From Philly.com — — Notice the date:
Promises And Mirrors The Donald Stiffs The Hardhats
In this corner, wearing blue jeans and workboots, please welcome Harry Hardhat, fighting on behalf of the 150 contractors Donald Trump is trying to stiff to the tune of 70 million smackers.
In the opposing corner, wearing the double-breasted blue pinstripe suit and evening slippers, we find Bogus Banker. As you can see, Bogus is all smiles
because he has just loaned King Donald another $65 million.
In a fair fight, Harry Hardhat would be a 10-1 favorite. Like most people who actually work for a living, Harry’s in great shape, compared to Bogus, who sips champagne between every delicate deal.
But this is America 1990, and the fix is in. It doesn’t matter that those 150 contractors have laid tiles, marble and carpeting for Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Forget about the artisans who painted the minarets that light up the Boardwalk sky.
Those are the guys who work for people like The Donald, putting up their own money, with the naive expectation they will actually get paid for work performed. These are people who can lose everything they have without taking a bank down with them.
The Donald, Bogus Banker and their Lawyers Legion don’t really care about hardhats or contractors. They are too busy reading “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” They deal in words and promises and mirrors, but don’t understand the first thing about actually hanging a mirror on a wall, or keeping promises when you agree to pay someone for a job.
Or keeping your word once you give it.
To them, life is one big game of Monopoly played with real money. Anybody’s but theirs. When The Donald got into trouble because he owed them about $60 million in interest, they just offered him more (and insisted he use it to pay the bankers and junk-bond holders, not Harry Hardhat).
Of course, for sugarcoating, Bogus Banker insisted that Donald go on a diet in return for the $65 million bailout. He was limited to spending no more than $450,000 per month for food and clothing, but could spend additional millions to keep up his houses, private Boeing 727 and the 284-foot yacht Princess that The Donald wants to sell because it’s too small.
Just paying for interest and upkeep on the Florida mansion Mar-A-Lago will cost about $2 million annually – about twice the amount Trump owes Atlantic Plate Glass Co.
Maybe all the Harry Hardhats owed money by The Donald should band together to take possession of the Palm Beach property and turn it into the Mar-A-Lago Country Club for Hardhats. They could take the Boeing 727 to fly them down for weekends and Trump’s private helicopter to ferry them from the airport to the beach.
And that should just be for openers. Trump’s offer to pay the Atlantic City contractors a mere $20 million in cash, the remaining $50 million coming over five years (without interest), should be rejected, with extreme prejudice; the offer is insulting to every working stiff and small businessperson in this country. Trump should be forced to pay the entire $70 million – now, before banks or junk-bond holders receive another dime of interest.
And if he refuses, the people of Philadelphia have an easy way to bring a little justice.
Take your gambling to his competitors. Or just stand on the Boardwalk and watch the contractor repossess the short-fingered vulgarian’s onion domes.
YES, THE PHILS TRADED HIM
FORGET IT, IT’S ANCIENT HISTORY
Memo to people who dial sports call-in shows and sports columnists on a slow day:
It is now clearly established that trading Ryne Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs eight years ago was a terrible idea. It was also a bad idea to trade Ferguson Jenkins to those very same Cubbies in 1966. Nor was it real smart for the Boston Red Sox to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919.
Now could we shut up about it? People might get the impression you’ve got nothing else to think about.