Category Archives: Republicans

[Catholic] Church denies disabled kids’ sex abuse cover-up

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New evidence has emerged indicating that the Catholic Church in Adelaide sought to cover up a police investigation into abuse of intellectually disabled children at one of its schools . . .

The documents undermine church claims – then and now – that there had been no cover-up . . .

The Sunday after the report was delivered, parish priests across the archdiocese were instructed to read a statement saying there had been no deliberate cover-up of the abuse.
Read more, and watch two videos here . . . 

Essay: “A Call to Revoke the Religious Tax Exemption”

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By Madison S. Hughes (02.25.2011)

Abstract

It is time; nay it is long past time, to revoke the religious tax exemption. Granted, this proposition may instantly be viewed as yet another untouchable “third-rail” of politics; however, there are numerous economic arguments to be made against continuing this exemption. Past arguments against the religious tax exemption have largely fallen on deaf ears. Changing conditions, especially economic conditions, can place old arguments in a new light. The current government-funding crisis—at all governmental levels—is sufficiently dire, and it is long past time for a call to revoke the religious tax exemption. This paper will demonstrate that the religious tax exemption is responsible for considerable revenue loss, and has a negative impact on: school funding, public library funding, revenue generation, the U.S. Federal Budget Deficit, fairness, and equity. Additionally, the tax exemption: is not transparent, lends to corruption, does not hold persons or religious organizations accountable for corruption, and, therefore warrants a call to revoke the religious tax exemption.

Keywords: church, religious organizations, revocation of religious tax exemption Continue reading →

Real Class War Is Working to Keep Those Below You Down

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Taking pot-shots at another class isn’t war, nor is imposing a modest tax increase on those who have been showered with tax cuts for the last decade. Genuine class warfare is those at the very top working to keep everyone else far beneath them . . . 

Conservative discourse about the “undeserving” poor being where they are because of some inherent personal faults might make some sense if we were all born with the same opportunities to get ahead. Tragically, however, in today’s economy, the single greatest predictor of how much an American child will earn in the future is how much his or her parents take home . . .

In reality, the United States’ much-ballyhooed upward mobility is a myth, and it appears to be getting worse with each new generation.

The U.S. education system is largely funded through state and local property taxes, which means that the quality of a kid’s education depends on the wealth of the community in which he or she grows up. This, too, helps replicate parents’ economic status in their kids. Read more . . . 

Why Don’t the Deficit Hawks Want to Tax Wall Street?

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The intensity with which the country’s leading deficit hawks continue to ignore financial speculation taxes (FST) is getting ever more entertaining . . .

The refusal of this group to consider FST is becoming more striking because most of the world appears to be moving in this direction. Last spring, the European Parliament voted by an almost four to one margin in support of FST . . . 

Even with the low tax rates being considered by the commission (e.g. 0.05 percent in each side of a stock trade), it is estimated that an EU-wide tax could bring in as much as $60 billion a year. Read more . . . 

Poem: A Humanist Manifesto

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By Curt Systma

In every age, the bigot’s rage
Requires another focus,
Another devil forced on stage
By hatred’s hocus-pocus:
The devil used to be the Jew
And then it was the witches;
And then it was the Negroes who
Were digging in the ditches.
The devil once was colored pink
And labeled Communistic;
Now, all at once, in just a blink,
The devil’s humanistic.

Date ‘rape’ is an insult to Christians

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THE Austrialian government and the BBC have been identified as “enemies of Christianity” following their decisions to replace the terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) with “politically correct” BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) . . .

The Wail reports here that the BBC’s Religious and Ethics department states: As the BBC is committed to impartiality it is appropriate that we use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians. In line with modern practice, BCE/CE (Before Common Era/Common Era) are used as a religiously neutral alternative to BC/AD . . .

But Rabbi Jonathan Romain, from Maidenhead Synagogue, said he could see the logic behind the change. ‘In the year of Our Lord’ is a religious view that is not shared by many across the world, or even the UK. The change to BCE and CE is simply more inclusive. Read more . . .