Trump businesses raking in at least 15 million a year from R groups and Fed Agencies

[Dragonlady]

Agent Orange claims he's giving all of his profits to charity and you believe that? Please - And let's not have another Trumpling yammer about how he gives his lousy 400k salary to charity.

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump’s U.S. businesses have received at least $15.1 million in revenue from political groups and federal agencies since 2015, according to a new report to be released Monday.

The money went to Trump’s airplanes, hotels, golf courses, even a bottled water company during the presidential campaign and the first 15 months of his presidency, according to a compilation of known records of the spending by Public Citizen obtained by McClatchy.​

Trump businesses made millions off Republican groups and federal agencies, report says

Nice huh? - And of course he's in Mar-a-Lago playing golf AGAIN this weekend at a cost to taxpayers of 3.6 million per trip. And the massive security force that accompanies him? Millions more in his pocket - Food, Rooms, etc etc etc. It's disgusting.

Gee. And how long has it been that an ACTUAL BUSINESS person has been President? You'll get used to working people being President. I'm over your fake ass outrage already..

Working??? He’s spends less time working than any President in history. He has “executive time” every morning. That’s when he watches TV.

He only works four days a week and then the goes golfing every weekend.

Trump has signed one major bill into law in the past 15 months.

He has made the Obama legacy a bad memory, plus he kept Hillary out of the white house. He is the man, mission accomplished!

Trump is riding on the coattails of Obama’s legacy - 7 years of exceptional job growth and the tripling of the stock market. If he had inherited the Bush economy the country would have descended into anarchy.

Your bar for success is the destruction of a strong economy and Trump hasn’t disappointed. Job growth has slowed substantially and the stock market is being destabilized as well. The deficit and the national debt are out of control.

Trump did promise to run the country the way he runs his businesses: outrageous amounts of debt, chaos, and then he declares bankruptcy and walks away from the mess he created with a pockful full of cash from the marks he fished into investing.

With the huge tax cut he gave himself, he’s right on track with that.

 

[depotoo]

It’s a continual debate with the left, not wanting anyone that is involved in business, so they can get their well seasoned politicians/community organizers into office, rather than successful businessmen as it is known they know what makes the economy tick and can make things better.

flac, Yes its a problem, you cant wear two hats at the same time. being president is a full time job. you cant promote your self & the country at the same time.

So no successful entrepreneur or business mogul need apply? I don't think so. Expecting hotels and properties to be divested is not in the cards. And only WHINERS complain about certain clientele playing golf or living in Manhattan being a "conflict" of ANY consequence to running the country and leading the world.

If you can point to a US presidency with even close to the self-promotion, profiteering and conflicts of interest as this one, we'd love to hear about him.

Trump's failure to divest shows dubious commitment to our nation

There's no way to divest. The banks, the partners, the contracts for naming rights are all in his name. You folks just don't know how things work. That's a regular leftist flaw in their arguments.

And you've YET to show a conflict of interest in merely paying RENT, renting a suite for a vacation, attending a conference at a Trump resort or paying for a hotel room..

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Yeah - He's awesome .. Inherit a couple hundred mil from Daddy then lie, cheat, steal, swindle and don't pay your bills. Then fail at literally everything you touch except for selling the tainted family name.

Not all that different from the Kennedys and yet they are worshiped

 

[DrLove]

Yeah - He's awesome .. Inherit a couple hundred mil from Daddy then lie, cheat, steal, swindle and don't pay your bills. Then fail at literally everything you touch except for selling the tainted family name.

Not all that different from the Kennedys and yet they are worshiped

The Kennedys were smart and read books and stuff. Yuuuge difference ;-)

 

[Roudy]

Well, at least he didn't commit treason by using his govt. position to make the Russians donate (bribe) 18 million to his charity so that they can buy and control US Uranium, like Bill and Hillary did, eh?

Repeating the Uranium One fairy tale in every thread from now until 2020 isn't gonna make it true.

And yet, despite your hissy fit the fact remains, the Russians did indeed give 18 million to the Clinton Foundation prior to the the US govt. deciding to sell its Uranium to the Russians.

Doesn't seem to bother any of the Libtards.

