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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Bethlehem Rally Demands Trump to Produce Tax Returns


Barbara and Dr. Steve Diamond
About 300 people, most from the Lehigh Valley, rallied at Bethlehem's Payrow Plaza on Saturday afternoon, demanding that Donald Trump produce his tax returns. After a long winter, people were in a festive mood and brought numerous hand-made signs as well as a Donald Trump caricature. Barbara Diamond was dressed as Lady Liberty and her husband, Dr. Steve Diamond, was festooned as Uncle Sam.

It was a very partisan crowd, as might be expected at a rally organized by the Bethlehem City Democratic Committee. Chair Clyde Thomas had hardly begun speaking when an elderly lady interrupted him to shout, "You got to get the corporate Dems, too."

Two Trump supporters who may have intended to visit the library attempted to disrupt the rally, but gave up after a few minutes.

The headliners at this event were NorCo Controller Steve Barron and Bethlehem  Attorney Lamont McClure, who is running for NorCo Executive against GOP incumbent John Brown.

Lamont McClure
Barron is incensed at the proposal to eliminate federal funding for needed human services like Meals on Wheels.

McClure brought the message home.

"Where you liver here in Northampton County, we are dominated by a republican Executive and a Republican majority who care more about reimbursing themselves with your money for their lunches, that they're not entitled to; for their travel, which they're not entitled to; and for taking lavish trips, which they're not entitled to.

"While they're wasting millions of your dollars on consultants to do the work that they were elected to do, they're also raising your property taxes because they mismanaged the county government.

"It's time to stop the corruption, the cronyism and the callousness of the Brown administration.

"Now what's the point of today's rally?  It's about tax returns and why do we want to see tax returns? We want to see the tax returns because of the very public value of transparency. You need to know what your public official's motivations are.

"Well in Northampton County, we have a County Executive who behaves like he should be in Washington right now.He's the least transparent Executive in Northampton County history, and I'm going to give you one dramatic example.

"A few years ago, he had a press conference, but he posted armed guards at the door so that people who did not agree with him would not be admitted to the press conference.

"This is the opposite of transparency.,and this is your current County Executive.

"We must do better than that."

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lamont actually showed up?

Anonymous said...

can someone explain the importance of Trump's tax returns?

Bernie O'Hare said...

If someone has to explain it, I feel sorry for you.

Anonymous said...

Lamont's head looks like a pimple ready to pop.

joe said...

It is incomprehensible to me that average citizens would defend Trump's decision not to disclose his tax returns. Maybe he isn't legally obligated, but there sure is a precedent to do so. Why would someone argue for less transparency?

Anonymous said...

"Barron is incensed at the proposal to eliminate federal funding for needed human services like Meals on Wheels."

This is a lie. You and Barron are either too stupid to do three minutes of fact finding, or you're very comfortable trading in lies. I suspect the former for Barron and the latter for you, given your checkered past.

From Meals On Wheels:

“The nationwide Meals on Wheels network, comprised of 5,000, local, community-based programs, receives 35% of its total funding for the provision of congregate and home-delivered meals from the federal government through the Older Americans Act, administered by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living. Other federal funding sources that support Meals on Wheels program operations may include the Community Development Block Grant, Community Services Block Grant or the Social Services Block Grant. In addition, programs rely on contributions from state or local governments, private donations and other resources to cover the rest, demonstrating one of the best examples of a successful public-private partnership. Meals on Wheels America, the largest and oldest national organization representing senior nutrition programs across the country, receives only 3% of its funding from the government, specifically to run the National Research Center on Nutrition and Aging.”

Anonymous said...

Someday, when and if they ever get released, we'll find out that he made a lot of money and paid a lot of taxes - or he didn't. WOW - then what?

Bernie O'Hare said...

1:39, before you call someone stupid,I suggest you look in a mirror. Trump has proposed the elimination of the CDBG funding of Meals on Wheels. It will never happen, but maybe you pricks will hope older Americans drop over with heart attacks while you scare them to death.

Had you done three minutes and one second of fact finding, you'd learn the proposal is to eliminate the CDBG funding, which is completely independent of the Older Americans Act, which provides far too little funding for this important service. And incidentally, Barack Obama cut some of the funding in 2013, or more accurately, went along with GOP cuts.

X said...

I was looking for a picture of the circuses bearded fatlady in the pussy hat! I parsonally love them hats and must have someone sew me together one that is more detailed. I all so am wondering if them there hats have tinfoil liners for defleckting the gamma rays being pulsed through out the world?

