DETROIT, Mich. – In approving “Tax Justice: A Christian Response to a New Gilded Age” the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) seeks a re-write of the U.S. tax code to make it expressly “progressive, transparent, sustainable and adequate.”
Chris Iosso, Presbyterian Mission Agency staffer and an ordained PCUSA minister who continues to accept his own annual tax-free ministerial housing allowance as evidenced by 2014 terms of call approved May 20 on the consent agenda of Hudson River Presbytery, is the chief architect of the plan. Notably, that particular tax avoidance measure that benefits all active and retired clergy is not recommended for reform.
The reforms instead seek to target individual tax deductions with the goal of “capping benefits less needed by high-income individuals and families.” According to the PCUSA, those include:
- mortgage interest deductions
- 501(c)3 charitable contributions deductions
- 501(c)4 charitable contribution deductions
- exclusion of capital gains on home sales
- property tax cap for senior citizens
- deductions for state taxes and municipal bond interest, for “high net worth households.”
The mortgage interest deduction is targeted because it “privileges those who borrow the most” and “should be capped at a level that has a meaningful relationship to average home costs,” which the PCUSA now defines as reflecting “reasonable housing needs rather than luxury market subsidies.”
Charitable contributions are targeted because they are “only deductible by the approximately 25 percent of taxpayers who itemize deductions.” But the report never quantifies the percentage of the PCUSA’s 1.8 members that are in that 25 percent of Americans. Nor does the report examine the potential negative impact such a revision of the tax code would have on the support of individuals for churches who depend on charitable contributions for the sustainability of their mission.
The PCUSA now advocates for the elimination or raising of so-called “capping” of property taxes for senior citizens because, it says, that “privileges many elders while burdening younger citizens of similar income.” The main flaw of the cap is that it does not “adhere to the principle of progressivity” and offers means testing as a solution.
Commissioners did rise in opposition. Joan Johnson, a ruling elder from Santa Barbara Presbytery, said, “I find this overreaching. I don’t find it pastoral. I don’t see how it serves the local church. I speak against it.”
Joining Johnson was an elder from New Brunswick Presbytery who said, “Persons of good conscience can disagree on what’s before us. Proposals like this are injurious to the church at large. This is going to hurt local churches.”
Those moderating voices were drowned out by those who want to see “a redistribution of wealth in this country,” and the assembly committee passed the measure onto to plenary by a 47-12 vote. The General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the measure 425-170. The progressive “Tax Justice” report and all of its recommendations were adopted as the new social witness standard of the PCUSA by the assembly.
“Tax Justice” grows out of an Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) report approved by the 2012 General Assembly called “World of Hurt.” That document laid what Iosso calls “the theological commitments” that now find expression in the recommendations of the “Tax Justice” document. He said this now gives the PCUSA an opportunity to be “a prophetic witness” in Washington for “economic justice in our country.”
Now that the General Assembly has adopted the report, every advocacy arm of the PCUSA can be fully extended to advocate for the comprehensive public policy measures therein.
The PCUSA now seeks to “make the U.S. tax system fairer, calling it to be:”
• “more progressive, taxing those with greater wealth at higher proportions of their income, wealth, and inheritance;
• “more transparent, which includes both simplicity and accountability for all tax preferences and tax expenditures;
• “more solidarity-focused, which means reducing the use of tax expenditures, shelters and havens, and supporting more adequate international standards to reduce tax competition within and among nations;
• “more sustainable for current and future generations, which means avoiding unproductive financial and ecological indebtedness; and
• “more adequate, effectively addressing broader objectives of economic and social health than efficiency alone, such as meaningful employment, improved family life, and restored public trust. The tax system must be characterized by both efficiency in tax collection and revenue sufficient for the common good.”
