In yet another slide toward fascism the occupant’s cult (formerly known as the Republican Party), the House Ways and Means Committee have snuck a dangerous anti-dissent bill into their new tax package.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “This provision would grant the executive branch the power to effectively shut down any non-profit organization- -including news outlets, universities and civil liberties groups–by accusing them of “supporting terrorism” and using that accusation to suspend their tax-exempt status with any real due process.”
This is a dangerous and slippery slope. It continues the occupant’s other efforts to decrease free speech by conflating students protesting in support of Palestinian rights with Hamas, deporting immigrants to an El Salvadoran prison without due process and detaining students thousands of miles away from their loved ones for criticizing US foreign policy.
Free speech is a constitutionally guaranteed right. It appears, however, that the occupant has no regard for the Constitution. When asked if he has to uphold the constitution he said, “I don’t know. I have brilliant lawyers working for me.” He may claim not to know, but his actions clearly do not uphold the Constitution.
While the occupant is busy trying to take away our civil rights, as people of faith and good conscience we have a responsibility to call out the administration. In his immoral budget, the occupant makes deep cuts to Medicaid, gives trillion-dollar tax cuts for the wealthy and defunds agencies and organizations that do everything from research on current strains of communicable diseases to forecasting hurricanes and severe weather. These are moral issues that require people of faith to speak out. Exercising our right to free speech and the freedom to embody and practice our religion as we see fit is a rock in the foundation on which our country was built. The occupant is taking a sledgehammer to that rock.
Your representatives and senators need to hear from you today. This provision needs to be removed from the tax bill. It is an underhanded and dangerous ploy to silence any group with which the occupant disagrees. It further consolidates power in the Executive Branch and brings us closer to a dictatorship.
The truth is, if you don’t use your free speech to dissent, your right to do it will go away. Act today. Support the ACLU, write a letter to the editor of your local paper, post on Social Media. Spread the word that free speech is on the chopping block.
The Irreverent Reverend 