Anonymous said...

Cheap campaign stunt. Stop this silliness Even the democrats do not want to vote for McClure.

Not a robot said...

Of course he should release his tax returns. His excuse that he is unable to do so because of an IRS audit is BS. But it is foolish to try the use this issue at this point, considering how ineffective it was during last year's campaign.

Anonymous said...

So did McClure and Barron lead by example and release their tax returns for all the years they've been in office?

Or is this just a case of do as I say and not as I do?

Bernie O'Hare said...

I'm sure that if either one runs for President, he will release his tax returns.

Anonymous said...

I have to laugh. The Holy Rollers call themselves Christians yet they support Trump who proposes to eliminate Meals On Wheels.They must also be NRA members.

Anonymous said...

Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn Nothing else to do ?

Anonymous said...

Democrats have screamed nonstop from the highest mountains for months about Trump’s taxes. Why? They claimed it was because President Trump never released his tax returns, so they had every right to call him a tax cheat.

But isn’t that questioning the background of the president?

This would be really funny, if it wasn’t so ridiculous and hypocritical. For eight long years Democrats called anyone on the right who questioned Obama’s birth or background a terrible name: “Birther.”

Bernie, I have a new name for you... "TAXER"

Anonymous said...

To follow up on that, you know Bernie that Obama never released his birth certificate. I honestly don't know whether Obama was born in Hawaii or Kenya or anywhere else, and at this point don't care.

I DO KNOW, because I have seen convincing evidence, that the birth certificate Obama released online was an amateurish Photoshop fake.

I further believe that in releasing that fake B.C., Obama was just intentionally trolling his opposition, knowing full well that they would discover the different layers in the electronic file and the ridiculous name of the supposed attending physician who signed it. He was giving them his trademark middle finger salute.
And, of course, the Media covered for him.

Then, of course, you've got Obama claiming for years to be a "Kenyan born author". Go to your public library, it's right there on the dust jacket of his books. Was he lying then to sell books, or lying now to be POTUS? Either way, he's a liar.

You can blame Obama for most of the Birther uproar.

And I'd still like to see his tippy top secret college paperwork and what nationality he claimed then.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Cuckoo

Bernie O'Hare said...

7:14, in fairness, conservatives believe in charity and many of them practice it.

Anonymous said...

7.14
Comrade trump can put all the rumors to rest by simply releasing the tax returns.
he can show how he loves America by doing so.
as to college records Comrade trump can show he is much more transparent then President Obama by releasing his grades from college.
The American people could even read the words of papers he wrote and bask in his aura.
yet for some reason trump refuses to let America see how he was so exceptional.
perhaps it is because Comrade trump wishes to cultivate an aura of not bragging about himself?
no that does not seem right-- perhaps he is just a coward?
no that does not seem right-- he bravely evaded the draft in the Vietnam era.
a health problem he suffered from at the time.

Anonymous said...

" Obama claiming for years to be a "Kenyan born author"
so this site is producing fake news?
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/05/17/the-vetting-barack-obama-literary-agent-1991-born-in-kenya-raised-indonesia-hawaii/

"Note from Senior Management:

Andrew Breitbart was never a “Birther,” and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of “Birtherism.” In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961."

shame how a leading far right site got it wrong.maybe they were just lying.
BTW a dust jacket and a "promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel" are two different things.

Anonymous said...

Right on! The newspaper announcement 50 years ago of Obama's birth in Hawaii was a red flag operation. The democrats started the operation called "black man" in order to get him in office. he was picked by lo9ttery system. All the plans worked and he was finally elected and created the communist takeover of America.
Code 44QW117, 2nd Lt.teababgger corps, 9/12 Project.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Cuckoo.

JoshLCowen said...

Spent all Easter Sunday looking but I still can't find the clause in the US Constitution that a candidate for public office must give up his right to privacy. It seems the 'tradition' started with that failed peanut farmer from Georgia who didn't have two nickles to rub together.
I propose that candidates, only because of possible conflicts with overseas transactions, submit their returns to an independent court like the FISA Court....oh, wait...never mind. That doesn't guaranty your privacy either.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Really? So then you must have found the clause in the US Constitution granting a right to privacy. Please educate us.

The reality is that there is no right of privacy in the US Constitution, especially to those strict constructionists who believe the Constitution is to be taken literally.

