Following a leak of a few pages of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax return, which under post-Watergate reforms to the tax code may be a criminal act if the leak were made by a federal or state government employee, the left is hyperventilating that Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for some years because of a legal deduction called a “Net Operating Loss” carry-forward (NOL).

The NOL is just as appropriate and perfectly legal as the tax-exempt status given the two billion dollars collected by the Clinton Foundation, which funds the high-living travel and hotels of Bill Clinton and others in the Clinton inner circle. Unofficially, of course, Foundation money also funded access to Secretary of State Clinton. The Clintons have gun-toting Secret Service protection paid by federal taxpayer dollars. Even Hillary’s illegal Internet server was apparently paid by taxpayer dollars.

The Clintons are masters at escaping taxes (“Wealthy Clintons Use Trusts to Limit Estate Tax They Back”), or living off government. They made their millions being “of the government.” Unlike private sector entrepreneurs for whom the NOL was created to encourage investment in job-creating ventures, the Clintons are actual examples of Barack Obama’s famous quote, “You didn’t build that.”

Just with his real estate holdings Trump may have paid more in real estate taxes than what the Clintons have paid in all taxes combined. Add to that the government fees for building permits and such.

Trump also pays FICA taxes on the salaries of tens of thousands of employees. He pays an unemployment insurance tax, which is needed under the Obama-Clinton job-killing policies. The jobs created by Trump result in more people paying taxes. Hillary berates this as trickle-down economics. Tell that to the people who got the jobs. They are far better off than the record number of people receiving food stamps under Obama.

Add up the taxes paid by Trump at the state and local levels, then lump in the fees he paid to government and the taxes paid by or on behalf of his employees. Let’s see Bill and Hillary match that.

The website of the Rose Law Firm where Hillary once worked say they “focus[] on complex commercial business transactions and litigation, state and federal administrative law, estate and trust planning and administration, and state and federal tax planning and disputes. We represent clients in major business matters regionally, nationally, and internationally. The needs of business are our primary concern.” Certainly they would advise Trump to use his NOL.

Loudmouth Trump TV rival Mark Cuban said to the effect that it’s unpatriotic not to pay taxes. Cuban may release his tax returns to show how patriotic he is under that presupposition.

What Cuban is suggesting is not that Trump’s NOL under the tax code wasn’t appropriate, but that Trump should voluntarily pay the federal government -- with all its graft, fraud, waste, and abuse. That wouldn’t be patriotic; it would be foolish.