Posted on 09/16/2006 8:12:50 AM PDT by oxcart
LOS ANGELES — The Internal Revenue Service has ordered a prominent liberal church to turn over documents and e-mails it produced during the 2004 election year that contain references to political candidates.
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The IRS is investigating whether All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena violated the federal tax code when its former rector, Rev. George F. Regas, delivered an anti-war sermon on the eve of the last presidential election.
Tax-exempt organizations are barred from intervening in political campaigns and elections, and the church could lose its tax-exempt status.
Rev. Ed Bacon received a summons Thursday ordering the church to present any politically charged sermons, newsletters and electronic communications by Sept 29.
Bacon was ordered to testify before IRS officials Oct. 11. He said he will inform his roughly 3,500 congregants about the investigation at Sunday's services, and will seek their advice on whether to comply.
"There is a lot at stake here," Bacon said. "If the IRS prevails, it will have a chilling effect on the practice of religion in America."
An IRS spokesperson declined comment on the investigation.
In a sermon two days before the 2004 election, Regas did not urge parishioners to support President Bush or challenger John Kerry but was critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts, Bacon said in an interview last November when the investigation was announced.
"He explicitly said, 'I am not telling you how to vote.' That is the golden boundary we did not cross," he said.
All Saints has a long history of social activism, dating back to World War II, when its rector spoke out against the internment of Japanese Americans. Regas, who headed the church for 28 years before retiring in 1995, was well-known for opposing the Vietnam War, championing female clergy and supporting gays and lesbians in the church.
The IRS has revoked a church's charitable designation at least once. A church in Binghamton, N.Y., lost its status after running advertisements against Bill Clinton's candidacy before the 1992 presidential election.
Thanks to LBJ for making tax-exemption status contingent on the whim from the IRS. Well technically a church is automatically exempt, but Churches mistakenly categorize themself as a 401c3 organization so they are under the IRS.
This is sweet irony, because neoliberals thought/hoped a bunch of conservative churches would get busted for doing this, but, alas, it's their own. Seems they were projecting yet again.
Actually - 501C3 but true. Churches need to trust in the Lord for their support not some tax exempt status. It's time for ending the affiliation - next thing you know the church will be getting the PC sermon each week from the govt.
And if you can't tithe or donate unless you get credit from the IRS you shouldn't be in church.
bump
In a sermon two days before the 2004 election, Regas did not urge parishioners to support President Bush or challenger John Kerry but was critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts
Yet another instance of government exceeding the boundries laid down by the 1st amendment.
Wonder what part of "Congress shall not make law ... abridging freedom of speech" the Congress and the IRS that works for them fail to understand.
Political speech of all speech is clearly that meant to be most protected under the Bill of Rights. We may not agree with the content of such speech but to deny the right of one is to deny the rights of us all in speaking our piece in "peaceful assembly and petition of grievence" what ever that grievence may be.
To use tax law to regulate speech exceeds even the express purpose of laying and collecting taxes under Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution of paying the costs of national government.
If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all federal income, SS/Medicare payroll, and gift/estate taxes outright replacing them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.Refer for additional information:
One more reason that the slave tax has to go.
It's time for 100,000+ IRS agents to find honest work.
I hear rumors that there's a shortage of people patrolling the borders...
I never thought of that. The sight of a hundred thousand former IRS employees on the border would probably scare would-be crossers all the way to Guatamala.
You can bet yur bippy on that one!!!
;-)
As soon as a church signs that damned paper, placing their worship at the altar of IRS ....
What was that commandment? THOU SHALT NOT .....
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. I think it would take more than an anti-war sermon to pique the interest of the IRS.
More here than meets the eye.
In the beginning God created man in his own image.
Today man has returned the favor.
This affects churches on both sides of the political spectrum. If churches want to endorse candidates or other political matters, they should not declare themselves as non-profits. They are protected in many ways other than as a 501c3 organization. Getting that status brings the IRS into the picture.
Don't file for that status and speak out however you want.
Get rid of the income tax and those whole mess becomes moot.
Get rid of the income tax and those whole mess becomes moot.
My point exactly.
The Income Tax is not merely for the aquisition of revenue, as many other forms of taxation will do equally as well if not better at that job. The Income Tax exists for one overwhelming purpose and that is to maintain the populace in a constant state of legal jeopardy, a political tool for
molding the electorate into opposing factions,
rewarding political friends through targeted exceptions and credits
punishing political enemies through punitive tax rates and expensive legal harrassments; and
hiding the full cost of government from the perceptions of the electorate.
As such, a particular individual may not pay tax or even need to file a return. Even at nil tax rates on the individual income tax, the legal jeopardy remains in place to be imposed at political whim.
Until the income tax statutes are repealed, and then outlawed by Constitutional Amendment, the income tax will remain to be used for its true intents are those of a political instrument having more to do with political control and social engineering than generating revenue for the federal government.
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The Politics of Taxtion Who Pays What, When, How In the twentieth century, the income tax has been the principal source of revenue of the U.S. government. The great revenue brought in by the income tax financed two world-wide military campaigns and made possible (with payroll taxes) the establishment of a social welfare state in the 1930s. The post-New Deal American state has been funded largely through the income tax. Because of the centrality of income taxation in public finance, the politics of the income tax is the politics of revenue in the United States. The particular structure of the income tax is a constant concern of federal policymakers, as well as an army of Washington lobbyists representing special interests jockeying for political favors bestowed through the tax code. The many exemptions, deductions, credits, and social policies written into the tax laws express political decisions and bargains—just as appropriations in the federal budget express political decisions and bargains over funding particular public policies and programs. As such, the federal income tax is a political instrument that effects an authoritative allocation of resources. |
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