Tuesday, August 28, 2018

And NOW for some real news

In case you are interested in some real news.  The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501c non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Section 501(c organizations are the most common type of nonprofit organization in the United States, ranging from charitable foundations to universities and churches.   The Johnson Amendment prohibits section 501(c)(3) organizations from participating or intervening in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. An organization that violates the prohibition is subject to excise taxes,² loss of exemption, and a civil injunction. The President of the United States signed an Executive Order, no.13798, that says there is no desire on his part to enforce the current law of the land. In particular, the Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure, to the extent permitted by law, that the Department of the Treasury does not take any adverse action against any individual, house of worship, or other religious organization on the basis that such individual or organization speaks or has spoken about moral or political issues from a religious perspective, where speech of similar character has, consistent with law, not ordinarily been treated as participation or intervention in a political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) a candidate for public office by the Department of the Treasury.  Trump’s order says the IRS should not take action against churches that speak out on moral or political issues “where speech of similar character has, consistent with law, not ordinarily been treated as” campaign speech. In other words, the time-tested standard applies: Churches can speak out on political issues as long as they don’t endorse or oppose a specific candidate. Now, there are ways to deal with legislature you don't like or agree with. Primarily they require action by the legislature. That would be Congress, not the Executive branch. However, POTUS apparently does not feel particularly restrained by his oath of office. The fact that POTUS takes affirmative acts to not perform his duties is distressing enough, but there is more to the story. Recently, POTUS, speaking to a group of evangelical leaders at the White House on August 27, 2018, said he had done away with the Johnson Amendment. This is not true. He then proceeded to advocate the pulpit be used to promote and advocate for particular political candidates, specifically Republican, because, "You're one election away from losing everything that you've got,".
     We have a President who will lie, promote illegal activity, conspire to enable such activity, and dishonor the office in failing to abide by his oath.
     That's got to make you proud to be an American.  MAGA