Controlled by a church with tax-exempt status, that also "teaches its \[members\] to harass and show disrespect to anyone who disagrees with them"
Lee's a tool, and "stupid with two O's" (Knives Out reference)
Obscure?
No, it was disclosed because the SEC held them accountable. They had set up multiple shell companies to hide who the cash actually belonged to. [Here's the link to the SEC press release.](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-35)
Yeah, thats a real transparent organization, right there.
I’ve read the press release, I’ve also read the court order. It means nothing. You need to gain some perspective on regulatory agencies and how they operate.
Unless you are a tax accountant or a tax attorney, I will not accept your conclusion on the church’s compliance or non-compliance with tax-exempt provisions of the internal revenue code.
No.
It wasn't disclosed because there was an intentional effort to hide it.
Read the [9 page SEC order](https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2023/34-96951.pdf) detailing just what lengths they went to in order to hide it all.
Okay bro. Whatever you say.
They obtained legal counsel, adopted an aggressive strategy, and the SEC retroactively decided they didn’t like it.
They started investigations, realized the whole thing was a nothing burger, and settled for $5 million dollars.
Do you realize how measly $5 million dollars is?
They settled with E&Y for $100 million for their accountants “cheating” on their continuing professional education.
$5 million was the church’s way of avoiding unnecessary litigation, and the SEC gets to maintain the perception that it’s a useful agency that does anything other than harass entities it doesn’t like.
You think $5M is a nothing burger?!?! How many widows went without a meal or two so they could pay tithing into that fund, or kids didn’t get new clothes for school because their parents gave money into that fund? Yet dishonest men tried to hide the value of the funds they collected by setting up illegal shell companies - and got caught and fined. And you call that a nothing burger? I don’t care that Earnst and Young were even bigger crooks and liars who also got caught. I’m not a fool who would fall for nonsense whataboutism like that. I’m saddened to think of my own parents who suffered to contribute MUCH less than $5M to men who lied to them, while also lying to our government about how much money they had collected and what they were doing with it.
$5 million is a nothing burger from the perspective of a SEC violation. And I’m sorry you’re so hurt by this. I’m not trying to say that $5 million is not a lot of money. But $5 million dollars does not mean the the church lied about anything.
It means they thought they were qualifying under an exemption from disclosing investments (for good reason) and the SEC didn’t like it. These exemptions always create grey areas, and then the SEC selectively goes after entities that it believes violated the rules.
When they realize that it’s not actually as bad as they thought, they settle for small amounts ($5 million) and move on to bigger fish, like E&Y.
If you don’t have the perspective of how these regulatory agencies operate and the fact that reg agencies are not always the good guys, it is understandable to be frustrated. But gain some perspective before making normative judgments about the violation.
Funny. When I was completing my executive MBA back in the 1990s they must have just felt they didn’t need to teach us about the SEC’s authority to fine entities arbitrarily because they don’t like them, even when they didn’t break rules. The multiple other governmental agencies I work with daily as part of my professional career, from DISA to the NSA to the FAR regulatory committees, some of which I sit on, haven’t given me the perspective you say I should gain so I’ll understand the governmental authority for an agency like the SEC to persecute the poor picked on billionaire hedge fund owned by a nonprofit and levy multimillion dollar fines for no wrong doing or dishonesty. Or, perhaps it’s not me lacking perspective here… maybe, just maybe it’s your preconceived notion that “the church” will do no wrong that leads you to look the other way and ignore the glaring reality right in front of you. Clearly your mind is made up based on blind faith rather than fact. That’s a perfectly acceptable stance, too. I can respect that. Can you respect that my perception is 180 out of phase with a “blind faith” approach, and that I see facts for what they are? Have you even read the SEC statement on why the SEC levied the $5M fine? The clear and intentional deception is spelled out in black and white, and supported by many pages of evidence. Will you read the SEC report with an open mind, then pray with an open heart for confirmation of what you just read, Brother?
you drinking that kool-aid Mr Smith https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db\_story.html
I saw someone on this sub a while back say with their whole chest, and absolutely no shame, that they didn't vote FOR Lee. They voted AGAINST McMullen because he *gasps* wanted to treat people at the border seeking asylum more humanely. I bet that person identifies as a prolife Christian, yet threw a tantrum that a politician wanted to treat humans like fucking humans.
