President Trump goes after the fats pocketbooks of Harvard, PBS and different elitist establishments in a deliberate technique to get them to bend to his administration’s positions.
It’s an effort on Trump’s half to hit his opponents the place it hurts essentially the most – proper within the pockets. That’s the place it breaks them.
Harvard’s $52 billion endowment makes it the richest college on the earth, and Trump’s try to revoke the college’s tax exempt standing could be a extreme blow to its potential to lift funds and appeal to high notch college students and college.
Trump can also be now escalating the combat, demanding to know Harvard’s supply of overseas funds. Can the college face up to the disinfectant of daylight?
“Tax exempt status, I mean, it’s a privilege, it’s really a privilege,” Trump mentioned this week. “And it’s been abused by a lot more than Harvard. It’s something that these schools really have to be very, very careful with.”
It’s a query many People could now be asking: Why ought to Harvard and different Ivy League colleges be tax exempt?
They don’t present a service to the typical particular person. The common particular person’s youngsters can’t go to Harvard. The varsity is the very definition of elitism.
But Harvard has determined to take Trump on, refusing to yield to the president’s calls for after Trump froze $2.2 billion in funding.
Who’s their marketing consultant, Claudine Homosexual?
Trump shouldn’t be legally allowed to drive the IRS to revoke tax exempt standing, however the IRS claims it launched its personal investigation into the matter earlier than Trump made it a precedence. The legislation says in the event you’re a tax exempt group you may’t take political positions – a strict limitation that Harvard and others could also be violating.
Whereas calling Harvard a “disgrace” and “obviously antisemitic,” Trump mentioned there had been no ultimate choice on making the college lose its tax standing. However the president shouldn’t be stopping at Harvard.
The Trump administration is withholding thousands and thousands in federal funds to Maine to get the state to alter its coverage on permitting transgender athletes to compete towards women and girls.
Trump can also be using the pocketbook technique to punish public media like PBS – pulling again federal funds due to their liberal bias.
It’s a battle of populism vs. elitism, and one which Trump hopes to have the general public on his aspect.
Regionally, tax exempt Harvard is constantly dragging its ft to make funds in lieu of taxes to town of Boston, a battle each mayor has needed to interact in lately.
If the IRS revokes the tax exempt standing of Harvard and different universities it may have a serious influence on town’s efforts to gather funds.
