Oh man, even I could argue the case against in Fed court...which it will be.
May it please the court. If thee are tax exempt thou shalt not get jack from Caesar. The plaintiffs rest.
May it please the court. If thee are tax exempt thou shalt not get jack from Caesar. The plaintiffs rest.
Quote:Mike Pence Gonna Pay Pastors As Small 'Businesses' Because Isn't That What A Church Is?
Doktor Zoom
April 08, 2020 11:20 AM
Remember how Republicans shrieked that Democrats were trying to sneak a big pile of Liberal Agenda into the $2.2 trillion stimulus package? Well guess what else is in there? There's a big fat fuck you to the First Amendment, in the form of making churches eligible for taxpayer money to pay pastors idled by the social distancing orders that have shut down weekly services.
Under the portion of the bailout package aimed at helping small businesses, the Trump administration is clearing the way for direct government funding of religion, because what is the Establishment Clause anyway?
NPR explains this is all part of the administration's efforts to expand public funding of faith-based organizations; in 2018, for instance, FEMA decided churches and other places of worship could get disaster funds.
The new SBA program, however, takes federal funding of religious institutions significantly further. Under the new Paycheck Protection Program, businesses with fewer than 500 employees, including faith-based organizations, are eligible to receive loans of up to $10 million, with at least 75% of the money going to cover payroll costs. The loans are in large part forgivable, so churches and other houses of worship won't have to worry about paying all the money back.
Truly, it's a great victory for all those loons in the Religious Right who've insisted that since the phrase "wall of separation between church and state" isn't actually in the Constitution, then the concept isn't either.
This isn't any accidental loophole, either; as RightWingWatch explains, it was largely the result of lobbying by rightwing Jesus botherers who know they have a friend in St. Donald of Gilead. In a March 20 conference call with pastors, organized by the Family Research Council, Trump
reminded conservative pastors listening how much he was doing for them and called this year's election day "one of the biggest dates in the history of religion." He was followed on the call by Vice President Mike Pence, and FRC President Tony Perkins pushed Pence to let the pastors "hear it from your own lips" that he and Trump are "very concerned about the economic impact this is having on churches because of their partnership and the key role they play in the community."
https://www.wonkette.com/mike-pence-bailing-o...hm2hvEFxyI
I am not for seeing televangelists starve, but if you gonna play, you gotta pay. Some hypocrisy maybe?
