Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
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Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#2It's a business, like any other--it just sells something that cannot be redeemed until after death. Let's pull back tax benefits for religious institutions and treat them the same as the rest.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#3It's a business, like any other--it just sells something that cannot be redeemed until after death. Let's pull back tax benefits for religious institutions and treat them the same as the rest.
It's not just like any other though, it already recieves huge tax relief. Not to mention the esitmated worth in 2018 at least was 30 Billion $
> The Internal Revenue Service automatically considers churches exempt. The reasoning behind making churches tax-exempt and unburdened by IRS procedures stems from a First Amendment-based concern to prevent government involvement with religion.
So it's okay not to pay taxes, but it can petition to recieve some. Doesn't add up.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#4It’s not a monolithic financial institution in the U.S.
It’s a large array of individually operating entities providing local food banks etc.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#5Tax them.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#6The news peg for this particular story (i.e. why the Catholic Church and not all denominations) is ostensibly the Church's ongoing legal battle and settlements re: clergy sexual abuse, but also the fact that the church's lobbying arm successfully argued an exception for religious organizations to not be disqualified under the rule's dictate "that only businesses with fewer than 500 employees, including at all subsidiaries, are eligible.":
> The Catholic News Service reported that the bishops’ conference and several major Catholic nonprofit agencies worked throughout the week of March 30 to ensure that the “unique nature of the entities would not make them ineligible for the program” because of how SBA defines a “small” business. Those conversations came just days after President Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which included the Paycheck Protection Program.
> In addition, federal records show the Los Angeles archdiocese, whose leader heads the bishops’ conference, paid $20,000 to lobby the U.S. Senate and House on “eligibility for non-profits” under the CARES Act. The records also show that Catholic Charities USA, a social service arm of the church with member agencies in dioceses across the country, paid another $30,000 to lobby on the act and other issues.
Also, the Catholic Church is just fundamentally a more hierarchical and unified institution compared to other denominations. Sure, other denominations have dioceses and bishops, but not as rigidly structured as Catholicism, e.g. cardinals who work directly with the Pope.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#7It's a business, like any other--it just sells something that cannot be redeemed until after death. Let's pull back tax benefits for religious institutions and treat them the same as the rest.
It's not just like any other though, it already recieves huge tax relief. Not to mention the esitmated worth in 2018 at least was 30 Billion $ > The Internal Revenue Service automatically considers churches exempt. The reasoning behind making churches tax-exempt and unburdened by IRS procedures stems from a First Amendment-based concern to prevent government involvement with religion. So it's okay not to pay taxes, b…
This is some contorted logic. "We will not privilege religion, so we will give a privileged tax exempt status to religion".
Ha, nice, the Satanic Temple is also tax exempt [1].
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#8I'm not surprised they made an exception to allow the church to gain funds despite having more than 500 employees but did not require companies with more than 500 employees to provide sick leave for corona. Classic corruption. Send the funds to our rich rapist (proven not alleged in this case) friends while Americans are starving and getting evicted in the streets while sick because they have no sick days or financial support. Many people are still waiting for their first unemployment check from March but not to worry, the church won't go out of business and little kids will continue to be raped by priests. We have our priorities straight in America. Clearly raping kids is more important than feeding, sheltering, or providing sick leave for ordinary Americans. Message received loud and clear.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#9It’s not a monolithic financial institution in the U.S. It’s a large array of individually operating entities providing local food banks etc.
It's a long running MLM selling "eternal salvation" and spending a tiny percentage of it's revenues on charity for PR cover.
Re: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
#10It's a business, like any other--it just sells something that cannot be redeemed until after death. Let's pull back tax benefits for religious institutions and treat them the same as the rest.
It's not just like any other though, it already recieves huge tax relief. Not to mention the esitmated worth in 2018 at least was 30 Billion $ > The Internal Revenue Service automatically considers churches exempt. The reasoning behind making churches tax-exempt and unburdened by IRS procedures stems from a First Amendment-based concern to prevent government involvement with religion. So it's okay not to pay taxes, b…
They aren't given tax relief. They aren't paying the thief like the rest of us.