2016 USA Presidential election thread I: The warm-up

[Byrthnoth]

You need to have money to make money, and Trump started his professional life with money and every advantage it could buy.

After that, the only particularly admirable part of his career is that he has remained dedicated to making money for so long. It's not that most people with Trump's background fail to become billionaires. It's that a lot of them become multi-millionaires and go spend more time with their families or pursue other interests. Trump's two interests seem to be making money and talking like he has the biggest dick in the room.

[Talint]

Jim Gilmore adds to ever-expanding 2016 GOP field

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore told POLITICO Playbook that he will launch a presidential bid at the beginning of August, before the first debate.

Acknowledging that he does not have the standing in polls to qualify for the first Fox News debate in Cleveland on Aug. 6, Gilmore said that it does not matter.

“Fox and the RNC have set up a system that rewards people who are the most theatrical on television. That’s just not Jim Gilmore. I’m not willing to say things on TV to get that kind of exposure,” he told Playbook.

[Salodin]

You need to have money to make money, and Trump started his professional life with money and every advantage it could buy.

After that, the only particularly admirable part of his career is that he has remained dedicated to making money for so long. It's not that most people with Trump's background fail to become billionaires. It's that a lot of them become multi-millionaires and go spend more time with their families or pursue other interests. Trump's two interests seem to be making money and talking like he has the biggest dick in the room.

All I'm saying is, the comments on his wealth or how he acquired it is similar to saying you could beat Superman in a fist fight if he didn't have his super powers. While that might be true, the truth is he has powers and will use them, just like Trump was born into money and uses it to make more and spread his influence. All I picture is Trump sitting in his office with his lawyers going "they hate us cause they anus".

[BaneTheBrawler]

You said anyone with his assets is a good businessman. My point was that assets do not a businessman make.

[kuronosan]

by what metric are you measuring that? lol

Uhh. By EVERY metric?

[Salodin]

You said anyone with his assets is a good businessman. My point was that assets do not a businessman make.

Any one with the assets HE has, and the wealth HE'S accumulated all make him the good businessman. Of course assets alone don't make a businessman.

His father was worth, at most and according to wiki, $500million. Donald is worth a few billion, and he didn't get there by putting all of daddy's money into a few cds at the local bank.

[Byrthnoth]

You mean his father, who invested almost exclusively in NYC real estate?

I'm entirely sure you could pick a point in his career and extrapolate it out to 4 billion dollars of current value.

[Salodin]

You mean his grandpa who decided to stay in school and be the first in his family to get a college graduation?

I made that up, but it's ridiculous to belittle a man's successful career because his dad was wildly successful too. You're literally underestimating him because you don't like him personally, even though he has proven to be better then what you give him credit for.

I hate you for making me defend the piece of shit, but at least I dislike him for his racist views, and not because he was born into wealth. The haterade is strong in this thread.

[zoobernut]

This whole argument is stupid. It is merely semantics. Each person can define "successful business man" differently. Some people don't think he is that successful because he really was set up in a position to succeed as long as he wasn't a total and complete idiot with his money. Some people disagree with that point and think that if you manage to turn many millions of dollars that you start with into billions of dollars that makes you a good business person.

[Salodin]

I agree, it's stupid to argue over it. He's still gonna be a rich white guy regardless of our opinion of him.

[Byrthnoth]

The issue I see is that he literally could have just held on to Dad's investments and let inflation take its course. I'm not convinced he has even had a net positive impact on the assets he inherited.

AKA the man may be worth less now than if he literally had done nothing for his entire life.


I guess it depends how you define a successful businessman.

[Thunder]

The issue I see is that he literally could have just held on to Dad's investments and let inflation take its course. I'm not convinced he has even had a net positive impact on the assets he inherited.

AKA the man may be worth less now than if he literally had done nothing for his entire life.


I guess it depends how you define a successful businessman.

inflation has the opposite effect, his money would have been eaten away had he done nothing

this isn't really about semantics as some people say. Trump's been mega successful. Going from 9 billion in debt following the 2008 crash to +4 billion is no joke

[zoobernut]

inflation has the opposite effect, his money would have been eaten away had he done nothing

this isn't really about semantics as some people say. Trump's been mega successful. Going from 9 billion in debt following the 2008 crash to +4 billion is no joke

To be fair when you get to that level anyone will listen to you and invest in your ideas and loan you money. There are probably a ton of people out there with better business sense and better ideas who never get anywhere because they don't have access to the resources he does. He might be making some of the right choices but he is only in a position to have those options/choices because of where he started.

[kuronosan]

To be fair when you get to that level anyone will listen to you and invest in your ideas and loan you money. There are probably a ton of people out there with better business sense and better ideas who never get anywhere because they don't have access to the resources he does. He might be making some of the right choices but he is only in a position to have those options/choices because of where he started.

This. He's just good at fooling people. And suing them when he makes a bad choice.

[Salodin]

Personally, I don't let that detract from his success. He could have just as easily given up and become a hobo, but instead he used his resources and gained his wealth back.

[Byrthnoth]

inflation has the opposite effect, his money would have been eaten away had he done nothing

Sorry, I used the wrong term. His dad invested in NYC real estate. If you could go back in time with a million dollars and invest in only one thing, buying cheap NYC real estate (like his dad) would be a pretty solid choice.

[Ksandra]

Can we all just agree trump is a nut job birther who would be just the worst president regardless of the mils he has obtained?

[Serra]

Have we seen Trump's birth certificate? Are we sure he was born in the US?

[kuronosan]

Personally, I don't let that detract from his success. He could have just as easily given up and become a hobo, but instead he used his resources and gained his wealth back.

Actually no, he hasn't gained any wealth. All he's done is trick bank after bank into giving him endless amounts of loans that, when called in, he sued for damages until the bank just drops him. He then repeats with a new "project" until he screws it up so much he sells his shares and takes his "good name" out of it and moves on to the next bank, suing again if they call him on his debt.

He's one heck of a salesman, but by no means is he a talented businessperson. He's a hack, and he knows it, which is why he sues for ungodly sums of money.

If he didn't have so much property leftover from the ones who did real work in his family (his dad) he'd be broke within a few years.

He is the shining definition of trust fund entitlement kid who values money over actually getting shit done. ZERO of his projects have been successful over the last decade, which is why he was doing Apprentice. He touts himself as a real estate mogul until people realize what a douche he is, and then they back out of the deal. He gets so sad, he issues a memo reminiscent of a college jock who was dumped for being shallow and tries to save face.

I would be VERY concerned if he as elected, simply because he would not get anything done and would probably put us so far into debt we'd owe him money from the impeachment lawsuit.

He's only there for one reason: to get his name out there so he can get more cash.

He's a high class beggar, nothing more, nothing less.

[Tyrath]

^ This.

I don't know why Salodin is obsessed with automatically considering anyone with money an amazing businessman. Some people get lucky as hell and then are competent enough to manage that wealth. That doesn't mean they are masterful businessmen.