Huckabee supporters get warning letters

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: Raw Story

Iowa pastors who support Republican Mike Huckabee for president have received letters warning them that getting involved in politics could endanger the tax-exempt status of their churches.

Several pastors who have publicly backed Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has support from many evangelicals, said they have received the letters, which have no return address. They have arrived in the weeks leading to Thursday's precinct caucuses.

Two letters were sent to the Rev. Brad Sherman, of Solid Rock Christian Church in Coralville. The first arrived a couple weeks ago and warned that he could be prosecuted for his support of Huckabee.

"I just laughed. No one lands in jail for this," Sherman said. "Somebody is trying to intimidate Christians from getting involved."

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Huckabee_supporters_get_warning_let_01022008.html

[msongs]

1. well we got obama/huckabee/romney preaching the christian contingent nt

[pa28]

2. Romney and the Republican establishment.

I guess they've suddenly decided how unseemly it is to use religion for political purposes.

:sarcasm:

The religious right is livestock for the real power in the Republican party. Their purpose is to be used and it must be mighty inconvenient for Mitt and his friends when they don't obey properly.

[Felix Mala]

18. Romney, Repubs and Rudy...

This smells more like a Rudy trick.

[rasputin1952]

3. Well...I wonder if he would be a first...

"I just laughed. No one lands in jail for this," Sherman said. "Somebody is trying to intimidate Christians from getting involved."

He could easily lose the churche's tax exempt status, but depending on what he actually says, he just cold wind up in jail.

I have no problem w/anyone "getting involved", but when you do it as a religious entity, regardless of the religion, there is a serious problem.

[DCKit]

4. That only applies to churches and pastors who promote Democratic candidates.

The fundy/winger churches have been doing it since Raygun. Sheeeit, it's not as if the DOJ's going to go after them. Unless they believe a Democrat's going to be in the WH, of course.

[Rebellious Republican]

5. This has Rover's fingerprints all over it!

Cause everyone knows that those heathen Dem's would only stoop so low as to try to intimidate god with threatening letters! Repubs would never use these kinds of tactics on their own. :sarcasm:

[JPZenger]

6. IRS standards for Church political involvement

My church just published the IRS standards for church political involvement. I thought they were straight forward.

For example, a church cannot endorse a candidate and cannot use church resources for political purposes. A church cannot distribute partisan political materials. A pastor can endorse a candidate as long as he does it outside the church and makes clear he is speaking as an individual.

[stillcool]

12. wow...I guess the standard...

is up for interpretation?

[and-justice-for-all]

7. Churches should be taxed. nt

[Kolesar]

8. The bushies hassled the NAACP and Sierra Club over their nonprofit status (thru the IRS)

I see that old Bush (41) is supporting Romney (note Romney's vacuous religion speech at old Bush's presidential library. So, old Bush must have taken time away from telling the idiot son how to manage Pakistan to make an attack on the Hucklebee campaign.

[Alter Ego]

9. Great--this will give them even more ammo

to scream "PERSECUTION!!!!" at the top of their lungs.

[Doctor_J]

10. Who is Rove working for?

there's your source for these letters.

[ryanmuegge]

11. The RNC must really dislike Huckabee.

It's disgusting to watch them turn on their own the way they have with Huckabee. Because the guy isn't completely bought by Exxon and Pfizer, and thus is not a complete puppet of elite corporate interests (he's only 99% there, instead), the string-pullers are freaking out. What this all shows is that if the elite interests can't completely manipulate public opinion with their money, then they (Republicans) will attack their own.

[Tiberius]

13. Disgusting?

I think it's rather hilarious. They courted the heartland fundies for the last, what, ten election cycles? Now it's come back to bite them hard. An unknown entity has taken the lead in the race and they don't know what to do.

They will do EVERYTHING in their power to destroy Huckabee.

[ryanmuegge]

19. It is funny in that sense.

The bad part is the blatant attempt to take public choice out of democracy. People like Huckabee for one reason or another, and the leadership of his own party attack him. Huckabee's a crook, no doubt, but this situation proves how our "democracy" is controlled by big money.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Dirty dirty pool

Yucky GOP dirty pool.

Nasty nasty nasty.

[gasperc]

15. could be prosecuted

seems a bit harsh, warn them that they could lose their tax exempt status, but prosecute. Anyway, why are they bitching now about this shit, they went full bore for Bush in 2000 and 2004

[Tiberius]

16. It's a great schism in their party

The rise of Huckabee, if it continues, represents the greatest of all opportunities for this country. It means the self-destruction of the right, and the fragmentation of their base. If he is nominated, he will never in a million years win the general election.

The plan was to put someone like Romney up as the nominee to unite all factions of the party. Do you think the "Club for Growth" likes Huckabee? They're trying to DESTROY him! The well-moneyed Wall Street interests prefer Romney, but could live with Guiliani. Huckabee is an outsider and doesn't fit into their plan.

The bottom line is that they are forming a circular firing squad every day this goes on, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Pass the popcorn.

[Ilsa]

17. Easy fix: Just have the IRS send out tax payment instructions. nt

[Acadia Blue]

20. Corporatist Pig Romney.....behind this. Romney is a bush clone

and all of them are terrible, but Rom and Rudy are the most frightening. Romney will destroy the few middle class jobs remaining here and creat the perfect corporate government. Rudy is a war monger.
Any Democrat instead of these monsters.