Posted on 05/04/2017 1:43:21 PM PDT by Coronal
Fresh on the heels of a budget deal that fully funds Planned Parenthood, Donald Trump has signed a religious-liberty executive order that — if reports are correct — is constitutionally dubious, dangerously misleading, and ultimately harmful to the very cause that it purports to protect. In fact, he should tear it up, not start over, and do the actual real statutory and regulatory work that truly protects religious liberty.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Then that’s stupid as hell. Every indicator is Trump will do more than anyone to addtess all of these. French belongs in the nation he is named after.
Then that’s HUGE and a total 180 from previous administration.
David French? on FR? for real? what a looney toon. Trump takes action because Congress won’t, and French complains Congress won’t and blames Trump. Get a life, French. Out of politics preferably
“Ha ha ha ha ha oh stop it frenchie, you’re killing me! Ha ha ha ha It is you and the douche bags you work with that are useless so GFY!”
How so?
Anyway, this EO is really odd and largely unnecessary.
It focuses on the Johnson Amendment, which is rarely if ever enforced. And it directs the IRS to rarely, if ever, enforce it.
I don’t love the idea of the executive branch making the implicit ignoring of a law explicit. It’s not a great precedent to set in my view.
The Johnson Amendment hasn’t been repealed, it just requires that the government apply the law to churches in the same way that it applies to other 501(c)(3) organizations.
It states that “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.”
The Johnson Amendment is never really enforced.
In a weird way, this could have the opposite effect of driving enforcing of the Johnson Amendment.
I’m not actually sure how a cause of action would be generated here, but a decision stating that the executive branch does not have the authority to “refuse” to enforce a law could lead to, well, actual enforcement.
My understanding is that a lot of churches like the Johnson Amendment. It gives them an excuse to stay out of politics, which can only lead to a church split.
I agree. Repeal Johnson Amendment.But more importantly let Churches quit serving Mammon and speak out boldly on political issues AND politicians. They may lose tax benefits, as will their donors, but oh well. The First Amendment will protect them.
People here complained incessantly about Obama doing it for years.
In a way, he was clever enough to never actually codify it, because at that point, it can be challenged in court.
Though the ACLU has just announced that they aren’t challenging this, because it doesn’t really do anything.
Black Preachers never feared IRS going after them but White and Conservative preachers have had problems, Falwell, Graham have had problems, I have heard that threats were made to many ministries. They were not imagining it.
This is trouble for Dems, the organizing they did with AA just 12% of the population will now potentially be done with another 40% to 50% of the electorate who are Christians. Maybe now Dems won’t find it so easy to make jokes about Christians so often.
Now the Silent majority can speak and do so without fear of losing tax exempt status. Hooray
House Republicans voted today to approve a bill that would defund to Planned Parenthood abortion business.
This was the second attempt to get enough votes on the reconciliation bill that would not only defund the nation’s biggest abortion corporation but also repeal major portions of Obamacare. The first attempt to pass the bill saw liberal Republicans oppose the repealing Obamacare portion and conservative Republicans not happy as well because it did not repeal Obamacare fully. Republican leaders reworked the legislation, called the American Health Care Act, and Republicans passed the measure today despite Democrat objections.
sorry...i was responding to his opening sentence...
I know there was no defund in the budget. I was using the health care crappola and there really isn’t a defund in that either.
so, I’ll just shut up now.
Link is useless. Does not work.
It will take legislation to undo the Johnson Amendment, not an EO. Trump’s actions are harmless theater, although he can set the tone for how the federal government will view religions freedom and not prosecute it.
I’m still pissed that he didn’t undo the fascist EO from Obama on sexual orientation mandates for contractors. That would have gone a LONG way.
Does the link work for you?
David French is a rabid anti-trumper
A new law would be filibustered by Democrats. Therefore, the executive order is as good as we get for now. VP Pence, a solid conservative Christian, pushed hard for this. I’ll accept his belief that this is important.
That said, iirc, the author of this article, David French, was a spiteful never-Trumper.
The LBJ amendment is clearly unconstitutional in that it limits the ability of a church to speak freely from the pulpit without threat of government retaliation. It is clearly a violation of the free exercise clause.
BTW limiting the right of any individual or company from speaking freely about politics is a clear violation of the free speech clause. The government can’t do by regulatory policy that which the Constitution prohibits it from doing by law. The first amendment is pretty clear when it says Congress shall make no law....
None of the people who French supported would have done anything about this.
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