Comments on: FDL Book Salon Welcomes Mitchell Gold – Crisis: Growing up Gay in America

By: ratfood

ratfood — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:38:03 +0000

That one of the tactics Rove came up with to get out the evangelical vote.

By: Valley Girl

Valley Girl — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:37:51 +0000

http://firedoglake.com/2008/11.....tolerance/

By: Valley Girl

Valley Girl — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:35:53 +0000

Ian has a new post up about Mormons and Prop 8. brb with the link.

By: Boston1775

Boston1775 — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:33:53 +0000

they. receive. taxpayer dollars. for bush. determined. faith. based. initiatives.

By: ratfood

ratfood — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:31:12 +0000

No argument here. That is what I have been saying. Taxing churches amounts to political suicide.

By: ratfood

ratfood — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:29:50 +0000

The churches have always danced around the tax laws and the IRS lets them get away with it and it’s not the result of a unilateral decision on the part of the IRS. Politicians know that a majority of voters can be trusted to ignore most of what they do but start holding their preferred religious institutions accountable and you’ll be faced with one angry electorate.

Personally, I wouldn’t care if a church building and the ground it sits on were exempt, every other church property or financial asset should be taxed like everybody else.

By: brenda

brenda — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:29:43 +0000

they bank on POLITICIANS being afraid to revoke their tax-exempt status.

For good reason. America is the most religious country on earth. What happens the day after the Democrats revoke the tax exempt status for the Catholic church? Huh? Anyone? Don’t you think these things through? What happens the next day?

Well I’ll tell you, you can kiss your party goodbye forever. No democrat will hold political office anywhere, ever again.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:26:28 +0000

Everyone has techniques that work for them. Yours work for you. I personally have no interest in going up against any church anywhere – as an accountant, my interest is in their Accounts/Payable Department..the people who collect the check requests and invoices and pay the bills, either through checks, cash or with electronic funds transfer. Every organized AP department has a highly organized system of doing this, with lots and lots and lots of documentation and paper trails. These departments just need to be audited..that is all. If they did not initiate and pay for these activities, then..no harm, no foul. Everyone shakes hands and we all go have coffee. If they did, then they lost their not-for-profit status and have to pay federal and state income taxes on every dollar they take in. Simple as that. God, Belief, Moroni, Angels, Gabriel and his golden trumpet..none of that is in the mix. Just debits to xxx expense and credits to cash. that…is…all.

By: Valley Girl

Valley Girl — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:24:11 +0000

Raven- interesting perspective. I had never thought of it that way, but, I gotta say my first reaction is “hmmm…. aHa!” thanks.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:19:59 +0000

ratfood — provided Obama makes sure that the IRS does Not get politicized(unlike Dick Nixon), it will be the grey-skinned accountants and lawyers of the IRS who will be delivering their decisions on the LDS church in Salt Lake City. Not politicians. As a matter of fact, I think that the IRS has a major office in Salt Lake City(it might be Denver, actually but definitely close), so it will be extremely convenient for the auditors to travel to the headquarters and impound the financial records of the LDS. With a good set of nice boring auditors who know their stuff, some computer programs and a bit of time, they should be able to pick that place apart like a roasted chicken.