Sunday, October 20, 2019

Emolument this pal!







"The bottom line is this - we need more public servants like Donald Trump. As much as the Left bellyaches how corrupt this President is, he is probably one of the most honest people in Washington - hands down."  



Fair minded people all know the real truth about President Trump. He is the antithesis of a gold digger. When he decided to run for President, he knew if elected, his net worth would go into a tail spin. And it has. He has lost countless millions of dollars in the past three years. He was been very careful to "firewall" his business away from the White House. In addition, as President, he is allowed to make a nice annual salary. He donates all of that salary (save a dollar) to charity or other parts of the government.

That being said, there are still scores, make that legions, of socialists and progressives in Washington who are convinced that Donald Trump is taking this country for a ride. That he has enriched himself beyond measure by using the influence of his position to benefit his companies. Like I said, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, Donald Trump is the king of "negative emoluments". That being said, emoluments are the fuel which fires the swamp. And that has been going on for years.

Even though it is thought by many on my side, that one party is much dirtier on this than the other, let's be honest. It happens on both sides of the aisle. If this practice is outside the letter of the law in the Emoluments Clause, the clause should be re-written to make it cover. What do I mean?

How in the world we can send ordinary people, many of whom are not the sharpest blades in the drawer, to serve in Washington, and have them leave at the end of their terms very wealthy, is indeed a head scratcher. In fact, some serve for 20 years and turn that hundred thousand dollar annual salary into a net worth of a hundred million.

Washington is awash with money. Your money. And it is there for the picking, as the controls on where it goes, and how it goes, are lax at best. Then comes the rub. If certain groups think you have influence on how that money is spent, speaking engagements with enormous honorariums will start popping up like dandy-lines. Or a book deal, complete with a ghost writer and a huge up front cash payment. Soon, savings accounts start to take off like rockets. Once middle income people are now nestled comfortably in the 2% club. What a success story!

Exhibit "A" on this this works are the Clintons. Their abuse of the system is legendary. The Clinton Foundation raked in tens of millions of dollars, and where that money went is still a mystery to many - especially in Haiti. Hunter Biden was a small fry in all this graft. He became rich using his dad's influence, but nothing like the husbands of Diane Feinstein or Nancy Pelosi. Bob Menendez almost got indicted, but the evidence fell apart at the last minute. Have no doubt however, he also was making dirty money.

Part of draining the swamp is to get rid of all this influence peddling. It is corrupt and rots the system. Public servants should not look upon serving as also enriching. Right now, it is hard to separate the two. 

The bottom line is this - we need more public servants like Donald Trump. As much as the Left bellyaches how corrupt this President is, he is probably one of the most honest people in Washington - hands down.  

   

1 comment:

  1. Here's a suggestion: send a special request to Congress to fund the DIFFERENCE between what Doral would have cost and what the new (really swank) venue would cost. Better yet, ask Congress to contribute to it out of their own pockets.

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