Obama's Stimulus to Reduce Tithes and Offerings

A big Hat tip from www.HughHewitt.com about the Stimulus as a method to destroy the mother's milk of money that goes to churches, synagogues, and charities!!

Friday, February 27, 2009
Soaking The Rich Means Crippling Churches, Charities, and Home ValuesPosted by: Hugh Hewitt at 8:57 AM
President Obama's budget is built on a massive tax hike on upper income families. From the Washington Post:
Individuals who earn more than $200,000 a year and families who make more than $250,000 would also lose the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration, meaning their top income tax rate would rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, their investment income would be taxed at 20 percent rather than 15 percent and their deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes and charitable contributions would be reduced.The attack on the mortgage interest rate deduction and the charitable deduction are simply hidden ways to increase the top rate beyond that of the Clinton years, but by using the deception, the Obama plan would devastate churches and charities that depend on the generosity of their highest income donors while also slamming the value of homes by reducing their value to borrowers.I have argued with the FairTax advocates for years that their plan was a dangerous one because it struck at these two deductions which undergird so much of the American safety net and Americans' wealth. If President Obama wants to raise rates above 39.6 percent, he should do so openly and honestly, and without doing enormous damage to the not-for-profit and housing sectors.Democrats who vote for this scheme are voting against every church in the land and against the equity every American has in their home. Radical plans like this one make academics happy and voters angry. Very angry.The GOP must immediately make clear that it will do all it can to defend churches and homeowners against this assault, and they must identify the 50 Democrats must vulnerable in 2010 and begin a very detailed web-based watch on what they say and do on these issues. It will be easy to explain why the plan assaults churches, synagogues, veterans' organizations, childrens's hospitals, private schools and not-for-profits of all sorts, and only slightly more difficult to explain that destroying part of the appeal of a home purchase hammers the entire housing market --from entry level to mansion-- but these arguments have to be made again and again.It is a radical plan, and no amount of smoke will cover that fact. Today's Wall Street Journal editorial quickly covers the enormous, permanent expanision of government the budget proposes. President Obama did not push these radical ideas on the campaign trail, nor did any Democrat I am aware of. The Republicans and moderate Democrats have to stand up and refuse this invitation to fundamentally alter the American economy and its deeply embedded values of giving and home ownership.

Tithing Americans?

I wanted to send this article to show how most Americans are doing in regards to tithing. As it says in Malachi 3:8-9, not tithing can bring a curse and you can see that financial stress may be a result of that curse rather than the blame of any one particular individual or industry. Anyway, I thought you might find this interesting and I put some references from our own web site at the end. The first is our tithing booklet and the next is our managing finances booklet.

Few Churchgoers Tithe Linda Pateo of Gardendale, Ala., says she and her husband, Robert, try to give 5% of their income to their church and 5% to Christian charities, but it's difficult with three children in college. "I have strong feelings that God expects first fruits," Pateo said. "Sometimes we fall short. It's something we are all called to do." A recent poll by pollster George Barna shows that only 5% of Americans say they tithe, or give at least 10% of their income to religious congregations and charitable groups. According to other studies on church giving, congregants give an average of 2.58% of their income to their churches. That's down from 3.11% of their income in 1968, according to studies published by Empty Tomb, a ministry that studies church finances. "Tithing is in decline," said the Rev. William Hull, a research professor at Samford University and a Baptist minister. "The older generation was taught to tithe. It's not being taught very much any more." Malachi 3:8: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings."Topics: Giving, Stewardship, Tithing Source: USAToday.com, May 31, 2008, Greg Garrison,
http://www.ucg.org/booklets/AT/
http://www.ucg.org/booklets/MF/