because after all, anyone (or any group) claiming they are entitled
to tax-exempt status, not merely a qualified reduction in their
taxes, will be, has been, subjected to extra scrutiny. That is
nothing new, shrill right-wing voices actually unfamiliar with the
Constitution of the United States notwithstanding...
and ABOUT them: over the last decade and more I've watched
these shallow, insular intellects declaim that the income tax must
be abolished, that it is unconstitutional, ditto for all other
taxation. Maybe these Evangelicals morphed into Tea Party types
might profit from perusing Article I, Section Eight. Enlightenment
is possible, but unlikely. Where will firefighters, police, public
schools and libraries come from, if there is little or no public
support by way of taxes? But logic is not a strong, active theme
running through our land; we're being flooded by a rushing river
of benighted, bedazzled discontent.
Other organizations, little more than social clubs, seek freedom
from taxation on religious grounds--they are carefully screened
as well, rightly so. Everybody--read the tax codes, exemptions
and status, then decide if you honestly qualify. Until then, stop
embarrassing yourselves with public displays of sheer ignorance.
Maybe the IRS had it right.
************************************************
BUT
The recent Associated Press matter, where reporters' phone
records were summarily seized by the U.S. Justice Dep't., is
a serious breach of law-the "Fourth Estate" protects, and is
protected by, the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
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If I might dissent? In much the same way that the Second Amendment did not allow for advancement in weaponry that would be available to bear, the First did not allow for a consolidated corporate media bent on controlling information.
ReplyDeleteIn their wisdom, the founders understood that the only sensible future would require adjustments to preserve the underlying promise of our Constitution.
We are living Madison's "Silent Encroachments".
Today's Corporate-owned "Fourth Estate" does not fit within the parameters of a Free Press.
I agree with you, we don't have a free press, that owners of papers like the Tribune only see a business much like retail--which most of us know is wrong: one (rapacious)business model does NOT fit all. But I wrote this as if AP and other "wire" services matters, and I regard sneaking and spying as crimes unless employed for a damned exigent reason, apparently absent here. I remember reading either Time or Newsweek back in 1962 (-!) about JFK and his "news management", although what he was managing eludes me.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it has been ever thus; back in the early days of the USA (~1800), similar hijinks are historically noted. But like you, I feel we can and must do better. Best Wishes to you and yours.