URGENT - Monday's House Bill 4520

[pacifictiger]

The Interfaith Alliance just announced that "Son of Jones" Bill is planned to Hit Congress on Monday and is notifying all concerned people of this back-door tactic.

Urgent Calls to Congress Needed Today! "Son of Jones" Bill Snuck Into Tax Bill - House Scheduled to Have Hearing on Bill This Monday!

Provision Would Allow Clergy and Houses of Worship to Endorse Candidates Up To Three Times Per Election Year Without Losing Their Tax Exempt Status!

Despite the overwhelming opposition of people of faith and good will across the nation and nearly two dozen religious denominations, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom Delay ordered a version of Rep. Walter Jones’s Houses of Worship Political Speech Restoration Act to be buried on page 379 of a 398 page tax bill (H.R. 4520, American Jobs Creation Act of 2004). While it is not the exact language as the Jones bill, it is meant to appease his supporters just in time for the 2004 presidential elections. Ironically, this amendment comes just days after the Bush campaign was widely criticized for using churches in the battleground state of Pennsylvania to organize voters for their election activities.

Entitled the “Safe Harbor for Churches” bill, the legislation would wreak havoc on the integrity of our religious leaders, houses of worship and the political process. The bill encourages willful ignorance of the law by houses of worship, amending the tax code to permit churches, and only churches, to engage in political campaigns while maintaining their status as tax-exempt organizations.

Under the legislation, houses of worship would be allowed to “accidentally” endorse political candidates up to three times in an election cycle without losing their coveted tax-exempt status. While the bill purports to draw a distinction between intentional and unintentional violations of political activity, it is silent on what constitutes an "unintentional" violation, leaving religious leaders and institutions free to claim ignorance of the law as reasoning for an "unintentional" breach.

It is expected that the House Ways and Means Committee will be voting on the Safe Harbor for Churches provision this Monday! It is imperative that you call your Member of Congress and raise your strong objection to this travesty of justice. Your phone calls will be critical as many Members of Congress are unaware and will be caught off guard about the provision as it was so secretly inserted in the bill during a week of mourning. Please call Congress today.

The switchboard is 202-225-3121. Please stop the Son-of-Jones Bill!

Provision Name: “Safe Harbor for Churches" Section 692

Bill Name: H.R. 4520, “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004”

Message to your Member of Congress: Support the Lewis Amendment in the Ways and Means Committee (John Lewis of GA) that will strike this provision from the overall bill

[Tellurian]

1. STOP THE CROSSOVER OF RELIGION & STATE!

I mailed my congress critters...

[ThomWV]

2. May I Cut And Paste Your Comment Into My letter?

If you don't mind, I'd like to simply cut and paste your excellent description of my thoughts on this to an E-Mail to my representatives. Only with your permission though.

[Frangible]

3. you know

there really needs to be a law against including completely unrelated things as an "amendment" to a bill like this.

[DRoseDARs]

5. And the Congressional Republicans were pissing all over themselves...

...trying to prevent the President (Clinton at the time ... how shocking) from being granted the power of the Line-item Veto to kill unrelated rider items like this.

[ThomWV]

7. If I Remember Correctly

Didn't the Congress give Clinton the line-item-veto, but he never used it and about 3 months or so later the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional?

I think that is how it went, Clinton wanted it, and got it, but had second thoughts about its legality so sat tight while the Court reviewed it.

[jmowreader]

8. The Supreme Court doesn't take hypothetical cases

If you want a law reviewed by the Supreme Court, this is the basic procedure:

a. Break that law in front of a cop. Make sure it's a cop who knows that what you're doing is Against The Law, so you're sure to be arrested for it.

b. Go to Jacoby and Meyers and get the worst lawyer they have, so you are sure to lose your case.

c. Take the same rotten lawyer to the appellate court so you lose there too.

d. Finally, get yourself a lawyer who's been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court, and appeal to that body.

e. Pray to whatever existent or nonexistent deity you follow or don't follow that your case doesn't become like 95 percent of all cases appealed to the USSC: "dismissed without comment."

Clinton line-item vetoed something in a bill that was almost all good, the Repugs took the line-item veto to the USSC, and it lost. As well it should have--as good of an idea as it is, it's still unconstitutional.

Of course, they never intended for a Democrat to have that much power.

[indigo32]

4. KICK

this is BIG

[indigo32]

6. Kick

[indigo32]

9. Kick

[OneBlueSky]

10. wouldn't that bill be unconstitutional on its face? . . .

of course, with this Supreme Court, one never knows, do one? . . .

[pacifictiger]

11. this story seems to be getting buried

among all the other happenings and reagan love/hate/fest.