Senator Grassley bounced from Iowa delegation for investigating evangelists and their finances.

[madfloridian]

Last year Charles Grassley started an investigation of several churches in his role as ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

Here are some of the churches investigated

One of them was the Without Walls Church in the Tampa area. Among other charges was that they used their tax exempt status to buy a Bentley convertible which they transferred to Bishop J.D. Jakes.


From left, Paula White, Bishop T.D. Jakes and Randy White. The investigation seeks information on a Bentley the Whites gave to Jakes. (St. Pete Times file photos)

The ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance has begun an investigation of the financial structure of six television ministries, including Tampa's Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries.

In a five-page letter sent to ministers Randy and Paula White on Monday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, set a Dec. 6 deadline for answers regarding the couple's personal and professional financial histories. In August, the Whites announced they planned to divorce.

The sweeping investigation pinpoints five specific areas, including executive compensation, real and personal assets, and other general expenses paid or received, mostly since 2004.

There were others being investigated as well.

Also included in the investigation are Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.; David and Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Mo.; Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International in College Park, Pa.; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Copeland Ministries in Newark, Texas; and Benny Hinn of World Healing center of Grapevine, Texas.

Looks like that investigation is coming back to bite Grassley now.

From Right Wing Watch:

Grassley Gets Bounced From Iowa Delegation

Evangelical Christians in Iowa, dominant in the state's Republican Party, have denied Sen. Charles E. Grassley his request for a place on the state's delegation to this summer's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Mr. Grassley may attend the party's Sept. 1-4 nominating convention in St. Paul, but not as a voting delegate.

With a majority of nine out of 17 members on the Iowa Republican central committee, religious conservatives made Iowa Christian Alliance President Steve Scheffler chairman of Iowa's 40-member delegation in a vote immediately after their state party convention July 12.

"The Republican Party of Iowa is moving significantly to the right on social issues," the just-ousted Iowa Republican National Committee member Steve Roberts told The Washington Times. "It hurts John McCain's chances to win this state."

Other party officials said money for the party is drying up because of past mismanagement and current religious dominance, which has turned traditional Republican politics upside down.

"It's pretty well controlled now by the Christian Alliance," Mr. Roberts said. "If somebody came to me and wanted to be a delegate to the national party convention, I used to say, 'Talk to the state party chairman or to Grassley.' Now it's very simple. You go to the Christian Alliance, and they determine who is a delegate, and you have to do exactly as they say."

Wow..."You go to the Christian Alliance, and they determine who is a delegate, and you have to do exactly as they say."

That's called a takeover.

I found a little more on this from The American Prospect's The FundamentaList from last year.

No word yet on whether the Democrats will join him, and so far no subpoenas have been issued, just requests for financial statements. Grassley is acting on information from the Trinity Foundation, a religious fraud watchdog group in Texas whose investigations have launched many of the leading media exposes of televangelists. But none of those exposes have resulted in changes in the tax law, which shields “church” finances from public view.

The List further states that "You can read much more about all of this, and in particular about Copeland, Long, and Hinn, in "God’s Profits." There already have been cries of protest of this government “intrusion,” so stay tuned for how all of this will play out."

I guess Senator Grassley knows how it turned out now.

[Joanne98]

1. DAMMIT!

[madfloridian]

7. Exactly.

Well said.

[rucognizant]

31. Well now...........

They can't be the first state to caucus NOW!

[mloutre]

2. That is so wrong in so many ways

Any possibility of Grassley taking legal action as a result?

[Inuca]

5. It's completely absurd!

He's a damn senator! Isn't he supposed to be a delegate by default?

[bperci108]

3. And the self-destruction of Gawd's Own Party continues...

:popcorn:

[madfloridian]

10. You might be right.

I think this is happening in other states as well.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. kick

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Hope you are right

[ccharles000]

4. ...

:puke:

[madfloridian]

6. I hate to quote the Washington Times and Novak....but

"Mr. Grassley's Washington office did not respond to several requests for comment.

Robert Novak on Saturday noted yesterday that the "74-year old Grassley once was considered the leader of the Iowa Republican Party's conservative wing, but has been at odds with the increasingly influential evangelical elements in the party."

Party officials in the state say the takeover is alienating major Republican donors and driving them out of the party.

The takeover by members and leaders of the Iowa Christian Alliance, successor to the Iowa Christian Coalition, was extensive"

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/21/grassley-wont-be-gop-delegate/

[Dr.Phool]

16. Why do they keep calling these nutjobs "conservatives"?

They're not conservatives. They're reactionaries, fascists, theocrats, and religious lunatics. They're not conservatives.

