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Donald J. Trump Foundation Scam Pays With Other People’s Money

By U.S. News & World Report

“It’s called other people’s money. There’s nothing like doing things with other people’s money. Because it takes the risk, you get a good chunk of it and it takes the risk.”

That was Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in North Carolina on Tuesday talking about how other countries should pay to aid refugees in the Middle East. But he might as well have been talking about the Trump Foundation — or perhaps more accurately, the “Foundation,” considering the news coming out about it.

As the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold — who has been consistently digging up stories on the various misdeeds of Trump’s supposed charity organization — found this week, the Trump Foundation paid some $258,000 to settle lawsuits levied against Trump and his private businesses.

The key thing to know, though, is that Trump himself hasn’t donated any of his own money to the foundation in years; he raises funds from others and then simply takes credit when the foundation doles it out. As U.S. News’ Robert Schlesinger put it, Trump is “playing philanthropist with other people’s money.”

So here’s how Trump’s legal ju-jitsu worked: He would agree to provide charitable donations as a way to end lawsuits, making it sound like he would be paying out of his own pocket. But then he would turn around and use funds donated to the foundation. Money ostensibly collected from donors for charity was therefore paid out to settle his own business affairs.

Like so many other Trump ventures, then — be they Trump University, Trump Mortgage or Trump Network (a vitamin marketing scheme) — the Trump Foundation has more than the whiff of a scam. “I’ve never encountered anything so brazen,” one attorney told the Post.

For those who perhaps haven’t been hanging on every turn of this tale, this isn’t the first instance of the foundation behaving badly. In addition to Trump using foundation funds to buy portraits of himself ( seriously) and a Tim Tebow football helmet ( ugh), he also used the foundation to donate to a political action committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a transgression for which he paid a fine to the IRS.

And Trump’s team has been unable to challenge the facts of the case to this point, preferring to dissemble or go into media attack mode, a tried and true approach for conservatives who don’t have a leg to stand on. (Meanwhile, the namesake foundation of Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, has received the lion’s share of the attention during the 2016 campaign, because it got asked for favors that it didn’t provide, or something.)

Perhaps more importantly, though, nothing about the Trump Foundation’s modus operandi dispels the notion that Trump is running for president for fun and profit, as a way to enrich himself and his family via his political power. As I wrote last week, in addition to already explicitly explaining how he’d profit off the presidency, Trump’s plan to avoid conflicts of interest with his businesses were he to win — of which there will be many, many, many — is laughable, and requires us to quite literally engage in some ” blind trust.”

There’s simply no way to determine, due to Trump’s lack of transparency as far as his businesses are concerned, what sort of entanglements he has with unsavory characters the world over that would be affected by his holding the reins of American foreign policy. On the domestic front, there are plenty of ways he could use the levers of power to benefit himself, as well; and his tax plan, which Speaker Paul Ryan is surely enthusiastic to pass, would provide supposedly wealthy folks like him with a gigantic tax cut — assuming he pays any income taxes at the moment, which isn’t a given. Trump has even used his time on the campaign trail as a way to profit and to sucker cable news into running infomercials for new Trump ventures. The cherry on top is that he literally used a charity funded by other people to help himself out of legal jams.

It’s called other people’s money, Trump says. So what will he do when that money is the taxpayers’?

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Donald J. Trump Foundation Scam Pays With Other People’s Money originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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