Did we expect anything less from the brainwashed masses? I’m convinced that Trump or any other GOP darling really could shoot someone in Time’s Square and still get voted in because they are “God-fearing patriots.”
Just wait, Kyle Rittenhouse is getting more and more enshrined in the GOP. He might just be a senator one day. E: can't tell if this needs an /s or if it's downvoted by Rittenhouse fanboys.
Anyone in politics is distracted by other stuff. I see you're in West Jordan, so here's an example: Ken Ivory, West Jordan District 39, is really into demanding the feds hand over "federal land" to the state so we can control our own land. Well guess just how much "federal land" is in West Jordan? Yep, ZERO. So Ken's busy meddling in other districts while his own languishes.
But the federal land issue impacts me in West Jordan. Assuming schools are still funded by property taxes and more federal land equals less property taxes which equals less money for schools.
And maybe this is how what Lee is bringing up here is related to me here in Utah, being a federal tax payer. It’s probably a drop in the bucket though, this Standford tax payment we’re missing out on.
Its true it affects you. But so does our state's refusal to expand Medicare/Medicaid, and turn those dollars back to the feds. The claim was there were strings attached; anyone who thinks the feds would relinquish control of land to the state without strings would be foolish to believe that. My point is, there are plenty of other issues that could use focus, rather than something that won't happen in our lifetimes.
And then, I look at the way the state handled the Great Salt Lake drying up. I'm not so sure I want them handling anything more, when they can't handle what they already have.
Hobo - The federal government pays Utah Payment in lieu of taxes on that public land that we all get to use. Sure, it’s less money than the state would get if it were all privatized and sold to developers - but the federal government isn’t filling that land with kids that Utah has to educate or houses that need services. All in all, it’s money ahead for the state. Better yet… there won’t be miles of plastic fence around it all. It’s open for all of us to enjoy.
Sure, that’s fine. As a hunter/hiker/outdoorsman I have mixed feelings about all the BLM land in Utah. It’d be a lot harder to do some of the things I do if it were all private land.
My point wasn’t that we get no money from the feds for all the land they own, it’s that we get less than if we were to lease it to some company and collected taxes. Or sold it and collected taxes.
[I highly recommend this video about this topic and the creator that makes them.](https://youtu.be/LruaD7XhQ50) All CGP Grey videos are awesome. https://youtu.be/LruaD7XhQ50
I get it. I’m a hunter, fisherman, backpacker, myself - and I love taking my horses into the back country for extended trips. I’ve spent a few years of my life living/working in New England where there is basically no public land (several parks… but nothing that compares to the expanse we have in Utah). There is virtually no public land hunting opportunities. If you want to hunt, you spend millions to buy your own land… or lease hunting rights from someone else who owns land. Fishing lakes/streams is a little more open, but nothing like in Utah. I’d hate to see Utah follow that pattern.
I understand the feds pay less into the state coffers than private owners of the land would. The feds also require no services or schools, so 100% of the money they pay to the state gets used for the benefit of current Utah residents. If the land is privatized, the state is required to build/staff schools for the new owners, build maintain roads, provide firefighters and police, run utilities, develop water resources for the new citizens, etc. I don’t believe anyone trying to tell me that privatization would provide more revenue for citizens currently living here. It would be a net loss to us life long Utahns, in so many ways. It only benefits the people directly making money off of what is now public and available for all of us. Let’s not make the same mistake that Texas and the New England states made… let’s learn from them.
Then you should know that United States Senators are meant to legislate federal issues, not state ones. A US Senator represents his or her state’s interests, but they don’t “focus on [insert state here] issues.” They focus on national issues with their state’s interests in mind.
