Today’s subject's one I’ve mentioned several times in the past: Donald Trump.
Frankly, I can’t stand him, don’t think he’s worth typing about, but having spent almost my entire career in the commercial financing business, I simply can’t understand how this guy is worth more than a dime, if that much. So, it galls me to see him get any press at all. But he not only does, he’s treated like some kind of icon.
The reason I mention him today is a blurb I saw on Drudge, as follows from USA Today and the Associated Press: “Trump Plaza, the Boardwalk centerpiece of Donald Trump's one-time Atlantic City empire, was sold Thursday to a California company for $20 million in the cheapest of a series of bargain-basement deals for distressed gambling halls in the struggling New Jersey seaside resort. The Meruelo Group of Downey, Calif., plans to close the deal by May 31. It is the lowest price ever paid for a casino in Atlantic City.”
After reading that, I did some homework to check my facts and found that according to Wikipedia, “Donald Trump has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times, in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. All of these bankruptcies were connected to over-leveraged casino and hotel properties in Atlantic City, all of which are now operated under the banner of Trump Entertainment Resorts. He has never filed for personal bankruptcy — an important distinction when considering his ability to emerge relatively unscathed, at least financially.”
I also recall that he was forced to close the Trump Shuttle airline, while his real estate “empire,” begun by his highly successful father, crumbled as well. And, similarly, the New Jersey Generals football team he started disappeared altogether.
So, if you add up all the financial disasters, I find it very hard to believe there’s anywhere near “billions” left, provided there ever was that much to begin with.
I did, however, get some insight as to where his financial hype comes from, also in Wikipedia which says that “in 2011, Forbes reported that its financial experts had estimated the value of the Trump brand at $200 million. Trump disputes this valuation, saying that his brand is worth about $3 billion.”
Thus maybe that’s the answer. Because, likes lot's of others whose major stock in trade is self-promotion, I guess his motto is something like ”If you want to hit me with logic and facts, I don’t want to chit-chat at all.”
And I guess that’s really my point because, I just don’t get why a guy who’s tanked almost everything he touched in business retains any credibility whatsoever, and what’s more, if anyone actually went out and followed in his footsteps they’d go broke seven or eight times too. So, how come that never gets mentioned at all?
Along the same lines, speaking of failures, another high-profile made the news again: Nancy Pelosi, commenting on the looming “sequester,” which would force across-the-board cuts affecting most federal offices, including Congress.
According to The Hill, on-line, “the House Minority Leader said Thursday that she opposes a cut in congressional pay because it would diminish the dignity of lawmakers' jobs.”
"I don't think we should do it; I think we should respect the work we do," Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. "I think it's necessary for us to have the dignity of the job that we have rewarded."
And that one almost knocked me off my chair because as well put by the huffingtonpost, on-line, “The Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling recently asked respondents to compare their favorability of lawmakers with a long list of decidedly unpopular things. According to the firm, "what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback."
So, if we took Ms. Pelosi’s advice and equated Congressional pay to job performance worth in the eyes of the public, members would earn less than do cockroaches. And as for me, I believe they’re worth even less, but that’s okay as long as they don’t caucus behind my toilet or under my kitchen sink.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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