TresSugar

Pastors Plan Political-Pulpit Blitz to Challenge IRS Ban

LibertySugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Conservative pastors aren't waiting for the IRS to pick a fight- they're taking the fight to the IRS by asserting their self-declared constitutional right to endorse candidates from the pulpit.

The Alliance Defense Fund, which calls itself the antithesis of the ACLU, has organized "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." On September 28, recruited religious leaders will give political sermons, endorsing or opposing politicians by name and in violation of their nonprofit status. The ADF hopes the IRS will then drag the clergy into federal court, presenting a chance to challenge on First Amendment grounds the tax-collectors' rule against political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

A different set of Christian and Jewish leaders have asked the IRS to step in before the ADF's plan to tell believers how to vote can happen. Two pastors in Ohio have asked pastors to use the weekend before the challenge to preach about the value of church-state separation.

Would you rather see freedom of speech or separation of church and state win this legal battle?

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VA Registrar to Students: Dire Results if You Register to Vote

LibertySugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Two false warnings issued by a local registrar of elections in Virginia may have prevented students from registering to vote. The written warning, issued during an Obama-supporter voter registration drive at Virginia Tech, incorrectly cited dire consequences if students register on campus - namely, that parents could not claim the students as dependents and that the students would risk losing scholarships or health insurance coverage. The IRS released a statement explaining that there is no risk of losing dependent status, while the state board of elections said it will modify and clarify murky guidelines.

Any chill on student voting seems troubling. Why should students have to chose between participating in democracy where they live and keeping a scholarship or health insurance? Students should not be forced to vote in their home elections while they live near school and are impacted by local decisions, such as police policy, neighborhood ordinances, or rent control. Still others may argue that there must be a higher bar for voter registration. If a student wants to vote where she attends college, should she expect to pay state taxes, for example?

Perhaps the solution would be for voter-registration drives to present accurate pros and cons of where you register (not an erroneous and alarming official statement discouraging student voters), while providing resources for students to register back home, too.

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Hiding in Housing Bill, IRS Access to Credit Card Purchases!

CitizenSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:00:56 -0700

Feeling guilty about that autographed box set of the third season of Lost you just scored on eBay? Think you can hide it and no one will know? Well thanks to the big housing bailout bill signed by Bush (to "little fanfare") the quietness could be because of this little sneaky addition buried deep inside:

Your merchant bank will now be required to send a report to IRS and to you with your total annual gross payment card receipts. In other words, IRS will get your total merchant credit card gross receipts for the year.

Did you catch that trick? Shopping is no longer sacred. As FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented:

This is a provision with astonishing reach . . . Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking.

Why is the government snooping on your shopping cart? To find out, read more.

Information for one. The provision generates a whole slew of data from spending habits on down. Money of course, is another. The proposal is estimated to raise $9.8 billion over 10 years. The fingerprint database for mortgage industry lenders sneaked in there too. At what cost is the housing bailout? Did we all just pay for it in civil liberties?

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Group Therapy: Oh How Revenge Is So Sweet - But Did I Go Too Far?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:00:00 -0700

I met "G," we dated, had some hard times, and then things got really rough. He was the move too fast type. I was the slow it down and enjoy the ride type. Long story short, he cheated on me every chance he got. We got pregnant, I lost the baby, and he was completely unsupportive. "G" cheated during the whole relationship, and the final straw was when friends of mine saw friends of his at a club. A girl was flirting with "G" and he disappeared. He was nowhere to be found. I don't need to be a genius to figure out what he was doing.

He's a very money-driven man, so to get revenge on him, I reported his side business, on which he pays no taxes, to the IRS. Everything I reported was the absolute truth and things I had witnessed or he said directly to me, and in no way did I lie. But did I go too far?

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To be involved in more GROUP THERAPY, click here]

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Do Las Vegas Bouncers Make More Than Our President?

CitizenSugar — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:00:46 -0800

Q: What does a Las Vegas bouncer have in common with Mike Huckabee?
A: An extreme distaste for the IRS and Paris Hilton's number on speed dial.

Okay, maybe not that last one, but the suspected tax-evading bouncers at the Vegas nightclub Pure might be in favor of ol' Mike Huckabee after the IRS raided the club this week, confiscating computers. The cash-based industry attracts the attention of the very department Huckabee wants to abolish. It's rumored that good bouncers are clearing half a million dollars a year.

Not a bad paycheck considering our Commander in Chief only makes $400,000. Maybe we'll see Bush checking IDs at a door sometime soon . . .

Source

Antiabortion Group Operation Rescue Running Out of Funds

TresSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Operation Rescue, the antiabortion group whose militancy and visibility in the '90s struck fear into the hearts of prochoice advocates, is losing supporters and their donations.

"We're now so broke," wrote Operation Rescue president Troy Newman in an email to donors, "we can't even pay attention." The number of paid employees has dwindled from nine last year to only four this year, and their donations are down by 30 to 40 percent.

Although they blame the economy for their fiscal woes and shrinking support, others put the blame squarely on the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller this year. It was no surprise to many that the man charged with the murder, Scott Roeder, was driving a car with the name and phone number of an Operation Rescue adviser inside. Members were quick to distance themselves from former Operation Rescue leader Randall Terry (pictured above) who praised the murder as forwarding their cause. In addition, the IRS revoked the organization's tax-exempt status in 2006 as a result of their political activity in 2004, further depleting the already shrinking number of alienated donors.

Writing without a trace of irony, Newman described the double whammy of both the economic downturn and Tiller's murder as "brutal for Operation Rescue." I imagine it was a brutal summer for Tiller's family as well.

