WhatFinger


But the real solution is a new tax code

Bill to repeal Johnson Amendment would mean your pastor can speak freely--without fear of the IRS



While the media seemed more interested in an off-the-cuff joke he made about Arnold Schwarzenegger, there was real substance that came out of President Trump's appearance on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast. Quite unlike his predecessor choosing to use this forum to tell Christians to "get off their high horses," Trump reiterated his commitment to repealing the Johnson Amendment.
What is that? It's a law passed in the 1950s that puts churches at risk of losing their tax-exempt status if pastors hold forth on politics from the pulpit, and sometimes even if they're not in the pulpit. Congressmen Jody Hice of Georgia and Steve Scalise of Louisiana have taken up the cause in Congress by introducing legislation that would get rid of the Johnson Amendment. From a press release from Hice's office:
Yesterday, Congressmen Jody Hice (GA-10) and Steve Scalise (LA-01) introduced H.R. 781, the Free Speech Fairness Act, which would amend the U.S. tax code to restore free speech for 501(c)(3) organizations including churches, nonprofits, and educational institutions, so long as they are (1) made in the ordinary course of the organization’s regular and customary activities in carrying out its tax-exempt purpose, and (2) any expenditure related to this are de minimis. A companion bill, S.264, was introduced by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) in the Senate. Congressman Hice released the following statement after the bill was introduced: “Our Nation was built on the foundation that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are unalienable rights. For too long, the IRS has used the Johnson Amendment to silence and threaten religious institutions and charitable entities. As a minister who has experienced intimidation from the IRS firsthand, I know just how important it is to ensure that our churches and nonprofit organizations are allowed the same fundamental rights as every citizen of this great Nation. I’m proud that our legislation accomplishes just that, because America is stronger and better when all of our citizens are free to express their convictions. I am also heartened that President Trump reaffirmed his commitment to repealing Johnson at this morning’s National Prayer Breakfast and look forward to working with him to make repeal a reality.”

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Now the Johnson Amendment has rarely been invoked, and some use that fact to argue that there's no particular urgency to get rid of it. But that fails to take into account the stifling effect the amendment has on pastors. They may not say what they want to say because they're too concerned about losing their tax exemption. In that respect, the Johnson Amendment may be "working," but is it really the sort of thing we want to be working? By the way, the effect of the amendment is decidedly bipartisan. For every conservative evangelical pastor who might want to encourage his congregation to vote Republican, there is an inner city Baptist or A.M.E. pastor who is being asked by the Democrats to help get out the vote. My position is that both should be free to do so without fear of harassment from the IRS. Having said that, my own preference is a pastor who leaves politics alone. I don't go to church to hear about government. I go to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached. I can decide for myself how to apply it to my politics. But that's a choice I can make with my feet. If a pastor wants to be political, and his congregation is OK with that, it's not the business of the IRS.

But the very need to deal with the Johnson Amendment points to a much larger issue, which is the tax code itself. I am often a lone voice in saying this, but I think churches would be better off if they operated as for-profit corporations and paid taxes. Why? Because once you've made a deal with the government to be exempt from taxation, you've agreed to abide by the government's rules - which can change on a whim, including the ideological whims of presidents and bureaucrats who don't much care for churches. When you pay your own way, you make your own rules. But that's virtually impossible for churches to do under the current tax code. Rates are too high and there is no way to navigate around them so you can operate with fiscal independence. What we need is a new tax code with simpler, lower rates based on gross income. That would allow churches to simply budget for a tiny percentage of their income to go to the federal government, and would leave them free to do whatever they want to do with the rest of the money - without fear that the IRS would come knocking down their doors for violating Washington's in-vogue speech codes of the moment. The day we get a tax code like that, the Johnson Amendment won't matter one way or the other. But we don't have that tax code today, so the bill offered by Congressmen Hice and Scalise deserves support.


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Dan Calabrese -- Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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