 

[Dragonlady]

It’s a continual debate with the left, not wanting anyone that is involved in business, so they can get their well seasoned politicians/community organizers into office, rather than successful businessmen as it is known they know what makes the economy tick and can make things better.

flac, Yes its a problem, you cant wear two hats at the same time. being president is a full time job. you cant promote your self & the country at the same time.

So no successful entrepreneur or business mogul need apply? I don't think so. Expecting hotels and properties to be divested is not in the cards. And only WHINERS complain about certain clientele playing golf or living in Manhattan being a "conflict" of ANY consequence to running the country and leading the world.

If you can point to a US presidency with even close to the self-promotion, profiteering and conflicts of interest as this one, we'd love to hear about him.

Trump's failure to divest shows dubious commitment to our nation

There's no way to divest. The banks, the partners, the contracts for naming rights are all in his name. You folks just don't know how things work. That's a regular leftist flaw in their arguments.

And you've YET to show a conflict of interest in merely paying RENT, renting a suite for a vacation, attending a conference at a Trump resort or paying for a hotel room..

Successful entrepreneurs have a great deal of difficulties working in government. They’re dealing with a whole other skill set that they don’t have.

The goal of a business is to make money. Profit is essential for survival not just for success.

That’s not the goal or the role of government. The role of government is to manage government services to the benefit of the people, and to provide a stable platform for businesses to operate. Profit is not the goal. Stability and safety is the desired outcome.

I used to think like you until I took a contract to work for the government’s property management company to clean up a mess of construction liens and holdbacks. It was eye opening to say the least.

The first thing I noticed was that 90% of the properties that had liens slapped on them, were being built by one contracting company. When I spoke to the project managers about these projects, I was told that there were myriad problems on all of their projects.

The company had never met a single “key performance indicator” on any project. Completion dates were missed, their work was shoddy and frequently had to be redone, there were cost overruns and they didn’t pay their subtrades. All these things added substantially to the cost of their projects.

When I spoke to the subcontractors who filed the liens, they said they hadn’t been paid for previous projects and that the contractor had promised they’d “make it up to them” on their next contract if they didn’t file a lien. Instead they were falling further behind and the contractor owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were done waiting.

In exasperation, I went to my boss and said “Why are we still doing business with these people?”. He looked st me, sighed and said “Public tendering”. As long as these jackasses submitted the lowest bid, the law said we had to give them the contract.

My boss, who had come from private business too, put a system in place to score builders on key performance indicators and if a company failed to achieve a minimum score on a project, they were barred from bidding on future contracts for two years. He actually succeeded in getting these jerks banned from bidding. The company sued the government for “unfair business practices” and not accepting their lowball bids.

A successful businessman would never do business with a company like this. When private businesses tender for contracts, there’s a disclaimer which says “The lowest bid may not be accepted”. Governments can’t do that.

 

[depotoo]

Oh, please. Always an excuse. Every successful businessman has had numerous failures first. It’s how the learn. Don’t give up after failure, learn from it, and move on.

Problem with most people,is they can’t handle the failures and move past them.

And you probably should have linked to the article you copy and pasted that from.

It’s a continual debate with the left, not wanting anyone that is involved in business, so they can get their well seasoned politicians/community organizers into office, rather than successful businessmen as it is known they know what makes the economy tick and can make things better.

flac, Yes its a problem, you cant wear two hats at the same time. being president is a full time job. you cant promote your self & the country at the same time.

So no successful entrepreneur or business mogul need apply? I don't think so. Expecting hotels and properties to be divested is not in the cards. And only WHINERS complain about certain clientele playing golf or living in Manhattan being a "conflict" of ANY consequence to running the country and leading the world.

If you can point to a US presidency with even close to the self-promotion, profiteering and conflicts of interest as this one, we'd love to hear about him.

Trump's failure to divest shows dubious commitment to our nation

There's no way to divest. The banks, the partners, the contracts for naming rights are all in his name. You folks just don't know how things work. That's a regular leftist flaw in their arguments.

And you've YET to show a conflict of interest in merely paying RENT, renting a suite for a vacation, attending a conference at a Trump resort or paying for a hotel room..

Successful entrepreneurs have a great deal of difficulties working in government. They’re dealing with a whole other skill set that they don’t have.

The goal of a business is to make money. Profit is essential for survival not just for success.