Iosso, also insured on-going work for himself and the ACSWP through a recommendation at the end of the report which reads, ” the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy is directed to examine developments in clergy compensation, use of government funding by church mission programs and schools, and the rules governing Section 501(c)3 and 501 (c)4 organizations that may merit social witness on behalf of the church, to consult with the Advisory Committee on Litigation and ecumenical partners involved in church/state matters, and to report to the 222nd General Assembly (2016) as to whether further targeted study should be authorized.”
Yes, you read that right. ACSWP and the PCUSA are now undertaking a review of standards for all 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 corporations. Further progressive tax reform recommendations are expected at the 2016 General Assembly meeting in Portland, Ore.
18 Comments. Leave new
With all the calls for laws to force people to act/think the way PCUSA says they should, perhaps all these resolutions should be folded under an new umbrella called Reformed Sharia or Progressive Sharia, to distinguish it from its Islamic analog.
Liberalism in all its sinister forms are destructive as evidenced by history. When all are equally miserable, the outcome is Revolution and that will happen in the PCUSA and the US when these conditions are arrived.
The architect of this flawed proposal obviously has read little other than Liberation Theology. If the architect and the GA want to
understand economic policy, I suggest one gets a copy of Hernando
de Soto’s “The Mystery of Capitalism.” De Soto, a Chilan economist with international standing, slays the PCUSA dragon on this issue.
There is an abundance of studies that refute this study.
Obviously, however, the architect does not want to survey the literature because research contradicts the major premises of the PCUSA Social Witness agenda. Do not confuse the committee with
challening facts. Not polite in their view.
The two negative responses were fine but limited. Rather than protect, the best protest is to ask a 7-word question. A 7-word question requires advance knowledge and study outside the scope
of the GA party paper on economic justice. Would be fun to douse the GA party on social justice with some field research and challenge the Committee’s unexamined conclusions.
Liberal/progressive policies are neither. These people are socialists of the first order and belong in another denomination vs. claiming to speak for me! After over 60 years affiliation with “my church,” I feel a major change coming for me.
“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s”
I presume these 425 aye voters were all tithers and had given God their ‘first fruits’!
It also seems to me that the only really fair form of taxation is a standard flat tax where everyone pays a set percentage of their earned dollar. This way everyone has ‘skin in the game’ and no one is riding on the back of another. The person who makes ten times as much pays ten times as much, etc.
Is this too Biblical to be realistic (he asked the money changers in the Temple)?
Here they go again, this is a POLITICAL issue, not religious. The PC(USA) GA has no valid reason for getting involved in this discussion.
This scenario reminds me of the saying (was it Mark Twain? – don’t remember for sure) that better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt – except in this case they put it in writing! These people aren’t satisfied with destroying the PCUSA, they want to destroy charitable giving as well.
Maybe the GA should “lead by example” and offer to pay property tax on their building in Louisville, and all the GA staffers, especially those in Social Witness, should voluntarily give up housing allowance tax credit.
Does this ‘do-gooder’ bunch not realize that (according to the IRS), the top 25% AGI filers already pay ~90% of the personal income taxes; the bottom 25% pay just over 2%. Hello – we’re already ‘socking it to the wealthy’. {Even if you taxed all the million dollar/year income people at a 100% rate, the federal budget would still be grossly imbalanced as more and more entitlements and subsidies become part of the body politic.} And, if we’re talking tax policy, it is going to be necessary for the US to reduce its corporate tax rates to 25 or 20% (from the current 35%). Otherwise corporate profits will continue to be best invested overseas – creating non-US jobs and ZERO income taxes for the US Treasury. A truth of life the socialists and advocates of central government control fail to understand: Capital will flow to wherever it is best treated. A corollary is, of course, bright, innovative people will go where their ideas and hard work are best treated. The USA hasn’t blown it, yet. But there is a growing percentage of the people who think it’s a “right” to be given a living courtesy of the taxpayer.
Of course if the real intent is to turn the USA into a socialist state which abuses capital, doesn’t create jobs well, burdens the populace with a bloated bureaucracy, strangles innovation with regulation & red tape and tramples on individual rights, the tax proposals of the PC (USA) radicals will aid that dreadful objective.