[madrchsod]

8. chuck is an old time conservative republican

he really has no love for the flim flam preachers who con the rubes out of their hard earned money

[madfloridian]

9. You are probably right. I think many Republicans feel that way.

:hi:

[hfojvt]

18. yeah, those religious people are so much worse

than the usual corporate types an honorable man like Grassley favors :eyes:

How dare a bunch of grass roots activists take over a party against a sitting member of the ruling class and the big money donors?

[LeftishBrit]

While I detest right-wingers and would like to see them all lose their seats to liberals...

is a takeover by religious nuts really a good idea?

[hfojvt]

22. I kinda like the idea of activists running things rather than big shots

although truthfully, there are probably two or three big shots at the head of that activist organization. I am also not sure why they are not concerned about the lavish lifestyles of TV preachers. Still it's kinda nice to have a Senator answer to party activists.

[madfloridian]

29. They are NOT party activists....they are religious activists. BIG difference.

Surprised I have to explain it.

[Blue Gardener]

11. He's been trying to get this information for months

Without a lot of success. Some churches have cooperated, some have not. This is one of the few topics I agree with when it comes to Senator Grassley. I guess if we must have a republican senator in Iowa, we could do worse.

[madfloridian]

12. TPM put up a snippet on this.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/conservative_senator_denied_de.php

"Conservative Senator Denied Delegate Slot For Not Being Right-Wing Enough"

"Now this is just sad. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has long led the conservative forces of his state, has been denied his customary position as a voting delegate to the Republican National Convention -- and it's being done by an even more conservative bunch.

The Iowa Christian Alliance, a successor to the state's Christian Coalition, has effectively taken over the state party's executive committee, and they obviously weren't happy with Grassley. It does seem curious, though, when one considers that he came up in the ranks of conservative activists and was elected to the Senate in 1980 on Ronald Reagan's coattails, and is a reliably conservative vote on issues like abortion and gay rights. What could have gotten them angry?

The Washington Times, of all places, has a hypothesis: Grassley teamed up with Democrat Max Baucus to investigate the finances of televangelists."

[hfojvt]

20. probably could do better too

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9a0defde133df93ba25753c1a9649c8b63

but kudos to him for his support of wind power

[madfloridian]

14. I thought I put a question mark after the word "finances" in the subject line.

:eyes:

Looks like I didn't. Oh, well. My mind read it as being there...either too late at night or getting too old. :shrug:

Any way I meant to do that. In the light of day today, I see that there is not one.

Not much doubt of why he was bounced, but I really did intend to put a question mark....since there were probably numerous other reasons the evangelical majority in the Iowa RNC didn't like him.

[Demeter]

15. Grassley Should Consider This a High Note

He's demonstrating a sense of good government, the Whackos are demonstrating their unfitness to govern.

Now would be a good time to do the right thing and impeach Bush, too.

[Jefferson23]

17. K/R This is just wrong. Dems should help him out, imo.

When both parties fail to recognize and support each other for what is good for the country we are at a great disadvantage. This is definitely an example of a takeover. Its so blatant and pathetic when you realize this is about sustaining fraud never mind the religious implications that go along with it.

Have you ever heard Benny claiming to heal people right through the Tv set? I have and its unbelievable that no one stops this bullshit.

[bertman]

28. Yes, Dems SHOULD help him out, but they won't touch this with a ten-foot pole

until AFTER THE ELECTION. Count on it.

P-p-p-aaaannnnnddddderr to the Reich.

[magicpet]

19. Damn

Instead of "Amen" they must end every prayer with "Cha-ching"

[Bluzmann57]

21. Grassley has a monthly show on statewide cable

And he takes live questions via email and phone. Think I may contact him next time the show is on. I wonder if I'll be able to get through. I hope so. It would be interesting to hear how he feels about this. Since he is the senior Senator from Iowa and all.

[defendandprotect]

23. ....and ... will Evangelicals help STEAL elections .... "in the name of God" . .???

[madamesilverspurs]

24. Some

who call themselves Christians will - again - participate in manipulations. That's why they have to keep shouting that they're Christians: nobody would ever guess such a thing based on their conduct.

[KamaAina]

25. Doesn't the RNC have rules about superdelegates?

Remember what happened in our party when two states (FL and MI) tried to rewrite the rules...

[madfloridian]

26. I have been wondering about that...I thought so, too.

He would be a superdelegate, and there must be rules about it.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

27. madfloridian, thanks for posting this and

Bravo to Senator Grassley

[underpants]

30. Malachi!!

[yardwork]

32. Senator Grassley might want to consider becoming a Democrat

or at least an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

[DFW]

33. How ironic. When this happened in Iran, the radical right declared it a disaster

And yet, when it happens in Iowa, it's God's work. The Ayatollahs must be laughing their turbans off.

[madfloridian]

35. Astute observation, DFW

:hi:

[yurbud]

36. so he won't get his picture taking sitting on Sun Myung Moon's lap either?