IRS Investigates Obama's Denomination

New York (AP) -- The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Barack Obama gave to its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president.

Agree, yet it still looks weak. She’s going to have to come up with something better.

The beginning, middle and end read like his typical stump speech. My bet is that the IRS can easily find a way to remove their non-profit status after reading statements like these:

It's been several months now since I announced I was running for president. In that time, I've had the chance to talk with Americans all across this country. And I've found that no matter where I am, or who I'm talking to, there's a common theme that emerges. It's that folks are hungry for change – they're hungry for something new. They're ready to turn the page on the old politics and the old policies – whether it's the war in Iraq or the health care crisis we're in, or a school system that's leaving too many kids behind despite the slogans....

That's why I've been fighting to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and the minimum wage. If you're working forty hours a week, you shouldn't be living in poverty. But we also know that government initiatives are not enough. Each of us in our own lives needs to do what we can to help the poor. And until we do, our conscience cannot rest....

Our conscience cannot rest so long as nearly 45 million Americans don't have health insurance and the millions more who do are going bankrupt trying to pay for it. I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2500 a year. That's not simply a matter of policy or ideology – it's a moral commitment....

And we should close Guantanamo Bay and stop tolerating the torture of our enemies....

But we also know our conscience cannot rest so long as the war goes on in Iraq. It's a war I'm proud I opposed from the start – a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged. I have a plan that would have already begun redeploying our troops with the goal of bringing all our combat brigades home by March 31st of next year. The President vetoed a similar plan, but he doesn't have the last word, and we're going to keep at it, until we bring this war to an end. Because the Iraq war is not just a security problem, it's a moral problem.

Excuse me, but the IRS is way out of line. I should be allowed to have anyone speak at my church on any subject the church feels like listening to.

Amen!

Preach it Brother xzins!

Who made up these rules about Churches and politics anyway?

IMHO it is a violation of the first amendment on both freedom of speech and free exercise grounds.

a violation of the first amendment on both freedom of speech and free exercise grounds.

Precisely. And we'll have a bunch of religion opponents sign onto the violation of the constitution and of the God-given principle of free speech/free religion just because they dislike religion. And democrat opponents for the same reason. And Obama opponents for the same reason.

Actually I'm hoping they throw the book at Obama;s Church and drive them into bankruptcy. Maybe then the Democrats might be willing to sign on to removing the restrictions on political speech in churches. It is a stupid law and needs to be changed. It has, in the past, only been used as a weapon against conservative churches, but if they start dropping the hammer on all these black churches, maybe someone will decide it is time to take this power away from the IRS.

You have a point, since it’s the system currently on the books. But, someone needs to be the voice pointing out what is the right direction once they see the stupidity of what they’re now doing.

The bottom line: if we didn’t have this income based tax system, this wouldn’t even be an issue.

Go back to tariffs and excises, the way the country was run up until the 20th century.

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