Briefing Book: Teen Birth Rates Are Up

LibertySugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:30:53 -0800

Babies Having Babies: Data shows teenagers are having more and more babies, with “significant increases” in 26 states. - Good
Sorry, Sarah!: Greta Van Susteren has issued a private apology to Sarah Palin on her blog after CNN included Palin on its year-end list of politicians who fell from grace in 2008. - Gretawire
Space: The Milky Way is considerably larger and spinning faster than astronomers once thought. - Forecast Earth
Tax Man: Why can't everybody be as nice as the IRS during the recession? - 23/6
Controversy: Matt Lauer wasn't afraid to acknowledge "this little controversy" when Ann Coulter went on the Today show this morning after canceling Monday. He also accused her of drumming up controversy to sell books. - Huffington Post

Agency Asleep at Tractor Wheel? Rich Collect Farm Subsidies

CitizenSugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:30:30 -0800

Between 2003 and 2006 thousands of ineligible multi-millionaires cultivated farm subsidies from the US Agriculture Department. A congressional report shows that a financial firm executive, a professional sports team owner, a former executive of a technology company, and residents of Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom received thousands of dollars of taxpayer money via farm subsidies.

Officials at the Agriculture Department say they're innocent, since the congressional investigators could access IRS records off limits to them. Instead the Agriculture Department relies on a one-time self certification by those collecting that they don't make more than $2.5 million. The Agriculture Department also noted a relatively small margin of error, considering investigators found only that 2,702 (out of a total of 1.8 million) wrongly received payments during the period.

While government waste doesn't shock me, I'm curious how non-farming millionaires justified taking farm subsidies. Wait a second, considering CEOs flew to Washington in private jets to beg for taxpayer money last week, I guess none of this surprises me.

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Does Calling Obama a Socialist Cross the Line?

LibertySugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:45:00 -0700

In 2001 John McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts, part of which Barack Obama now wants to let expire (while keeping some in place). In 2000, McCain shared a take on the progressive tax system, which deviates from the one he has now. He confronted a question from the daughter of "Joe the Doctor" who asked McCain at a 2000 townhall: "Why is it that someone like my father, who goes to school for 13 years, gets penalized in a huge tax bracket because he's a doctor?" McCain responded:

[You're] questioning the fundamentals of a progressive tax system where people who make more money pay more in taxes than a flat, across-the-board percentage. . . . But I believe that when you really look at the tax code today, the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don't pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. And I think middle-income Americans, working Americans, when the account and payroll taxes, sales taxes, mortgage pay - all of the taxes that working Americans pay, I think they - you would think that they also deserve significant relief, in my view.

Well now McCain is taking Obama to task for "socialist" plans such as restoring taxes on those making $250,000 to Clinton-era levels. Some say the latest tactic isn't about tax policy as much as it is about exploiting a cultural divide. To see why, read more.

One McCain critic notes that J. Edgar Hoover used the term socialist to describe African-Americans fighting for equality, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., that could not be trusted due to their un-American values. Add in comments from McCain that Obama wants to turn the IRS into a giant "welfare agency" by potentially giving a tax-credit check to those who pay zero in taxes, and suspicion that he's using code words increases among skeptics. Barack has fought back: "The only 'welfare' in this campaign is John McCain's plan to give another $200 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest corporations in America."

Socialism is a treasonous word in America, paradoxically a country with many socialistic policies like the progressive income tax, medicare, and a $700 billion bailout of banks. Do you share Republican Colin Powell's disappointed sentiment conveyed in his ironic remarks: "Mr. Obama is now a socialist because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have." Has the McCain campaign's latest narrative crossed the line?

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Ask E. Jean For DearSugar: How Can I Accomplish My Dream?

DearSugar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Dear E. Jean,

I have an unusual dilemma. My mother and I would like to buy/obtain land in Ocala, FL, open a sanctuary and call it Willow Star Haven.

This will be a wellness center for the elderly, a no-kill animal rescue shelter with a vet on site, and a children’s center for kids with learning disabilities. My mother is already working on the getting the permits. But obviously it will require a lot of money to bring our dream to life. Can you give me some ideas for fund raising? We can’t afford to hire a fund-raising firm. - A Better Tomorrow

To see E. Jean's answer read more.

Better, My Buttercup,

You’re going to need the bloodlines of Tinsley Mortimer, the brain of Eleanor Roosevelt, the brilliance of Mother Theresa, the stamina of Oprah, and the energy of cocaine addict just to find a decent parcel of land in Ocala, let alone buy it and build the sanctuary. But, so what? I completely and totally believe you can do it.

Why?

Because the only people who can accomplish anything this huge are the crazy ones - crazy to save dogs and cats, crazy to nurture kids, crazy to entertain old white-haired people. (Or as Jack Kerouac says: “the mad ones . . . the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn")

I also looked you up online, and I see that you have already established yourself as a non-profit charitable trust. Excellent! Anyone who can endure the interminable grind of obtaining 501c3 status from the IRS, can endure anything.

I advise you to start small. Don’t try to do the animal shelter AND the wellness center for the codgers AND the kids all at once. You must think like a corporation: Do one thing very well, establish a presence, burnish your reputation, gain the respect of the people of Ocala, and then you can start going to large corporations and soliciting funds.

To get the seed money for the land and the building materials, I suggest you seek partnerships with local businesses. (Begin with talking to their marketing/PR/advertising department heads.) It will be a boost for their company image to be connected with your sanctuary and good for you because they will give you the wherewithal to start! Good luck!

P.S. To see what just one little girl can do, look at this video! Her dad teaches at our local high school here.

To see more advice from E. Jean, visit Elle magazine and AskEJean.com.