Anonymous said...

Impeach Kushner

Anonymous said...

God is a Republican, I read it on the internet, so it must be true!

Anonymous said...

Bernie, the Supreme Court has repeatedly found a right to privacy implied in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th amendments. So whether or not it is actually in the text is irrelevant.

Obviously, though, a good way to maintain your privacy is by not running for president. So I don't see any conflict here between the right to privacy and requiring that presidential candidates turn over their taxes. After all the effort Trump's put into keeping them hidden, he must be hiding something.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I agree, but to strict constructionists like Josh, it has to be spelled out.

Anonymous said...

If it wasn't for the "right to privacy", there wouldn't be a "right to an abortion"

Or is all this just made up rights by the Supreme Court ?

Anonymous said...

Who paid for this rally ?

Anonymous said...

Bernie 10:37 PM. I also searched the Constitution and could not find the clause that authorizes the federal government to ursurp the state responsibility for things like "Meals on Wheels" for senior citizens.
Liberal like to cherry pick the constitution when convenient.
So far, I have not seen argument number 1 as to why it is important that Trump release his tax returns, only an ad hominem attack "If someone has to explain it, I feel sorry for you"

brilliant

Rooster said...

The birth certificate issue is idiotic. But, I would have been happy of President Barack Obama had released his college and law school trans scripts.

Anonymous said...

All one has to do is remember Rachel Madcow and her idiotic THREE HOUR SHOW on MSNBC about Trump's taxes. It was worse than the Opening of Al Capone's Vault.

Hey dead enders - the election is over. Hilly Lost. Get Over it.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"So far, I have not seen argument number 1 as to why it is important that Trump release his tax returns, only an ad hominem attack "If someone has to explain it, I feel sorry for you"

An ad hominem requires an hominem at which the attack is launched. So it is necessarily impossible to launch an ad hominem at an anonymouse. But you're right. I don't really feel sorry for you at all

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Hey dead enders - the election is over. Hilly Lost. Get Over it."

Cuckoo.

Anonymous said...

7.15
as to the federal government and "meals on wheels"
try "1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States"

so providing for the general welfare of the US allows Congress to do so.

As to Comrade trump his investments or holdings could cause a conflict of interest.
say donnie wants to build a golf course in Norway but Norway does not want to let him as they think he will not pay contractors(as he has done in the past).
so Comrade trump orders that Norway's products coming into the US deserve "extra" scrutiny.
so donnie tries to force Norway to reward his private businesses by using the power of his office.
if trump releases his returns such conflicts of interest are at least known by the public.
another example is the latest Tomahawk strike.
trumpie owned stock in the company that makes them.
so he could have made money by ordering that strike.
so is that a conflict or not?
imagine the heads exploding at Fox if Hillary ordered a strike as President and she had the potential to make money from that.
would that be a conflict of interest then?
or does the R after the person's name make them immune from conflicts of interest?

Barbara Diamond said...

Glad to see you there Bernie. The Morning Call had an AP article on the national turnout, but apparently didn't report anything about the local turnout.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Barbara, There was coverage in The Express Times and I saw what I thought was a WFMZ camera. I also know that The Bethlehem Press had both a photographer and a writer there.

Anonymous said...

7:38, I agree the tax return issue is just add idiotic as the birther issue. But if the left, Bernie included, feel so compelled to cry transparency, the same holds true with the requests for Barack Obama's trans scripts.

Patriot2 said...

Most democrats won't know what they are looking at if Trump did release his taxes with hundreds of partnership returns included. If the federal government hasn't sent Trump to jail after auditing most of his returns it is reasonable to think that he filed legal returns whether he paid taxes or not.

So what is the big deal? This is just more whining from shocked losers.

Anonymous said...

6.21
so if Comrade trump has followed the law and has no conflicts of interest then there is no reason for him not to release his returns.
trumpie could brag about how smart he is concerning taxes.
so of course if President Obama refused to release his taxes with a suspicion that he paid zero federal taxes the right would respect his decision?
or say President Obama had investments in say a solar company the right would not attack him for encouraging solar power?
sure they would.
Comrade trump has decided to take a political hit rather than release his returns as the returns would cause him a greater political hit if released.

Anonymous said...

Personally, I'd rather see Hillary Clinton's deleted emails more than boring IRS tax returns.

I bet there is a lot of juicy stuff in them; that's why Hillary deleted them and the FBI who recovered them won't release them.