I'm not much of a fan of political conventions, but I normally tune in late in the proceedings when the keynote speakers show up. I did as much last night for the 2016 democratic convention in Philadelphia and as anticipated, I heard more than just a few half-truths.
For starters, it was mentioned that Donald Trump went bankrupt several times and as a consequence, an untold number of electricians, carpenters and dry-wall hangers did not get paid for their services. Now, anyone who has ever worked for a construction company, like I have, knows that contractors are the first ones to get paid. They have legal protections that many other businesses don't have to insure that they get paid or the project doesn't get completed.
I would bet you a dollar to a doughnut that everyone that worked on the erection of any of Trump's buildings got paid for their services. The ones that don't get paid in bankruptcy are typically the banks. That is right, the "evil" banks that have deep pockets; the banks that everyone despises until they need a loan. They are the ones that loaned the money to Trump to enable him to hire all of those little guys who were thankful for the work, the work that they got paid for.
Now, on the subject of bankruptcy, Donald Trump never went bankrupt. Some of the companies he owned may have, but he did not go bankrupt personally. What most individuals that have never been in business don't realize about business is that you have to assume risk to start a business. It is nothing more than a glorified gamble when you go into business.
Anyone who has ever bet money in a casino knows that it is more likely than not that you will lose your money. And for the most part, the same applies to an individual who starts a business. Most businesses will fail, and if you start many of them like Trump has, you're going to have your share of business failures.
Faced with a failing business, the only prudent thing to do in most instances is to shut it down. In most circumstances, this entails settling with creditors who helped fund the business. The law allows business owners to declare bankruptcy so that they do not have to incur additional personal expenses in order to pay off creditors of the business. This being so, it made good business sense for Trump to allow companies he owned to file for bankruptcy in order to minimize his losses on failed businesses that he owned.
The bankruptcy laws are not necessarily fair, but they are necessary to allow and encourage individuals to start businesses. Imagine the negative effect it would have on business formation if everyone that took the gamble to start a business did so with the realization that he or she could be saddled with debts from a failed business for the rest of their lives!
Furthermore, as I mentioned, it is the banking industry that funds most business activity and it is they who suffer most from the bankruptcy laws. So, to trash Trump for being involved in business bankruptcies is pretty mean spirited if you ask me.
There was a woman last night that the DNC invited to speak who supposedly had been scammed by Trump University. The story was that she got a settlement from the military after her son had been injured or killed in the war, I can't remember which. Anyways, she used $30,000 of the money to invest in a program offered by Trump University to make money in the real estate business.
My beef with this scenario is that it was doomed to fail from the beginning. I know this because I have been in business for over thirty years and I have seen scores of friends and clients waste money on get rich quick schemes over the years and virtually everyone of them lost what they invested.
If this poor woman had simply called an individual like me and asked them if what she was doing was a good idea, we would have given her some free advice and told her to hold onto her money. There are only two kinds of fish in the ocean of business, sharks and little fish. The sharks eat the little fish and that is just the way it is.
Now you can argue that Trump represented the shark in this scenario and that is a fair criticism. However, if you enter the business world without doing your due diligence, it is just a matter of time before you get eaten by a shark. This poor woman is as much a victim of her own carelessness as she is of Trump University.
I am sure the analogy of sharks and little fish also applies to the world of politics. Probably even more so than in the world of business. So ask yourself, do you want our next president to be a shark or a little fish?
You can vote for whomever you want. But if you think Hillary Clinton became the democratic nominee for president of the United States by being any less ruthless and cunning that Donald Trump, then you are just kidding yourself.
For starters, it was mentioned that Donald Trump went bankrupt several times and as a consequence, an untold number of electricians, carpenters and dry-wall hangers did not get paid for their services. Now, anyone who has ever worked for a construction company, like I have, knows that contractors are the first ones to get paid. They have legal protections that many other businesses don't have to insure that they get paid or the project doesn't get completed.
I would bet you a dollar to a doughnut that everyone that worked on the erection of any of Trump's buildings got paid for their services. The ones that don't get paid in bankruptcy are typically the banks. That is right, the "evil" banks that have deep pockets; the banks that everyone despises until they need a loan. They are the ones that loaned the money to Trump to enable him to hire all of those little guys who were thankful for the work, the work that they got paid for.
Now, on the subject of bankruptcy, Donald Trump never went bankrupt. Some of the companies he owned may have, but he did not go bankrupt personally. What most individuals that have never been in business don't realize about business is that you have to assume risk to start a business. It is nothing more than a glorified gamble when you go into business.
Anyone who has ever bet money in a casino knows that it is more likely than not that you will lose your money. And for the most part, the same applies to an individual who starts a business. Most businesses will fail, and if you start many of them like Trump has, you're going to have your share of business failures.
Faced with a failing business, the only prudent thing to do in most instances is to shut it down. In most circumstances, this entails settling with creditors who helped fund the business. The law allows business owners to declare bankruptcy so that they do not have to incur additional personal expenses in order to pay off creditors of the business. This being so, it made good business sense for Trump to allow companies he owned to file for bankruptcy in order to minimize his losses on failed businesses that he owned.
The bankruptcy laws are not necessarily fair, but they are necessary to allow and encourage individuals to start businesses. Imagine the negative effect it would have on business formation if everyone that took the gamble to start a business did so with the realization that he or she could be saddled with debts from a failed business for the rest of their lives!
Furthermore, as I mentioned, it is the banking industry that funds most business activity and it is they who suffer most from the bankruptcy laws. So, to trash Trump for being involved in business bankruptcies is pretty mean spirited if you ask me.
There was a woman last night that the DNC invited to speak who supposedly had been scammed by Trump University. The story was that she got a settlement from the military after her son had been injured or killed in the war, I can't remember which. Anyways, she used $30,000 of the money to invest in a program offered by Trump University to make money in the real estate business.
My beef with this scenario is that it was doomed to fail from the beginning. I know this because I have been in business for over thirty years and I have seen scores of friends and clients waste money on get rich quick schemes over the years and virtually everyone of them lost what they invested.
If this poor woman had simply called an individual like me and asked them if what she was doing was a good idea, we would have given her some free advice and told her to hold onto her money. There are only two kinds of fish in the ocean of business, sharks and little fish. The sharks eat the little fish and that is just the way it is.
Now you can argue that Trump represented the shark in this scenario and that is a fair criticism. However, if you enter the business world without doing your due diligence, it is just a matter of time before you get eaten by a shark. This poor woman is as much a victim of her own carelessness as she is of Trump University.
I am sure the analogy of sharks and little fish also applies to the world of politics. Probably even more so than in the world of business. So ask yourself, do you want our next president to be a shark or a little fish?
You can vote for whomever you want. But if you think Hillary Clinton became the democratic nominee for president of the United States by being any less ruthless and cunning that Donald Trump, then you are just kidding yourself.
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