On Churches In Politics, Trump Does . . . Nothing
Steve Chapman
On Churches In Politics, Trump Does … Nothing
May 8, 2017 4:53 pm
With hundreds of executive branch jobs yet to be filled, the Trump administration needs a lot of people. One person it especially needs is Goldilocks, who might save the president from his habit of doing too much or too little but seldom getting anything just right.
In the executive order he signed Thursday titled “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” Donald Trump had a rare opportunity to pursue a small yet significant change that would have accomplished both of his stated purposes. Instead, he ceremoniously unveiled a heaping platter of nothingburgers.
In February, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump extolled religious freedom and promised: “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that. Remember.”
If you’re not familiar with the Johnson Amendment, don’t feel bad. It’s safe to assume Trump wasn’t either until he ran for president. Enacted into law in 1954, it prohibits churches and other nonprofit organizations from taking part in political campaigns, on pain of losing their federal tax exemption.
The basic reason for it is sound. Political contributions are not tax-deductible, because Americans don’t want to indirectly subsidize them. If churches were allowed to engage in active electioneering, citizens could give money to churches to help their favored candidates and then deduct those “religious” donations on their 1040s.
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http://www.nationalmemo.com/churches-politics-trump-nothing/
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Getting rid of the Johnson Amendment means that churches could funnel unlimited amounts of tax free money into the most batshit crazy extreme far right candidates possible. It would be the end of liberalism. It would be the end of checks and balances. It would be the end of accountability. This is the last thing keeping the United States from being a totalitarian police state and we need to fight to keep it. This is fucking scary. 