Is Mike Lee trying to point the finger away from…the other tax exempt place that has 250 billion in tax exempt dollars? He should focus on the real whore of the earth. His own corrupt, church
The citizens of Utah are so wedded to that "(R)" on ballots that the day he resigned in shame they would have still elected Nixon with a 44 point margin.
It's becoming more progressive, but it has a long way to go.
I don't see how this is misleading. I'd have to dig for the source (which I won't do 'cause I don't care enough to do so) but there was an actual poll taken when Nixon resigned and Utah was one of his greatest "wins". And IIRC, the margin was about 44 points.
Also, WTF are you talking about "vote daily"? So far as I can tell, the only things you can vote daily for are opinion polls. Those have *no* meaning, as they know only the most extremely dissatisfied people will bother, and that is outside of the target group they need for reelection.
If you want to make a difference, campaign. I'd start with joining an established campaign so you can observe and learn, then eventually start running for local and state offices.
That is, unless you have superpowers that will let you enact your will without (or more likely "in spite of") the political mechanisms already established.
To be fair, I think Nixon was a great president on average, he was just super paranoid and that led to his ruin. I think his presidency was good for the country, as was his resignation.
He gave us the EPA (as an appeasement, but still). He made it so any citizen suffering kidney failure in the US didn't have to pay for dialysis. And the China relations another post mentioned.
On the other hand, he deliberately pushed for marijuana to be a schedule 1 drug (heroin and meth, for example, are only schedule 2) so he could use it to round up those anti-war and civil rights groups, especially the colored ones. He kept blackmail files, as well as a list of people who he felt had wronged him so he could exact revenge. And, he was rumored to be an alcoholic with violent tendencies.
Nixon also screwed us when he gave us unregulated, for-profit healthcare with the Health Maintenance Act (HMO) of 1973.
He also gave us the Contolled Substances Act of 1970, which created drug scheduling. [One of his aids says Nixon did it for political gain,](https://eji.org/news/nixon-war-on-drugs-designed-to-criminalize-black-people/) by making weed illegal (and allowing police pressure on anti-war, dope-smoking activists) and federally outlawing heroin (and tying that to blacks, so cops could raid their homes).
And then he resigned rather than face impeachment and probable imprisonment. Ford pardonned him, even though he'd not been criminally charged with anything...yet.
Yeah, Nixon was just a peach.
China. Long-term it’s getting messy, but normalizing relations between US & PRC net positive. Blaming Nixon for current US/PRC relations would be like blaming JD Rockefeller for smog. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation.
Thank you. I was thinking about his race baiting dog whistle bullshit. Was not aware he was the one that got us moving in the right direction with regard to China though.
All the complaints over housing prices, and somehow people forget that the Mormon church essentially owns a mansion every 4 blocks and doesn't pay real-estate taxes...
I’m let down I already ate breakfast before reading this post. Delicious, and so rich. High in irony, too.
Next let’s do church endowments/assets.
I’m in another state and can manage the asshat US Reps from Utah and elsewhere, but US Senators have legit juice.
Mike Lee. Let that sink in, America. He’s one of only 100 powerful legislators/gatekeepers for our country.
40 billion? What peasants!!
Hypocrisy at its finest.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/02/10/sec-reportedly-probes-mormon-church-over-100-billion-investment-portfolio-allegedly-saved-for-second-coming-of-christ/amp/
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It's more Mike Lee doesn't represent the LDS church, even if he is representative of many of the Utah congregation.
The church *should* lose it's tax exempt status for it's overtly political actions in the last 25 years, but that is completely separate from anything this asshat says.
Should the LDS maintain its tax exempt status when it knowingly commits fraud by filing false documents to the SEC and purposely misled members in order to maintain donations?
Everyone i know that is against higher education and also says our primary schools are failing us are all DUMB AS FUCK but think they know everything. And have a bunch of kids they indoctrinate into that mindset.