That’s not the goal or the role of government. The role of government is to manage government services to the benefit of the people, and to provide a stable platform for businesses to operate. Profit is not the goal. Stability and safety is the desired outcome.

I used to think like you until I took a contract to work for the government’s property management company to clean up a mess of construction liens and holdbacks. It was eye opening to say the least.

The first thing I noticed was that 90% of the properties that had liens slapped on them, were being built by one contracting company. When I spoke to the project managers about these projects, I was told that there were myriad problems on all of their projects.

The company had never met a single “key performance indicator” on any project. Completion dates were missed, their work was shoddy and frequently had to be redone, there were cost overruns and they didn’t pay their subtrades. All these things added substantially to the cost of their projects.

When I spoke to the subcontractors who filed the liens, they said they hadn’t been paid for previous projects and that the contractor had promised they’d “make it up to them” on their next contract if they didn’t file a lien. Instead they were falling further behind and the contractor owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were done waiting.

In exasperation, I went to my boss and said “Why are we still doing business with these people?”. He looked st me, sighed and said “Public tendering”. As long as these jackasses submitted the lowest bid, the law said we had to give them the contract.

My boss, who had come from private business too, put a system in place to score builders on key performance indicators and if a company failed to achieve a minimum score on a project, they were barred from bidding on future contracts for two years. He actually succeeded in getting these jerks banned from bidding. The company sued the government for “unfair business practices” and not accepting their lowball bids.

A successful businessman would never do business with a company like this. When private businesses tender for contracts, there’s a disclaimer which says “The lowest bid may not be accepted”. Governments can’t do that.

 

[DrLove]

Well, at least he didn't commit treason by using his govt. position to make the Russians donate (bribe) 18 million to his charity so that they can buy and control US Uranium, like Bill and Hillary did, eh?

Repeating the Uranium One fairy tale in every thread from now until 2020 isn't gonna make it true.

And yet, despite your hissy fit the fact remains, the Russians did indeed give 18 million to the Clinton Foundation prior to the the US govt. deciding to sell its Uranium to the Russians.

Doesn't seem to bother any of the Libtards.

No - Not that either

Bill Clinton did receive $500,000 to deliver a speech at a Russian bank that was promoting Uranium One stock, according to The New York Times, and the company’s chairman donated $2.35 million to the foundation in four installments as Uranium One was being acquired by Rosatum between 2009 and 2013.

All told, $145 million went to the Clinton Foundation from those linked to Uranium One and UrAsia, but it went to the charity organization and not the Clinton family. Furthermore, most of those donations occurred before and during Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, according to The Post.

Assessment: Yes, the foundation received money and Bill Clinton was paid to give a speech, but there’s no evidence the Clintons were paid by Russians to push through the uranium deal.​

 

[Flash]

Is that like Obama, Crooked Hillary and the filthy Democrats raking tens of millions for the greedy government unions?

Or is that more like when Obama got nice campaign bundles from the executives of Solyndra and then immediately gave Solyndra hundreds of millions in taxpayer's subsidies?

Maybe like Crooked Hillary arranging for the Russians to get 20% of our uranium in exchange for a few million dollars contribution to her money laundering foundation and a $500K speaking fee to Slick Willy by the bank that financed the deal?

 

[Dragonlady]

Oh, please. Always an excuse. Every successful businessman has had numerous failures first. It’s how the learn. Don’t give up after failure, learn from it, and move on.

Problem with most people,is they can’t handle the failures and move past them.

And you probably should have linked to the article you copy and pasted that from.

It’s a continual debate with the left, not wanting anyone that is involved in business, so they can get their well seasoned politicians/community organizers into office, rather than successful businessmen as it is known they know what makes the economy tick and can make things better.

So no successful entrepreneur or business mogul need apply? I don't think so. Expecting hotels and properties to be divested is not in the cards. And only WHINERS complain about certain clientele playing golf or living in Manhattan being a "conflict" of ANY consequence to running the country and leading the world.

If you can point to a US presidency with even close to the self-promotion, profiteering and conflicts of interest as this one, we'd love to hear about him.

Trump's failure to divest shows dubious commitment to our nation

There's no way to divest. The banks, the partners, the contracts for naming rights are all in his name. You folks just don't know how things work. That's a regular leftist flaw in their arguments.

