How Churches Get Hurt by the Obama Budget
Michael Allen Robinson
March 31, 2009
During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama was castigated by some on the right for being sympathetic to leftist economic and political theories. Many conservatives feared that Mr. Obama shared the philosophy of far-left thinkers who advocate the fundamental reordering of society through the redistribution of wealth. In a now-famous interchange with Joe the Plumber, Mr. Obama gave credence to these fears when he stated his intention to "spread the wealth around."
Now that Mr. Obama has won the election and is our 44th President of the United States, we can see how he plans to implement his ideas of societal transformation. Last month, the Obama administration published its proposed budget. It is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office and is titled " A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise. The President's Budget and Fiscal Preview". You can acquire it in print here.
In the introduction to his Budget, President Obama writes that "there is something wrong when we allow the playing field to be tilted so far in the favor of so few." This may sound like a political cliché, but throughout the Budget the President makes it clear that his goal is to raise taxes on the "wealthy" in order "to restore a basic sense of fairness to the tax code."
In one section entitled " Growing Imbalance: Accumulating Wealth and Closing Doors to the Middle Class," almost an entire page is dedicated to the problem of how "a disproportionate share of the Nation's wealth has been accumulated by the very wealthy" (emphasis added). The President laments that "instead of using the tax code to lessen these increasing wage disparities, changes in the tax code over the past eight years exacerbated them."
Our new President has made no secret that he plans to use changes in the tax code to impose his idea of "fairness" on the American people. But how, specifically, does he plan to accomplish this goal? And whom does he propose to punish or reward? A close examination of the Budget reveals that not only does the President plan a massive transfer of wealth from the top to the bottom, but he plans to use taxing and spending policies to replace the traditional role of churches and other charitable organizations with government handouts.
So who is the money going to come from?
On page 29 of the Budget, the Obama Administration has targeted families with incomes over $250,000 for three massive tax increases. First, he plans to raise the income tax rate on these families from 36% to nearly 40%. Next, at a time when the stock market has suffered record losses, the President is planning to raise the capital gains tax rate from 15% to 20%. Finally, he proposes to limit itemized deductions on these families to increase their tax burden further. But who gets hurt the most when itemized deductions are eliminated? Consider the following:
Among its list of itemized deductions the IRS includes:
Charitable contributions to Churches
Charitable contributions to Synagogues
Charitable contributions to Other Houses of Worship
Contributions to the American Legion
Contributions to the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Contributions to the Disabled American Veterans
The $250k+ families will not be allowed to deduct these contributions from their income tax, so the money that would have been set aside for donations will instead go to the federal government. The Administration estimates that it will be able to take $318,000,000,000.00 (that's $318 billion) in taxes from these families. Much of this money would have gone to churches and other charities across America, but the President would rather pour the money into Washington's bureaucracies.
Churches' poor boxes may be lighter and there may be a few less wheelchairs for our injured veterans, but who needs private charity when we have the government to take care of everyone?
So who is the $318 Billion going to?
You can get a pretty good hint by reading the P. 9 of the Budget and these repeated catch phrases:
"...closing doors to the middle class..."
"...to enter the middle class..."
"...the ladder into the middle class..."
Although the burden of new taxes may cause some to move down the ladder into the middle class, the President is presumably talking about pulling the poor up to a better financial situation. How will he move them up? With $318 billion taken from churches and veterans groups, you can make a lot of poorer people "middle class" with a large check or two.
What does the President plan to do with all of the extra money? In addition to making a "down payment" on socialized health care, he plans to increase funding for social welfare through new and existing programs. Through initiatives such as the "Social Innovation Fund," (Budget, p. 111) the President plans to use government spending to choose the winners and losers in the nonprofit sector. Instead of allowing individual Americans to give to the churches and charities of their choice, President Obama will take more money through taxes and hand it out as he sees fit. Since the government will decide which charities receive funding, only those that the government deems acceptable will be eligible for federal grants.
Make your voice heard
The American Success Story was built on the individual hard work and ingenuity of America's entrepreneurs. The Obama Administration wants its new Success Story to be built on government handouts to those Americans the President chooses. These handouts will be bankrolled through the confiscation of money from other Americans.
So far the President's Budget is merely a proposal, a dream by Mr. Obama and like-minded people. For the dream to become a reality, the President needs to get enough votes in the U.S. House and Senate. Below is listed the Name, Phone Number and Email for your congressman and senators. You might want to give them a call and tell them what you think about the President's grand plan to "level the playing field."
6th Colorado Congressional District - Mike Coffman
D.C. Phone: (202) 225-7882
Email: https://forms.house.gov/coffman/contact-form.shtml
7th Colorado Congressional District - Ed Perlmutter
D.C. Phone: (202) 225-2645
CO Phone: (303) 274-7944
Email: http://perlmutter.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm
Colorado Senator Mark Udall
D.C. Phone: (202) 224-5941
Email: http://markudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Colorado Senator Mike Bennett
D.C. Phone: (202) 224-5852
Email: http://bennet.senate.gov/public/?p=TransitionalSiteEmailSenatorBennet
Mike Robinson is the Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry, P.C., a law firm based in Castle Rock, CO, ph 303-688-0944, robinsonandhenry.com. Robinson & Henry practices in financial matters including tax law. Mr. Robinson was assisted in this article by Ryan M. Wood, an associate with the firm.
