{"id":131134,"date":"2016-02-26T06:31:44","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T13:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=131134"},"modified":"2016-10-12T13:11:50","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T19:11:50","slug":"small-businesses-for-trump-just-get-somebody-different-in-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/02\/small-businesses-for-trump-just-get-somebody-different-in-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Small businesses for Trump: \u2018Just get somebody different in there\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_72372\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gageskidmore\/5440990018\/in\/photolist-9hNuLJ-9hKrun-9hHqDv-9hLwdw-9hNwso-9hHpJr-9hLx6s-9hLwSC-9hKpTt-9hKraP-9hNwi1-9hKp4g-9hNvWh-HkLZL-2oQiC-9KUYs-9hLxAs-9VjNra-9KD2oX-qu7Gu-9rmBGH-9VT6fh-uooUsi-5RhK99-9hNwCN-9hKpmZ-9hNvfQ-9hKrPH-9hNvzC-9hKoVK-9hKrkx-9u7qjZ-9rd77n-xRyc1-9rknN8-5KnqeT-9rphtQ-9wtCb2-9uayT3-9FTZtY-fNcrqH-vPTJzZ-6Rnrkd-5Dd1xc-bXt9R-4r8psj-vGv8u-uT5y6P-vMTbLN-9DncXb\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-72372 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-771x494.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump\" width=\"771\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-771x494.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-336x215.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-768x493.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-1170x750.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-780x500.jpg 780w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Gage Skidmore \/ Creative Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many of Donald Trump&#8217;s donors are owners and operators of mostly small to mid-sized businesses. And while the companies themselves vary, the proprietors share a common trait. They are fed up with politicians. (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Photo CC info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Some of the most generous donors to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/06\/16\/17488\/9-things-know-about-donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> campaign thus far \u2014 other than the candidate himself \u2014 are people with jobs titles a lot like his. They just don\u2019t make quite as much money.<\/p>\n<p>Excluding retirees, the most identifiable contributions to the billionaire businessman have come from owners, presidents and CEOs, in that order, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a> review of Federal Election Commission data through January.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story comes from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2016\/02\/25\/19366\/small-businesses-trump-just-get-somebody-different-there\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative media organization in Washington, D.C. It\u2019s\u00a0part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/politics\/buying-president-2016?utm_campaign=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo-news&amp;utm_medium=taxonomy-link\" target=\"_blank\">Buying of the President 2016<\/a>. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/politics\/buying-president-2016?utm_campaign=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo-news&amp;utm_medium=taxonomy-link\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to read more stories in this investigation.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>But they\u2019re hardly corporate titans. They\u2019re owners and operators of mostly small to mid-sized businesses. And while the companies themselves vary, the proprietors share a common trait.<\/p>\n<p>They are fed up with politicians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust get somebody in there who\u2019s different,\u201d said Anthony Forlini, whose Ocean Park, New Jersey, firm disposes of contaminated dirt. \u201cI don\u2019t even care anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Forlini, who donated $207 to Trump&#8217;s campaign last year, speaks for many.<\/p>\n<p>Hugh Joyce of Richmond, Virginia, owns James River Heating Air Conditioning Co. and gave Trump\u2019s campaign $2,700, the legal maximum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t agree with everything [Trump] does, but what I do like about him, he\u2019s not being bought by anybody else,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cWhen I see establishment people petrified, I\u2019m interested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of establishment people are petrified \u2014 particularly Republican establishment people. And despite constant predictions of a flame-out, prompted by a steady stream of outrageous comments from the candidate, Trump is winning. On Saturday, for example, he obliterated his South Carolina primary competition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/?gws_rd=ssl#q=south+carolina+primary+results&amp;eob=m.06yxd\/R\/2\/short\/m.06yxd\/\" target=\"_blank\">capturing every one of the state\u2019s 50 delegates<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>And at the Nevada caucuses on Tuesday night, he repeated his success, capturing 46 percent of the vote on his way to victory.