Good one!

and religion monitoring the sermons and auditing the books to make sure they are following the law just like the inspectors do at your favorite restaurant. It doesn't have to be every day just like in restaurant just every now and then unless there are complaints just to make sure they are compliant. I would have the IRS audit their books every other year to verify their non-profit and tax free status as well.

causes.

The prohibitions are for endorsing specific candidates.

I doubt that you want to remove the tax status from your favorite organizations that advocate and lobby for causes your support.

sure that this privilege isn't abused and many right wing organizations have seen church as a place to promote their agenda because of the lack of oversight.

I think the IRS has been extremely lax and needs to get on this.

I just don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I'm thinking it would be very expensive.

with benefits and job security. We do need to create jobs and this is one way. Before the gangster caucus of the GOP cheated their way to cushy jobs in our government, undermining our government civil service organizations that served to administer services and enforce our laws we had a pretty good America in the cogs and wheels functions of our governments.

an awful lot of poor folks with that money….

You CAN petition Congress with the almighty dollar.

Are they all right wing or are some of them liberal/progressive?

So it is a religious organization? Interesting. Always thought it was just another PAC.

Political Action Committee...yeah you are 100 correct how ironically curious.

Council' and the rest. Tony Perkins, hate monger, is at #2. The 'Concerned Women' is an anti choice and anti feminist group.

This should have a thread of its own.

People are much more interested in an inflammatory headline and a totally misleading graphic.

The churches here in Texas are huge and do an incredible amount of charitable work in the communities as well (as do their members). They should face the same standards as other non-profits - no more or less.

this sucks.

wow!

Even earmarking a tithe for something frees up money for misuse through lobbying.

I do I go to the park and give it to a homeless person. I've decided to cut out the middle man since they seem to use my paltry $5 or $10 on postage and fliers to beg me for more money. I think the homeless person get more out of my contribution even if he spends it on wine or cigarettes.

someone very much in need. Sometimes it's to someone begging for help.

I'm not going to contribute to some huge salary of a preacher or upkeep of a big building for a church. It just doesn't mean anything to me, and that's after a long childhood of attending church. Our own financial position is tenuous.

Thanks for that. I need to make this a Frank Zappa weekend.

Yes, goddammit. Regulations NOW!!!!

They save about one hundred eighty dollars in taxes. Not a bad racket at all.

(pardon the pun)

when the President continued the obviously unconstitutional faith based initiatives. It was one of the President's first actions, or non-actions. At the time I thought, "My God, doesn't the President recognize how fundamentally wrong this is?"

who already claim that Obama is a socialist muslim, black liberation theologian christian, atheist, terrorist. (and say all of that exactly that way without a shred of irony)

Killing that program, Unconstitutional as it is, would have been like throwing gasoline on the fire of that whole mess.

This is corruption, pure and simple. Who gets the money???

FCNL.org It accounts for 3.6 million of that amount.

Here's our policy statement:

http://fcnl.org/assets/policy/policy2013.pdf

Just one snippet:

But don't you see this system is wide open to cash getting flung about to influence people.I may be wrong but I've heard that cheques are written out on the house floor to politicians to vote a certain way..maybe I've misheard this ??? Anyway religions should pay tax if they are going to butt into policy direction ...

501(c)(4) groups include a wide variety of groups - not just religious. The broad category is: Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees. This includes a lot of groups on all sides of the political spectrum. On the left, this includes MoveOn.org, NARAL, Bread for the World, Equality Ohio, just to name a few.

There is no reason to prohibit faith based organizations from the tax exempt status which is available to all other organizations (most of which are not faith based) which are willing to abide by the same restrictions on their activity.

Of donations to these groups...I am just highly sceptical of allowing groups set up for various causes becoming gravy trains for dubious CEO s and the like....seems a good career path to set up a religion(Scientology being a good example!!).Therfore as long as there is proper oversight I'm all for people getting helped out...I know politicians have bastardised the system to the extent they have too much say in what happens....again not a bad thing if the people involved are virtuous and true but that sounds like pissing into the wind...keep on trucking..

… and this is because they can.

My husband and I pay more taxes then General Motors does, while we're talking about something is wrong.

The burden of payment is unequal… If we're paying more than GE does and the churches get to lobby and MONEY is free speech, what can be NEXT?

"Give till it hurts to help the poor and needy, its what Jesus wants."

Then you build your very own little tax exempt kingdom with all the little ole ladies social security, food and rent money. Buy mansions, fancy SUV's, employ your whole family and pay them outrageous salaries. Build that MEGA-church monument to your own ego, buy diamond mines and TV networks that run 24/7 to reel in even more suckers. Sell books with ready made buyers and hawk it on reich wing radio and Fox "news".

Get even more filthy rich by "following" the man who said feed the hungry, care for the poor, heal the sick and not a word about getting paid for it or if they deserve it or not!

Who's disciples had no money but pooled everything they had and gave it to whoever needed it! Freakin socialists!

He also said to these false Christians, let he who is without sin cast the first stone and yet these sinning bastards make a rich living throwing stones 24/7.

And of course lobby the same government you call anti-Christ for even more tax breaks and special privileges!

-Laelth