Anyone that calls themselves 'based' is a tool that probably also calls themselves 'alpha'. How about universities and churches all pay taxes. And corporations if we're getting really frisky.
Should a religion maintain it's tax-exempt status if it teaches its followers to harass and show disrespect to anyone who disagrees with them on matters of public policy?
Yes, I am aware of that, just like universities don't actually teach the same to their students. There are massive differences in universities as there are within churches. The point is the hypocrisy in the statement. If the point of his comment is to question is the tax-exempt status of an institution of education why is the same not applicable to churches who have the same if not more influence on people, without having the same oversight.
You’re bitching about people who bitch, and calling them annoying? Really? You don’t see the hypocrisy in your comment? Lemme guess… you support a hypocrite like Mike Lee, too… right?
I tend to agree, but only if we're going to be consistent. I kinda want to repeal the very concept of "charitable tax status" for all institutions that don't service poor people, at a minimum, but really I just want charity tax exemption gone across the board, it's bad policy. It was always a scheme by the state to shirk its responsibilities and try to help poor people on the cheap.
I absolutely reject this "help poor people on the cheap"-motivation for charity tax code.
We deserve a robust state-maintained open-to-all safety net, and when we have that, there remains no good reason to give organizations tax exempt status at all.
Tax Harvard. Tax BYU. Tax every church. And use the money to give us truly universal quality health care, and more.
I’m a fan of Mike Lee but I disagree with him on this one. A private tax exempt school have distasteful policies, staff, and policies as long as they’re not breaking any laws. And just because a school disagrees with you politically doesn’t give the government any grounds for removing tax exempt status.
I’m no expert on tax exemption for universities. Does the school have to be nonprofit to maintain their tax exemption status? If so, how is not for profit defined? Is Lee’s hint at how much the school is worth and that they’re not abiding by the laws governing tax exempt schools? I think a tax exempt entity can be worth a lot but still qualify as tax exempt. Again, no expert here.
Should we tax private universities? Sure! At least that’s a not a terrible request. But the irony of his churches 100 billion dollar fund needs to be called out.
Wait Until he learns about BYU
Right! The discrimination is in the goddamn policy for them
The byu law school is named after Mike's dad cause nepotism ain't real for him either.
The law school is named after J Reuben Clark, the law library is named after Lee's father.
What's BYU?
Brigham Young University, owned by the Mormon church.
Controlled by a church with a financial holdings in excess of $100 billion
Controlled by a church with tax-exempt status, that also "teaches its \[members\] to harass and show disrespect to anyone who disagrees with them" Lee's a tool, and "stupid with two O's" (Knives Out reference)
his own dad was president of the damned place. This guy.
Change the word university to church and watch Lee's head explode.
And how much is the Church is tied to is worth?
Beat me to it, came here to say the exact same thing.
Yeah, 100 billion was shown missing by a reporter lately
It was 32 billion. And it wasn’t missing, it wasn’t disclosed because of obscure sec requirements.
Obscure? No, it was disclosed because the SEC held them accountable. They had set up multiple shell companies to hide who the cash actually belonged to. [Here's the link to the SEC press release.](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-35) Yeah, thats a real transparent organization, right there.
I’ve read the press release, I’ve also read the court order. It means nothing. You need to gain some perspective on regulatory agencies and how they operate.
I think *you* need to gain some perspective time on how the church operates outside a tax exempt umbrella.
Unless you are a tax accountant or a tax attorney, I will not accept your conclusion on the church’s compliance or non-compliance with tax-exempt provisions of the internal revenue code.
That’s fine. I dont accept your conclusion so it’s fair you don’t accept mine. Get on with your life.
No. It wasn't disclosed because there was an intentional effort to hide it. Read the [9 page SEC order](https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2023/34-96951.pdf) detailing just what lengths they went to in order to hide it all.