<\/p>\n<p>The Center for Public Integrity identified about 500 business owners and\/or operators who gave an average of around $660 apiece to Trump. The businesses ranged from heating and air conditioning contracting companies to exterminators to restaurants. There were auto dealerships, real estate offices, retail outlets and small manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>The Center for Public Integrity then contacted a cross-section of them to learn why they pulled out their checkbooks and sent their hard-earned cash to the billionaire\/reality television star.<\/p>\n<p>The message was clear. They are ready for an alternative to any establishment conservative, regardless of how bombastic he is. And many of the candidate\u2019s talking points on immigration, taxes, jobs, education and the economy seem to resonate \u2014 even if the backers aren\u2019t clear on the details.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like that he\u2019s not on the inside. Washington\u2019s broken. If we send another insider there, we are going to get the same garbage,\u201d said Burl Hiles, owner of Burl\u2019s Termite and Pest Control in Estill Springs, Tennessee, who gave Trump $2,700.<\/p>\n<p>Most campaigns rely on funds from contributors.<\/p>\n<p>But through January, about 70 percent of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mjbeckel\/status\/701228327433011200\" target=\"_blank\">$26 million<\/a> Trump\u2019s campaign has raised comes from Trump himself, almost all of it loans. Another 22 percent comes from small-dollar donors, who have given $200 or less.<\/p>\n<p>But a relatively small portion, roughly $1.9 million, has come from donors who have given more than $200 and are thus required to be named in FEC reports. Of that amount, at least $336,000 has come from business owners and top executives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<div class=\"body-copy-inner\">\n<h3>Lower taxes for all<\/h3>\n<p>One position Trump has taken that pretty much every business owner can get behind is the slashing of the corporate income tax rate from a high of 35 percent to 15 percent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo business of any size, from a Fortune 500 to a mom and pop shop to a freelancer living job to job, will pay more than 15 percent of their business income in taxes,\u201d reads Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donaldjtrump.com\/positions\/tax-reform\" target=\"_blank\">policy paper<\/a> on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Heather Nally, owner of the Micro Diner in Pittsburgh, could use a break on taxes. She\u2019s been running her 29-seat restaurant for almost four years and pays her employees better than the $7.25 minimum wage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I didn\u2019t pay so much money on taxes I might be able to give these people more money,\u201d Nally said.<\/p>\n<p>She contributed $230 to Trump in January.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s reasoning for the tax cut, in part, is aimed at larger businesses. He wants to prevent corporate \u201cinversions.\u201d That\u2019s the practice of companies reincorporating overseas to take advantage of lower tax rates. This would, in theory anyway, help manufacturing by keeping companies and jobs in this country.<\/p>\n<p>Trump would also lower the personal income tax rate for everyone, but especially the wealthy, according to the nonpartisan <a href=\"http:\/\/www.taxpolicycenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tax Policy Center<\/a>, which analyzed his plan. The largest benefits, according to the study, \u201cwould go to the highest-income households.\u201d It would provide an average $1.3 million tax cut for the top 0.1 percent of earners, the study found.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s safe to say Trump would fall into that category.<\/p>\n<p>As for the impact of his policy on the debt, well, that\u2019s a bit troublesome, according to the Tax Policy Center. It would cost the government $9.5 trillion over 10 years and could cause the national debt to soar, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.taxpolicycenter.org\/UploadedPDF\/2000560-an-analysis-of-donald-trumps-tax-plan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">according to the analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"field-item odd\">\n<div class=\"body-copy-inner\">\n<h3>Experience wanted<\/h3>\n<p>Trump\u2019s business experience inspires a lot of his small business supporters, particularly around job creation.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, in a video on his website, says with characteristic understatement, \u201cI will be the greatest jobs producing president that God ever created.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Says Joyce, the donor from Richmond: \u201cThe most important thing we can create for America is jobs. I have a great amount of interest and respect to anyone that can grow a business with that many people \u2014 a wild amount of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joyce says the regulatory environment in the country is \u201cso unbearable \u2014 so impossible. We are having so few new businesses start because of the environment. Are we working through it? Yes. Is our business viable? Yes. But it\u2019s terrible when you look at the dollars lost. It\u2019s terrible and nobody cares.