Did the reporter mistakenly attend the assembly of The American Socialist Party?
Tax Justice???? Another name for redistributing the wealth as stated from the person in the White House??? The word justice to me in this context is nothing more what is in an out house.
The PCUSA needs to obey Matthew 28:18-20, believe in 1 confession, The Westminster Confession of Faith, all parts with elders and ministers subscribing to that belief. Will it happen???? You know the answer since the pcusa has blind leaders of the blind calling good evil and evil good.
Rev. Pat
June 26, 2014 at 7:30 PM
“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s”
I presume these 425 aye voters were all tithers and had given God their ‘first fruits’!
It also seems to me that the only really fair form of taxation is a standard flat tax where everyone pays a set percentage of their earned dollar. This way everyone has ‘skin in the game’ and no one is riding on the back of another. The person who makes ten times as much pays ten times as much, etc.
Is this too Biblical to be realistic (he asked the money changers in the Temple)?
Steve Forbes has proposed a flat tax, so far, close your eyes???
Liberalism in all its sinister forms are destructive as evidenced by history
Someone has minister liberalism as we know it are people who are mentally disordered.
“With all the calls for laws to force people to act/think the way PCUSA says they should, perhaps all these resolutions should be folded under an new umbrella called Reformed Sharia or Progressive Sharia, to distinguish it from its Islamic analog.”
If this were to happen, you know how many people would be missing????
The PCUSA has become a branch of the democrat party.
this is nothing but empty rhetoric, a thinly disguised publicity stunt. in my previous life i worked as a financial analyst, financial advisor. the truly wealthy in this country have so many tricks up their sleeves to work around the system it’s pitiful; everything from shifting assets to a spouse, declaring bankruptcy for that spouse to protect investments from medical bills, sheltering in offshore havens, filing for disability benefits, the list is practically endless. the entire notion of income redistribution is not based on anything Jesus said, not one word.
This is where I’m progressive, in spite of the glories of trickle down econmics, the tax laws in thiis country have rewarded the wealthy for out sourcing, downsizing, or anything to keep from paying a good wage, they have come out of this latest recession better off than when it started, while the middle class have taken it in the back. The tax laws need to change.
“the middle class have taken it in the back. The tax laws need to change.”
precisely. there’s almost no middle class left. you’re obviously naive about what’s going on with these folks. i include myself in this category, of used to be middle class, now flat broke and living on welfare. tax breaks do absolutely nothing to help those of us who don’t even make more than the standard deductions. all it would do is give even more tax breaks to the greedy employers, who are largely responsible for our plight, agreed. give a tax break to an employer and they’ll hire someone like me for two years, then kick us to the curb. been there done that, oh about five different times. people like me who have been repeatedly used by the wealthy in this country are far beyond fed up. a tax break is the equivalent of throwing me an old bone, and one without any meat on it. i live in one of my parent’s houses, in a very wealthy neighborhood. during the time that i’ve been here, like i said, flat broke and surviving on welfare, not one single soul here has offered to buy me a cup of coffee. people like me are literally starving to death in this country. talking about tax breaks is arrogant and insulting to us.
my suggestion is to open the doors of the PCUSA palaces that all of the members are so worried about giving up, the precious real estate. use them as homeless shelters during off hours, that’s the least that they can do. at my old PCUSA church in Fort Lauderdale they literally have signs posted all over the buildings, “NO TRESPASSING, violators will be arrested and prosecuted”. when i asked if i could rent the cheap apartment on church property i was informed it was not available, because a gay ‘couple’, two men from Canada, were sending the church a check every month to keep the apartment vacant so they could use it as their vacation pad. and that was many years ago, before all the talk of gay marriage and gay clergy.
PCUSA is rapidly sinking into the depths of darkness, it’s getting to be a waste of time to even talk about it any more.