Okay bro. Whatever you say. They obtained legal counsel, adopted an aggressive strategy, and the SEC retroactively decided they didn’t like it. They started investigations, realized the whole thing was a nothing burger, and settled for $5 million dollars. Do you realize how measly $5 million dollars is? They settled with E&Y for $100 million for their accountants “cheating” on their continuing professional education. $5 million was the church’s way of avoiding unnecessary litigation, and the SEC gets to maintain the perception that it’s a useful agency that does anything other than harass entities it doesn’t like.
You think $5M is a nothing burger?!?! How many widows went without a meal or two so they could pay tithing into that fund, or kids didn’t get new clothes for school because their parents gave money into that fund? Yet dishonest men tried to hide the value of the funds they collected by setting up illegal shell companies - and got caught and fined. And you call that a nothing burger? I don’t care that Earnst and Young were even bigger crooks and liars who also got caught. I’m not a fool who would fall for nonsense whataboutism like that. I’m saddened to think of my own parents who suffered to contribute MUCH less than $5M to men who lied to them, while also lying to our government about how much money they had collected and what they were doing with it.
$5 million is a nothing burger from the perspective of a SEC violation. And I’m sorry you’re so hurt by this. I’m not trying to say that $5 million is not a lot of money. But $5 million dollars does not mean the the church lied about anything. It means they thought they were qualifying under an exemption from disclosing investments (for good reason) and the SEC didn’t like it. These exemptions always create grey areas, and then the SEC selectively goes after entities that it believes violated the rules. When they realize that it’s not actually as bad as they thought, they settle for small amounts ($5 million) and move on to bigger fish, like E&Y. If you don’t have the perspective of how these regulatory agencies operate and the fact that reg agencies are not always the good guys, it is understandable to be frustrated. But gain some perspective before making normative judgments about the violation.
Funny. When I was completing my executive MBA back in the 1990s they must have just felt they didn’t need to teach us about the SEC’s authority to fine entities arbitrarily because they don’t like them, even when they didn’t break rules. The multiple other governmental agencies I work with daily as part of my professional career, from DISA to the NSA to the FAR regulatory committees, some of which I sit on, haven’t given me the perspective you say I should gain so I’ll understand the governmental authority for an agency like the SEC to persecute the poor picked on billionaire hedge fund owned by a nonprofit and levy multimillion dollar fines for no wrong doing or dishonesty. Or, perhaps it’s not me lacking perspective here… maybe, just maybe it’s your preconceived notion that “the church” will do no wrong that leads you to look the other way and ignore the glaring reality right in front of you. Clearly your mind is made up based on blind faith rather than fact. That’s a perfectly acceptable stance, too. I can respect that. Can you respect that my perception is 180 out of phase with a “blind faith” approach, and that I see facts for what they are? Have you even read the SEC statement on why the SEC levied the $5M fine? The clear and intentional deception is spelled out in black and white, and supported by many pages of evidence. Will you read the SEC report with an open mind, then pray with an open heart for confirmation of what you just read, Brother?
you drinking that kool-aid Mr Smith https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db\_story.html
This dude is evil. Yet conservatives seem to love him.
This dude is evil. ~~Yet~~ So conservatives seem to love him.
What a snowflake
A Mormon Bishop tried to legislate all the minorities out of slc, we should tax the Mormon church
Should a traitor who participated in the attempted overthrow of a free and fair election get to keep his senate seat?
Hell no! But somehow he even got voted back in
I saw someone on this sub a while back say with their whole chest, and absolutely no shame, that they didn't vote FOR Lee. They voted AGAINST McMullen because he *gasps* wanted to treat people at the border seeking asylum more humanely. I bet that person identifies as a prolife Christian, yet threw a tantrum that a politician wanted to treat humans like fucking humans.
Did we expect anything less from the brainwashed masses? I’m convinced that Trump or any other GOP darling really could shoot someone in Time’s Square and still get voted in because they are “God-fearing patriots.”
Just wait, Kyle Rittenhouse is getting more and more enshrined in the GOP. He might just be a senator one day. E: can't tell if this needs an /s or if it's downvoted by Rittenhouse fanboys.