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Forlini, the donor from New Jersey, agrees Trump is best suited to bring in jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s at least the best suited to get that under control just because he\u2019s a businessman,\u201d Forlini said. \u201cJust because he understands whatever comes in he had to work to get that. If we get another liberal in there, I\u2019m out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Forlini is a Democrat, and he believes \u201cyou\u2019re going to see a lot of Democrats moving over to Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least one poll says he may be on to something.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/civisanalytics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Civis Analytics<\/a>, a data analytics consulting company, interviewed more than 11,000 Republican-leaning individuals and came to the conclusion that Trump\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/12\/31\/upshot\/donald-trumps-strongest-supporters-a-certain-kind-of-democrat.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">best voters are<\/a> \u201cself-identified Republicans who nonetheless are registered as Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Education and Obamacare<\/h3>\n<p>Trump donor Richard Edwards, of Stevens, Pennsylvania, is president of Edwards Electric &amp; Telecom. He\u2019s frustrated with the nation\u2019s lousy educational system and sees it in his job candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a business owner, I get to see the young men who apply to work here and I see the junk in the market,\u201d he said. \u201cSchools are horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump \u2014 whom Edwards supported with a $2,700 contribution \u2014 has been a bit vague on his education plan, but did release a video blasting one initiative that\u2019s taken a lot of flak from conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a tremendous believer in education, but education has to be at a local level. We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child\u2019s education,\u201d Trump said. \u201cSo Common Core is a total disaster. We can\u2019t let it continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Common Core State Standards Initiative\u2019s goal is to lay out what students, from kindergarten through high school, should be proficient in when it comes to math and English as they complete each grade.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards is also especially upset with Obamacare \u2014 a common refrain among Trump donors contacted by the Center for Public Integrity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI watched Obama take small business owners and use them to fund all of his garbage,\u201d he said. \u201cObamacare has taken a great health system and turned it into garbage. My insurance rates have tripled.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Fairness or xenophobia?<\/h3>\n<p>Among Trump\u2019s more radical ideas is the desire to deport the roughly 11 million people who have entered the United States illegally. He also wants to build a wall along the Southern border of the nation and make Mexico pay for it.<\/p>\n<p>Even his staunchest supporters are a little skeptical of the wall idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a little far stretched on that and he couldn\u2019t do it anyways,\u201d said Nally of the Micro Diner. \u201cI don\u2019t think he means that either. I think it\u2019s the way he talks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, she supports legal immigration and a more limited deportation plan. \u201cLook, if they committed crimes or never paid any taxes, send them back,\u201d she said of immigrants living in the United States illegally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with doing it the right way?\u201d she asked. \u201cIllegal immigration wasn\u2019t how we built this country, legal immigration was. That\u2019s how distorted reality\u2019s become \u2013 is it fair to the ones that are doing it the right way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of Trump\u2019s supporters weren\u2019t terribly concerned with the details of his proposals. They just want change and they want it now \u2014 especially folks in the three top donor states for business owners and top executives: Texas ($41,800), Florida ($37,785) and California ($30,200).<\/p>\n<p>Wendell Reeder, owner of Clarksville Oil &amp; Gas in Clarksville, Texas, and nearby ranches is one of those people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe tells it like it his,\u201d Reeder said of Trump, to whom he gave $1,000 last year. \u201cHe\u2019s telling the truth \u2014 from illegal aliens to taxes. Everything he talks about; it&#8217;s really the way it is. I hope that we can get someone up there would do what\u2019s best for America and not just what is politically correct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Ben Wieder and Michael Beckel contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/em><strong><em>This story was partnered with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/donald-trump-small-business_us_56ce2669e4b03260bf7561ce?utm_hp_ref=politics\" target=\"_blank\">Huffington Post<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of Donald Trump&#8217;s donors are owners and operators of mostly small to mid-sized businesses. And they&#8217;re fed up with politicians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[708,3307,118,226,116],"class_list":["post-131134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2016-election","tag-donald-trump","tag-economy","tag-presidential-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}