And you've YET to show a conflict of interest in merely paying RENT, renting a suite for a vacation, attending a conference at a Trump resort or paying for a hotel room..

Successful entrepreneurs have a great deal of difficulties working in government. They’re dealing with a whole other skill set that they don’t have.

The goal of a business is to make money. Profit is essential for survival not just for success.

That’s not the goal or the role of government. The role of government is to manage government services to the benefit of the people, and to provide a stable platform for businesses to operate. Profit is not the goal. Stability and safety is the desired outcome.

I used to think like you until I took a contract to work for the government’s property management company to clean up a mess of construction liens and holdbacks. It was eye opening to say the least.

The first thing I noticed was that 90% of the properties that had liens slapped on them, were being built by one contracting company. When I spoke to the project managers about these projects, I was told that there were myriad problems on all of their projects.

The company had never met a single “key performance indicator” on any project. Completion dates were missed, their work was shoddy and frequently had to be redone, there were cost overruns and they didn’t pay their subtrades. All these things added substantially to the cost of their projects.

When I spoke to the subcontractors who filed the liens, they said they hadn’t been paid for previous projects and that the contractor had promised they’d “make it up to them” on their next contract if they didn’t file a lien. Instead they were falling further behind and the contractor owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were done waiting.

In exasperation, I went to my boss and said “Why are we still doing business with these people?”. He looked st me, sighed and said “Public tendering”. As long as these jackasses submitted the lowest bid, the law said we had to give them the contract.

My boss, who had come from private business too, put a system in place to score builders on key performance indicators and if a company failed to achieve a minimum score on a project, they were barred from bidding on future contracts for two years. He actually succeeded in getting these jerks banned from bidding. The company sued the government for “unfair business practices” and not accepting their lowball bids.

A successful businessman would never do business with a company like this. When private businesses tender for contracts, there’s a disclaimer which says “The lowest bid may not be accepted”. Governments can’t do that.

This isn’t from an article. This is what happened to me when I worked for the Ontario Realty Corporation. This happened in late 2009/early 2010. I worked for ORC from June 2009 to January 2010 (6 month contract). At this point I can’t even remember the name of the construction company.

 

[flacaltenn]

Where there's a will to divest there's a way. Sadly there was no will to provide even the APPEARANCE of legitimacy. Hell, he was promoting his properties on Whitehouse.gov before getting called on it bigly. And of course, Ivanka attended the meeting with the Chinese right after the election and magically getting several new patents approved a few days later.

Youre list of gripes here is NEARLY as long as Hillary's. Both the Constitution and the SANE American people are NOT demanding that business people BLOW UP their life's work to serve in Govt. It's a demand YOURE making because the guy owns your head..

If it was Elon Musk or Bezos --- NO ONE would be demanding he "divest". Only that he appoints appropriate management and doesn't ACTIVELY participate in day to day operations..

 

[flacaltenn]

Agent Orange claims he's giving all of his profits to charity and you believe that? Please - And let's not have another Trumpling yammer about how he gives his lousy 400k salary to charity.

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump’s U.S. businesses have received at least $15.1 million in revenue from political groups and federal agencies since 2015, according to a new report to be released Monday.

The money went to Trump’s airplanes, hotels, golf courses, even a bottled water company during the presidential campaign and the first 15 months of his presidency, according to a compilation of known records of the spending by Public Citizen obtained by McClatchy.​

Trump businesses made millions off Republican groups and federal agencies, report says

Nice huh? - And of course he's in Mar-a-Lago playing golf AGAIN this weekend at a cost to taxpayers of 3.6 million per trip. And the massive security force that accompanies him? Millions more in his pocket - Food, Rooms, etc etc etc. It's disgusting.

Gee. And how long has it been that an ACTUAL BUSINESS person has been President? You'll get used to working people being President. I'm over your fake ass outrage already..

Working??? He’s spends less time working than any President in history. He has “executive time” every morning. That’s when he watches TV.

He only works four days a week and then the goes golfing every weekend.

Trump has signed one major bill into law in the past 15 months.

Russia Russia Russia. Gripe Gripe Gripe. Objectively he's one of the most VISIBLE hardest working Prez in a long time. WHAT HE WORKS on may not acceptable to you. But he is as effective as he can be under the coup atmosphere that surrounds him..