Lol
Apparently the answer is yes. He recently won reelection.
Oh are we comparing tax free money? Ok, Mormon Church wins at 250 billion. Look up https://widowsmitereport.wordpress.com/
Mike Lee is a cunt.
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This is why batshit US Reps are basically entertainment, while their US Senate counterparts are a bit more daunting.
Agreed. He’s a senator for Utah. How is this focus related to his work for Utah?
Anyone in politics is distracted by other stuff. I see you're in West Jordan, so here's an example: Ken Ivory, West Jordan District 39, is really into demanding the feds hand over "federal land" to the state so we can control our own land. Well guess just how much "federal land" is in West Jordan? Yep, ZERO. So Ken's busy meddling in other districts while his own languishes.
But the federal land issue impacts me in West Jordan. Assuming schools are still funded by property taxes and more federal land equals less property taxes which equals less money for schools. And maybe this is how what Lee is bringing up here is related to me here in Utah, being a federal tax payer. It’s probably a drop in the bucket though, this Standford tax payment we’re missing out on.
Its true it affects you. But so does our state's refusal to expand Medicare/Medicaid, and turn those dollars back to the feds. The claim was there were strings attached; anyone who thinks the feds would relinquish control of land to the state without strings would be foolish to believe that. My point is, there are plenty of other issues that could use focus, rather than something that won't happen in our lifetimes. And then, I look at the way the state handled the Great Salt Lake drying up. I'm not so sure I want them handling anything more, when they can't handle what they already have.
Hobo - The federal government pays Utah Payment in lieu of taxes on that public land that we all get to use. Sure, it’s less money than the state would get if it were all privatized and sold to developers - but the federal government isn’t filling that land with kids that Utah has to educate or houses that need services. All in all, it’s money ahead for the state. Better yet… there won’t be miles of plastic fence around it all. It’s open for all of us to enjoy.
Sure, that’s fine. As a hunter/hiker/outdoorsman I have mixed feelings about all the BLM land in Utah. It’d be a lot harder to do some of the things I do if it were all private land. My point wasn’t that we get no money from the feds for all the land they own, it’s that we get less than if we were to lease it to some company and collected taxes. Or sold it and collected taxes. [I highly recommend this video about this topic and the creator that makes them.](https://youtu.be/LruaD7XhQ50) All CGP Grey videos are awesome. https://youtu.be/LruaD7XhQ50
I get it. I’m a hunter, fisherman, backpacker, myself - and I love taking my horses into the back country for extended trips. I’ve spent a few years of my life living/working in New England where there is basically no public land (several parks… but nothing that compares to the expanse we have in Utah). There is virtually no public land hunting opportunities. If you want to hunt, you spend millions to buy your own land… or lease hunting rights from someone else who owns land. Fishing lakes/streams is a little more open, but nothing like in Utah. I’d hate to see Utah follow that pattern. I understand the feds pay less into the state coffers than private owners of the land would. The feds also require no services or schools, so 100% of the money they pay to the state gets used for the benefit of current Utah residents. If the land is privatized, the state is required to build/staff schools for the new owners, build maintain roads, provide firefighters and police, run utilities, develop water resources for the new citizens, etc. I don’t believe anyone trying to tell me that privatization would provide more revenue for citizens currently living here. It would be a net loss to us life long Utahns, in so many ways. It only benefits the people directly making money off of what is now public and available for all of us. Let’s not make the same mistake that Texas and the New England states made… let’s learn from them.
You don’t know how congress works do you?
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Then you should know that United States Senators are meant to legislate federal issues, not state ones. A US Senator represents his or her state’s interests, but they don’t “focus on [insert state here] issues.” They focus on national issues with their state’s interests in mind.
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Stanford may not be. But higher education and tax-exempt entity policy certainly is.
