Sunday, August 05, 2007

Rich churches

Religions are among the most wealthy organizations in the world. They are exempt from income taxes because they are (in theory) charitable organizations. They were originally exempted in the US because we did not want to give government the power to tax a church or churches out of existence. The exemption has gone well past this mark.

I pass a local church with a building that will seat several thousand people. The "minister" has an expensive new car (a Lincoln Town Car), and lives in a small mansion. Don't misunderstand: I don't begrudge him/her making a high salary because the minister is obviously a talented speaker and is valued highly by his "flock". I begrudge him/her being paid out of tax-exempt funding, essentially at the expense of those of us who do pay taxes.

I have a modest proposal. How about churches pay income tax on 1) everything they EARN as a church, through investments, land sales and the like; and 2) everything they take in that is in excess of legitimate expenses and building funds. They should be donating excess funds to the poor, or to charitable institutions, or providing medical assistance. They should NOT be allowed to invest excess funds in the stock market or real estate market or whatever. They are NOT businesses, but they act like them, so let them pay taxes like other businesses.

That would be a lot of money.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous7:32 AM

    There must be something done about the swelling population of unwanted children---they are noisy and wild. It cost the welfare department 50 thousand dollars to raise a child to maturity while their mothers sit at home watching television and munching on candy bars. Many of those children wind up in prison or spend most of their life in drug rehabilitation centers. If nothing is quickly done the quality of civilized life will be down to zero and the treasury will be broke. One thousand dollars as a bonus to pregnant women to have an abortion would be a big savings and good start to save our quality of life. That is why an abortion bonus should immediately be given to women with an unwanted pregnancy.

    There are millions of parasites that profit from unwanted children. Employers who need low wage workers have their pick because the unwanted do not have the parental guidance needed to obtain a proper education. The vast majority of law breakers are products of unwanted births. Prisons would be out of business if abortion bonuses were available. Church leaders whose shelters and soup kitchens are filled with unfortunates are against abortion---they fear losing their followers. There are many people that want our nation full of unwanted children, most are interested only in monetary gain. As long as the government is blind and supports welfare mothers we will continue undermining our nation. But there is a solution for this tragedy--- the immediate passage of a law offering a one thousand dollar bonus for women that abort their pregnancy. It will produce quieter streets and save the welfare system and tax payers billions of dollars.

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