Korea, trade, regulations --- most of that doesn't require Congress. But it's happening to some extent.

 

[Roudy]

Well, at least he didn't commit treason by using his govt. position to make the Russians donate (bribe) 18 million to his charity so that they can buy and control US Uranium, like Bill and Hillary did, eh?

Repeating the Uranium One fairy tale in every thread from now until 2020 isn't gonna make it true.

And yet, despite your hissy fit the fact remains, the Russians did indeed give 18 million to the Clinton Foundation prior to the the US govt. deciding to sell its Uranium to the Russians.

Doesn't seem to bother any of the Libtards.

No - Not that either

Bill Clinton did receive $500,000 to deliver a speech at a Russian bank that was promoting Uranium One stock, according to The New York Times, and the company’s chairman donated $2.35 million to the foundation in four installments as Uranium One was being acquired by Rosatum between 2009 and 2013.

All told, $145 million went to the Clinton Foundation from those linked to Uranium One and UrAsia, but it went to the charity organization and not the Clinton family. Furthermore, most of those donations occurred before and during Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, according to The Post.

Assessment: Yes, the foundation received money and Bill Clinton was paid to give a speech, but there’s no evidence the Clintons were paid by Russians to push through the uranium deal.​

Wrong again, actually it was my bad, the crooked Hillary and Bill received 145 million from the Russians, among other treasonous acts, such as Bill receiving 500,000 per speech from the Russians. And let's not forget the fake Russian dossier, in essence a criminal conspiracy involving FBI, CIA, and ex Obama officials which Hillary and the Dems paid 12 Million to then use it to set up and spy on an opposing candidate. Basi ally totally undermining our democracy and constitution and turning it into a police state.

But never mind all of that, it's Trump and his campaign that colluded. Ya gotta love it!

Bill and Hillary Clinton should be investigated

The New York Times reported in 2015 that "shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, [former President Bill] Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock." In total, $145 million went to the Clinton Foundation from interests linked to Uranium One, which was acquired by the Russian government nuclear agency Rosatum.

Think that was just a coincidence? As former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy points out, the Uranium One deal is not a national security scandal, it is a corruption scandal involving "Clinton family self-dealing." Ask yourself: How many half-a-million-dollar speeches has Bill Clinton given to Kremlin-linked banks since Hillary Clinton was defeated? How much Russian money is flowing into the Clinton Foundation's coffers today? If Donald Trump had given a $500,000 speech paid for by a Kremlin bank, and his private foundation had accepted $145 million from Vladimir Putin-linked oligarchs and their Western business partners, do you think that his critics would be insisting there was nothing to see here?

A look at Hillary Clinton's time as first lady, U.S. senator, secretary of state and a Democratic candidate for president.

Then there is Tony Podesta. It is now front-page news that Podesta has been forced to step down from his soon-to-be-defunct lobbying firm, the Podesta Group, after being ensnared in the same scandal that led to the indictment of Trump campaign aides Manafort and Gates. The Podesta Group failed to register as a foreign agent for Russian interests while lobbying on behalf of the European Center for a Modern Ukraine — a front group that Mueller's indictment says was "under the ultimate direction" of Ukraine's Putin-backed president and his political party.

 

[Dragonlady]

Cheney refused to divest himself of his Halliburton stock. W’s administration funnelled billions of dollars in untendered government contracts to Halliburton for the supply of troops in Iraq and for clean up and reconstruction of damaged in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina at home.

Rumsfeld had significant holding in the company which manufactures Tamiflu and the Defence Department under Rumsfeld spent millions stockpiling the drug in the wake of the avian flu scare in 2005.

But Trump has raised pilfering from the public purse to an art form. When Melania was staying in New York, the Secret Service rented an apartment in Trump Tower for her protection detail.

He doubled initiation fees at Mar-a-lago and the other East Coast golf resorts he frequents on weekends.

Chump bills the Treasury
for the rooms, meals and golf cart rentals for the Secret Service when he goes to his golf resorts.