Now that Mr. Obama has won the election and is our 44th President of the United States, we can see how he plans to implement his ideas of societal transformation. Last month, the Obama administration published its proposed budget. It is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office and is titled " A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise. The President's Budget and Fiscal Preview". You can acquire it in print here.
In the introduction to his Budget, President Obama writes that "there is something wrong when we allow the playing field to be tilted so far in the favor of so few." This may sound like a political cliché, but throughout the Budget the President makes it clear that his goal is to raise taxes on the "wealthy" in order "to restore a basic sense of fairness to the tax code."
In one section entitled " Growing Imbalance: Accumulating Wealth and Closing Doors to the Middle Class," almost an entire page is dedicated to the problem of how "a disproportionate share of the Nation's wealth has been accumulated by the very wealthy" (emphasis added). The President laments that "instead of using the tax code to lessen these increasing wage disparities, changes in the tax code over the past eight years exacerbated them."
Our new President has made no secret that he plans to use changes in the tax code to impose his idea of "fairness" on the American people. But how, specifically, does he plan to accomplish this goal? And whom does he propose to punish or reward? A close examination of the Budget reveals that not only does the President plan a massive transfer of wealth from the top to the bottom, but he plans to use taxing and spending policies to replace the traditional role of churches and other charitable organizations with government handouts.
So who is the money going to come from?
On page 29 of the Budget, the Obama Administration has targeted families with incomes over $250,000 for three massive tax increases. First, he plans to raise the income tax rate on these families from 36% to nearly 40%. Next, at a time when the stock market has suffered record losses, the President is planning to raise the capital gains tax rate from 15% to 20%. Finally, he proposes to limit itemized deductions on these families to increase their tax burden further. But who gets hurt the most when itemized deductions are eliminated? Consider the following:
Among its list of itemized deductions the IRS includes:
Charitable contributions to Churches
Charitable contributions to Synagogues
Charitable contributions to Other Houses of Worship
Contributions to the American Legion
Contributions to the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Contributions to the Disabled American Veterans
The $250k+ families will not be allowed to deduct these contributions from their income tax, so the money that would have been set aside for donations will instead go to the federal government. The Administration estimates that it will be able to take $318,000,000,000.00 (that's $318 billion) in taxes from these families. Much of this money would have gone to churches and other charities across America, but the President would rather pour the money into Washington's bureaucracies.
Churches' poor boxes may be lighter and there may be a few less wheelchairs for our injured veterans, but who needs private charity when we have the government to take care of everyone?
So who is the $318 Billion going to?
You can get a pretty good hint by reading the P. 9 of the Budget and these repeated catch phrases:
"...closing doors to the middle class..."
"...to enter the middle class..."
"...the ladder into the middle class..."
Although the burden of new taxes may cause some to move down the ladder into the middle class, the President is presumably talking about pulling the poor up to a better financial situation. How will he move them up? With $318 billion taken from churches and veterans groups, you can make a lot of poorer people "middle class" with a large check or two.
What does the President plan to do with all of the extra money? In addition to making a "down payment" on socialized health care, he plans to increase funding for social welfare through new and existing programs. Through initiatives such as the "Social Innovation Fund," (Budget, p. 111) the President plans to use government spending to choose the winners and losers in the nonprofit sector. Instead of allowing individual Americans to give to the churches and charities of their choice, President Obama will take more money through taxes and hand it out as he sees fit. Since the government will decide which charities receive funding, only those that the government deems acceptable will be eligible for federal grants.
Make your voice heard
The American Success Story was built on the individual hard work and ingenuity of America's entrepreneurs. The Obama Administration wants its new Success Story to be built on government handouts to those Americans the President chooses. These handouts will be bankrolled through the confiscation of money from other Americans.
So far the President's Budget is merely a proposal, a dream by Mr. Obama and like-minded people. For the dream to become a reality, the President needs to get enough votes in the U.S. House and Senate. Below is listed the Name, Phone Number and Email for your congressman and senators. You might want to give them a call and tell them what you think about the President's grand plan to "level the playing field."
6th Colorado Congressional District - Mike Coffman
D.C. Phone: (202) 225-7882
Email: https://forms.house.gov/coffman/contact-form.shtml
7th Colorado Congressional District - Ed Perlmutter
D.C. Phone: (202) 225-2645
CO Phone: (303) 274-7944
Email: http://perlmutter.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm
Colorado Senator Mark Udall
D.C. Phone: (202) 224-5941
Email: http://markudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Colorado Senator Mike Bennett
D.C. Phone: (202) 224-5852
Email: http://bennet.senate.gov/public/?p=TransitionalSiteEmailSenatorBennet
Mike Robinson is the Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry, P.C., a law firm based in Castle Rock, CO, ph 303-688-0944, robinsonandhenry.com. Robinson & Henry practices in financial matters including tax law. Mr. Robinson was assisted in this article by Ryan M. Wood, an associate with the firm.
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