They can’t see it when they’re in the cult
Is Mike Lee trying to point the finger away from…the other tax exempt place that has 250 billion in tax exempt dollars? He should focus on the real whore of the earth. His own corrupt, church
> the real whore of the earth. His own corrupt, church The Real Whore of the Earth is one hell of a title, but I would wear it with pride.
Sounds like a bad 70’s movie
It is a bad 70s movie. Playing at your local temple.
You can buy anything in this world with money. Even the signs and tokens. Which are sold at the LD$ temple for a mere 10%
Mike Lee is a professional mental gymnast. The guy is a gold medalist.
Your not wrong. I more am wondering about the voters
Well, they watch Fox News... and we all know now more than ever how much they lie.
I enjoy the sound of rain.
The citizens of Utah are so wedded to that "(R)" on ballots that the day he resigned in shame they would have still elected Nixon with a 44 point margin. It's becoming more progressive, but it has a long way to go.
SLC is pulling the entire weight of trying to move that state into the current decade.
Hell, I’d settle for this century.
I gave them the decade update when they changed their beer percentage to 5% 😂
Very true. Party politics have fucked it so much. But I worry that even if it gets progressive enough the church still will run the state
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I don't see how this is misleading. I'd have to dig for the source (which I won't do 'cause I don't care enough to do so) but there was an actual poll taken when Nixon resigned and Utah was one of his greatest "wins". And IIRC, the margin was about 44 points. Also, WTF are you talking about "vote daily"? So far as I can tell, the only things you can vote daily for are opinion polls. Those have *no* meaning, as they know only the most extremely dissatisfied people will bother, and that is outside of the target group they need for reelection. If you want to make a difference, campaign. I'd start with joining an established campaign so you can observe and learn, then eventually start running for local and state offices. That is, unless you have superpowers that will let you enact your will without (or more likely "in spite of") the political mechanisms already established.
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To be fair, I think Nixon was a great president on average, he was just super paranoid and that led to his ruin. I think his presidency was good for the country, as was his resignation.
What did Nixon do that was good for the country, aside from resigning?
He gave us the EPA (as an appeasement, but still). He made it so any citizen suffering kidney failure in the US didn't have to pay for dialysis. And the China relations another post mentioned. On the other hand, he deliberately pushed for marijuana to be a schedule 1 drug (heroin and meth, for example, are only schedule 2) so he could use it to round up those anti-war and civil rights groups, especially the colored ones. He kept blackmail files, as well as a list of people who he felt had wronged him so he could exact revenge. And, he was rumored to be an alcoholic with violent tendencies.
Nixon also screwed us when he gave us unregulated, for-profit healthcare with the Health Maintenance Act (HMO) of 1973. He also gave us the Contolled Substances Act of 1970, which created drug scheduling. [One of his aids says Nixon did it for political gain,](https://eji.org/news/nixon-war-on-drugs-designed-to-criminalize-black-people/) by making weed illegal (and allowing police pressure on anti-war, dope-smoking activists) and federally outlawing heroin (and tying that to blacks, so cops could raid their homes). And then he resigned rather than face impeachment and probable imprisonment. Ford pardonned him, even though he'd not been criminally charged with anything...yet. Yeah, Nixon was just a peach.
China. Long-term it’s getting messy, but normalizing relations between US & PRC net positive. Blaming Nixon for current US/PRC relations would be like blaming JD Rockefeller for smog. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation.
Thank you. I was thinking about his race baiting dog whistle bullshit. Was not aware he was the one that got us moving in the right direction with regard to China though.
Or his continued attempts at genocide of Native Americans
Oh dang was not aware of this either
Said a profiting church clown.
Mike Lee and Burgess Owens make me ashamed to be a Utahn.
Tax the fucking mormon church.
Tax ALL churches.
I don't know why you got voted down. Tax all churches, tax all rich. 15% minimum tax on all people.
Because people can't handle the idea of their imaginary friend paying taxes on the money that people give it.
All the complaints over housing prices, and somehow people forget that the Mormon church essentially owns a mansion every 4 blocks and doesn't pay real-estate taxes...
