This past Thursday, Republicans in the House unveiled their plan to radically alter the tax code, revealing the details of a project long kept in the dark. Major proposed changes include a reduction of the number of tax brackets from seven to five and a slashing of the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent. The measure, entitled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would also double the standard deduction and do away with the inheritance tax, while annihilating deductions that many people count on. Whereas now people making over $470,000 a year pay a tax rate of 39.6 percent; under the new plan, that same rate would shift to earners making over $1 million – a change the GOP has claimed as a win for the middle-class, despite the fact that only the top 0.5 percent make over $450,000 annually. Adding a dose of theater to the unveiling, Ways and Means Chairman, Kevin Brady, proclaimed, “Today marks the beginning of the end of America’s broken tax code.”
Who’s It For?
The tax system may very well be broken, but who exactly does the GOP have in mind with this recent proposal? According to a recent analysis by the Seattle Times, those who would suffer under the proposed plan include the sick, charities and the country’s deficit, which would grow by over $1 trillion. The potential winners appear to be Wall Street, corporations and the rich, more broadly. But there’s another winner, not mentioned in the Seattle Times report: religious organizations.
The Church
The new tax plan would cut the so-called Johnson Amendment, which purportedly prevents religious organizations from supporting candidates at the pulpit. The Johnson Amendment requires religious organizations to stay out of political campaigns in order to receive certain tax exemptions. Though this provision is rarely enforced by the IRS – there have been many reports of religious leaders using their podium to disseminate political ideas – the new tax plan would effectively remove the threat of IRS backlash, giving churches free reign to support candidates during election campaigns.
Arguments For and Against
The change would affect every non-profit religious organization, but there’s one religious group that has been fighting for the repeal for some time. Evangelical Christians have become increasingly political during the last several decades and have been vocal proponents of the push to repeal the Johnson Amendment. They, and other supporters, say it blatantly violates the separation of church and state by imposing limits on religious organizations’ speech. Opponents of the measure use the same principle to make the exact opposite argument, saying the constitutional separation of church and state is precisely what the Johnson Amendment ensures. Without it, they argue, politicians would be able to strong arm religious organizations into openly supporting a particular candidate.
President and VP
In 2016, Trump forecasted his position in a private meeting with a large group of evangelicals, expressing his distaste for the Johnson Amendment. Pence made a similar pitch to the evangelical community when he released a short video lambasting the Johnson Amendment and selling the idea of federal judges who support anti-abortion positions.
Trump tried to mute the effect of the Amendment earlier this year when he signed the “Executive Order on Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” although the gesture was nearly meaningless, as the order merely permits churches to promote political ideas from within the religion’s purview. The Johnson Amendment never prohibited such action.
Voices For and Against
Brady expressed pride over the repeal effort, saying, “I don’t want the IRS looming over our faith leaders in the community as they express their religious freedom.” Jason Lemieux, of the Center for Inquiry, had a different reaction, saying, “It is so transparently cynical, it would be hilarious if it weren’t so damaging to America’s secular democracy.”
In October, almost 100 legislators (all Democrats) pleaded with Brady and Representative Richard Neal, the leading voices on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, to keep the Johnson Amendment. They sent a missive, saying, “Americans do not want our houses of worship, charitable nonprofits, and foundations to become points of leverage for partisan politics. Nor do they want tax-exempt, charitable contributions to be funneled into political campaigns.”
With nearly 80 percent of Americans opposed to the politicization of churches, the Democratic legislators may be on to something. But will Republicans listen?
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