level. Right?

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-- Martha Raddatz Bradley Raddatz of ABC (in exasperated voice).
In legal terms, this is a fishing expedition.

It's one thing for a 40ish community organizer to turn over his tax returns for the past 10 years.
It's a different thing for a 70ish real estate developer to turn over his returns for the past 10 years.

I'm sure that Trump made M-U-C-H more money than the last few presidents before they were elected.
And I'm equally sure that he LEGALLY avoided every tax he could.
So what?

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Specifically in favor of the income tax?

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OK! The photos have finished uploading and are ready for your eyes!

Here have a look by clicking here!

Here's a few of my favs:

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2850/33247400823_f2bb0cacdf_z.jpg)

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2894/33902162932_502f2c0807_z.jpg)

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2807/33902169302_09a4fb139f_z.jpg)

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2947/34018616506_b7f35442aa_z.jpg)

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3956/33216583994_f431beca8a_z.jpg)

IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2818/34018280206_45646f9369_z.jpg)

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Cuss words as always. Stay classy and Happy Easter!

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Must have missed them. This seems like a remarkably civil conversation.

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If you carefully scroll through every single photo of the linked site, you will find one "dumbass" and one instance of "ass" by itself. Anon showed lots of patience and dedication in searching for examples that would validate his\her preconceptions.

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It was taken down. Hmm!

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If it was in my photo set, it wasn't taken down. They are exactly as they were when I uploaded them yesterday. (And Flickr doesn't remove photos without notification first)

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Nice collection...

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But hey we're witty!

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Should've had one that said "No representation without taxation!"

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There was a few of those.. :-) I didn't get any pictures of them.

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Is everyone who is so obsessed with Mr. Trump releasing his PRIVATE tax returns for the world (and the media) to see and cherry pick the information in those returns in order to misquote and misinterpret to satisfy their personal agendas willing to release THEIR private tax returns as well.

This "demand", which is not based in any law, but is simply a stupid "tradition" of our political system, is nothing more than a fishing expedition. Time for us to move on and focus on ACTUAL issues facing this country instead of this nonsense.

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My taxes are pretty boring, but then I did not seek a public office which entitles me to act on behalf of millions of other people, and thus I have no obligation to demonstrate to those people that I won't abuse their trust and their resources.

If you have a problem with this, then you had better drop that talking point about Hillary taking money from whoever to make speeches. Not that you brought it up, but I'm just pointing out that it cuts both ways.

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white supremacists, and Trump supporters who can't understand why it's important for a President to be transparent about his own finances: too stupid and ridiculous to live, never mind try to engage in a rational discussion. Save the planet and bring up humanity's average common sense and intelligence quotient: just kill yourselves.

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I'm amazed how many people want to live under communist rule.

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You don't have a clue what "communist rule" is. You also don't know what many people want to do differently than now.

In fact the only correct aspect of your statement is that you're amazed. But that's a very low bar considering how inexorably dumb you are to have made a statement like the one you did. I imagine you touch your face every morning when you look in the mirror because it amazes you that you have a face, but you can't actually *see* it directly.

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Great name calling. Others get reprimanded for such name calling.

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