Back in June, 216, Donald Trump met with so-called evangelical Christian "leaders" - many head up hate groups that parade as "family values" organizations - and promised them a wish list that included not only an offensive against LGBT rights (something Trump and Jeff Sessions have already been delivering on) but a promise to allow churches, especially, right wing churches, to engage in political endorsements and other activities banned under the so-called Johnson Amendment that prohibits tax-exempt "charities" - a term I personally think should not apply to churches - from political activities. Now, in the Republican tax bill - which has much to dislike and oppose - seeks to deliver on this promise to Christofascists. If enacted, this would give a double gift to right wing plutocrats as well as hate merchants who wrap themselves in religion: donors can take a charitable deduction for the "gift" to the church and then the church can engage in political activities against candidates who oppose the Christofascists' divisive, often racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic agenda. A piece in
Salon looks at this insidious effort. Here are highlights:
There's no doubt
that the main purpose of the Republican tax bill, in both its House and Senate
forms, is to slash taxes for corporations and the rich while making the rest of
the country pay for it. But Republicans are also stuffing a wish list of
right-wing goals into the bill. One provision of the House legislation that has
gotten relatively little media attention has the potential to drastically
remake our campaign finance system, and tilt the already unfair playing field
even further toward the Republicans.
Ever since 1954,
a legislative add-on known as the Johnson Amendment has
prevented charities, social welfare organizations and, perhaps most
importantly, churches from endorsing candidates. Such institutions may lose
their tax-exempt status if they engage in electioneering. The House bill would
functionally dismantle the Johnson Amendment, thereby opening the door to
pastors endorsing candidates from the pulpits and for charities large and small
-- even the Red Cross or Salvation Army -- to openly support political
candidates or causes in the course of their official charitable work.
“The tax bill
threatens the integrity of our elections and all of our tax-exempt
organizations," Maggie Garrett, the legislative director for Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, said in an emailed
statement.
This provision,
Adam Bozzi of End Citizens United explained to
Salon, would create "a gaping loophole in our campaign finance
system." Bozzi explained it could "allow a big political donor
who wants to make a contribution through the back door to give to a church,
which could then endorse a candidate and engage in electioneering."
To make it even
worse, the tax-exempt status of churches and charities means that any
millionaire or billionaire who funneled political spending through such a group
could then turn around and claim that donation as a tax writeoff. Money given
to a pastor in order to buy his endorsement wouldn't look any different on
paper than money given to a church for its charitable work or other legitimate
purposes. Republicans are creating a loophole that will allow rich people to
shelter political donations from taxes while influencing election campaigns in
total secrecy.
"Faith
leaders are called to speak truth to power, and we cannot do so if we are
merely cogs in partisan political machines," explains
a letter signed by more than 4,000 religious leaders in support of
the Johnson Amendment. "Current law respects this independence and strikes
the right balance: houses of worship that enjoy favored tax-exempt status may
engage in advocacy to address moral and political issues, but they cannot tell
people who to vote for or against."
More than 5,500
nonprofit groups have signed a similar letter
supporting the Johnson Amendment, noting that current law
"protects the integrity and independence of charitable nonprofits and
foundations" and "screens out doubts and suspicions regarding
ulterior partisan motives of charitable organizations."
What makes this
whole debate especially strange is that in the era before Donald Trump's
presidential campaign, there really wasn't much controversy over the Johnson
Amendment. Some right-wing pastors grumbled about it, but it wasn't a major
agenda item for the Christian right or anyone else. But as a candidate, Trump
began talking up the idea of repealing the Johnson Amendment as an easy way to
pander to the religious right. Now this idea — which was once considered the
fringe of the fringe — has made its way into the House tax bill.
Of course, it's
easy to understand why Republicans were quick to grab this particular
Trumpian idea and inject it into the mainstream GOP agenda. Creating this
loophole in our campaign finance system would almost certainly benefit
Republicans exponentially more than Democrats. While Democrats certainly have
their billionaires who would like to spend a lot of money on elections,
Republicans have far more dark-money donors who might be willing to buy up
churches and charities and turn them into political lobbies and money funnels.
This effect
would most be most likely to have an impact on local and state elections, where
it would be ridiculously easy for anonymous but wealthy "benefactors"
to make huge donations to churches and charities in exchange for endorsements
for their preferred candidates. Already, the loosening of campaign finance laws
has opened the door to massive amounts of dark money that has an outsized
impact on these kinds of elections. Ending the Johnson Amendment would
drastically increase the flow of dark money, turning the idea of electoral
fairness into more of a joke than it is already.
If this provision becomes law, expect "family values" hate groups to rake in money from right wing donors and then push for candidates who would intertwine their toxic religious beliefs in the civil law. Local elections would be particularly at risk. I can fully imagine Pat Robertson, extremists at Liberty University and The Family Foundation targeting school board and other local elections to fill positions with like minded extremists.
Call your U.S. Senators and member of the House of Representatives and demand that they vote "No" on the GOP tax bills.