Roudy says that Chump is a billionaire who has no need to take advantage of the American people and doesn’t need the money and yet he has used Trump properties at every turn for his campaign events, vacations and even state visits, billing the RNC, his campaign and the US Treasury for more than $15 million dollars since the election. All while making a big show of turning down his Presidential salary. And that’s on top of the HUGE tax cut he gave himself.

The US needs a Constituonal Amending requiring the president to divest himself of all his business interests if elected.

 

[DrLove]

Wrong again, actually it was my bad, the crooked Hillary and Bill received 145 million from the Russians, among other treasonous acts, such as Bill receiving 500,000 per speech from the Russians. And let's not forget the fake Russian dossier, in essence a criminal conspiracy involving FBI, CIA, and ex Obama officials which Hillary and the Dems paid 12 Million to then use it to set up and spy on an opposing candidate. Basi ally totally undermining our democracy and constitution and turning it into a police state.

Clinton card denied - Do not pass go - Do NOT collect $200 - Proceed directly to jail!

 

[DrLove]

Youre list of gripes here is NEARLY as long as Hillary's. Both the Constitution and the SANE American people are NOT demanding that business people BLOW UP their life's work to serve in Govt. It's a demand YOURE making because the guy owns your head..

If it was Elon Musk or Bezos --- NO ONE would be demanding he "divest". Only that he appoints appropriate management and doesn't ACTIVELY participate in day to day operations..

Let me know when Musk or Bezos becomes President of the United States.

I will hold them to the SAME STANDARD

 

[flacaltenn]

Youre list of gripes here is NEARLY as long as Hillary's. Both the Constitution and the SANE American people are NOT demanding that business people BLOW UP their life's work to serve in Govt. It's a demand YOURE making because the guy owns your head..

If it was Elon Musk or Bezos --- NO ONE would be demanding he "divest". Only that he appoints appropriate management and doesn't ACTIVELY participate in day to day operations..

Let me know when Musk or Bezos becomes President of the United States.

I will hold them to the SAME STANDARD

Not if they are your candidate with a (D) after their names. I'd be absolutely FLOORED if you did that.

 

[DrLove]

Youre list of gripes here is NEARLY as long as Hillary's. Both the Constitution and the SANE American people are NOT demanding that business people BLOW UP their life's work to serve in Govt. It's a demand YOURE making because the guy owns your head..

If it was Elon Musk or Bezos --- NO ONE would be demanding he "divest". Only that he appoints appropriate management and doesn't ACTIVELY participate in day to day operations..

Let me know when Musk or Bezos becomes President of the United States.

I will hold them to the SAME STANDARD

Not if they are your candidate with a (D) after their names. I'd be absolutely FLOORED if you did that.

Fair point I suppose. I voted INDY in the last election and am registered as such.

What else you got?

 

[Dragonlady]

Youre list of gripes here is NEARLY as long as Hillary's. Both the Constitution and the SANE American people are NOT demanding that business people BLOW UP their life's work to serve in Govt. It's a demand YOURE making because the guy owns your head..

If it was Elon Musk or Bezos --- NO ONE would be demanding he "divest". Only that he appoints appropriate management and doesn't ACTIVELY participate in day to day operations..

Let me know when Musk or Bezos becomes President of the United States.

I will hold them to the SAME STANDARD

Not if they are your candidate with a (D) after their names. I'd be absolutely FLOORED if you did that.

Name one Democrat who was elected President who refused to either divest his assets or place his assets in a blind trust.

Even George W Bush, who lead the most corrupt administration in my lifetime prior to this this one, divested himself of his beloved Texas Rangers baseball team. A man hath no greater love for his country that he would sell his baseball team for his country. If I owned the Blue Jays, they’d have to pry them from my cold dead hands before I’d sell them.

Name one candidate for President from either party who refused to make his tax returns public.

Name one President from either party who used the office of the Presidency to enrich himself and his family while he was in office.

 

[Oldstyle]

Yeah - He's awesome .. Inherit a couple hundred mil from Daddy then lie, cheat, steal, swindle and don't pay your bills. Then fail at literally everything you touch except for selling the tainted family name.

Not all that different from the Kennedys and yet they are worshiped

The Kennedys were smart and read books and stuff. Yuuuge difference ;-)

Maybe a few generations ago they were...but the ones after JFK, Bobby and Ted were dumb as rocks! They get by on the Kennedy name.