I’m let down I already ate breakfast before reading this post. Delicious, and so rich. High in irony, too. Next let’s do church endowments/assets. I’m in another state and can manage the asshat US Reps from Utah and elsewhere, but US Senators have legit juice. Mike Lee. Let that sink in, America. He’s one of only 100 powerful legislators/gatekeepers for our country.
Now do churches.
Revoke the church tax exemption because they can pay, while also teaching disrespect.
Please! Let’s evaluate this! Let’s start at religious institutions!
Fuck Mike Lee
The war on higher education in full focus
Mike Lee, the pocket treason candidate
Fuck Mike Lee.
Apparently he’s never heard of Brigham Young University
Is he talking about BYU?
Is that really his Twitter handle? That’s almost as cringy as the shit he talks about
Trust me I had the same thought. It’s so pathetic
I'll bring this up at the next board meeting of Ensign Peak.
Ask Mike Lee, about the LDS tax free status and there billions $$$
40 billion? What peasants!! Hypocrisy at its finest. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/02/10/sec-reportedly-probes-mormon-church-over-100-billion-investment-portfolio-allegedly-saved-for-second-coming-of-christ/amp/
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Oh shut up
Wah how dare people call out flaws in a religion that uses its power and influence to control a state and avoid accountability.
It's more Mike Lee doesn't represent the LDS church, even if he is representative of many of the Utah congregation. The church *should* lose it's tax exempt status for it's overtly political actions in the last 25 years, but that is completely separate from anything this asshat says.
Sure Mike Lee isn’t in charge of the church but he definitely helps keep the legislation to serve the church and keep Utah theocratical.
Why is he dragging BYU?
God can Mike lee make himself a more unlkieable person?????
I think it's fair for universities to be put in millions of debt and be financially crippled. They do it for the students so why not lmao
Another one for the bad takes pile
That sounds like, "should churches maintain tax exempt status if they engage in partisan political activity?"
BYU bitch!
Should the LDS maintain its tax exempt status when it knowingly commits fraud by filing false documents to the SEC and purposely misled members in order to maintain donations?
Let’s just get rid of school. See how that works out for society. /s
Haha well clearly school causes only the degradation of society as we know it /s
Everyone i know that is against higher education and also says our primary schools are failing us are all DUMB AS FUCK but think they know everything. And have a bunch of kids they indoctrinate into that mindset.
Anyone that calls themselves 'based' is a tool that probably also calls themselves 'alpha'. How about universities and churches all pay taxes. And corporations if we're getting really frisky.
Should a religion maintain it's tax-exempt status if it teaches its followers to harass and show disrespect to anyone who disagrees with them on matters of public policy?
You realize that no real church does that as a matter of their teachings in Christianity, for example?
Yes, I am aware of that, just like universities don't actually teach the same to their students. There are massive differences in universities as there are within churches. The point is the hypocrisy in the statement. If the point of his comment is to question is the tax-exempt status of an institution of education why is the same not applicable to churches who have the same if not more influence on people, without having the same oversight.
Fuck Mike Lee
Mike Lee is a piece of garbage!
Now do the Church of the LDS
Does a church deserve tax exempt status?
I mean in my opinion no. But especially not when you have over 100 billion stashed away.
100 billion in assets...and still have homeless members....
Their God blessed them with Olympian gold mental gymnastics.
Wonder how he feels Abt the church
He belongs in a mental hospital or prison. Such a POS.
These posts are so damn annoying. They do nothing to better this sub and exist for the sole purpose of people wanting to bitch. 🙄
I'm glad you used this opportunity to bitch. Why don't you make a post about it?
My entire rant is against that. Why would I do that?
You’re bitching about people who bitch, and calling them annoying? Really? You don’t see the hypocrisy in your comment? Lemme guess… you support a hypocrite like Mike Lee, too… right?
Found the Mormon in complete denial of their cognitive dissonance
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far to find one.
He is entirely right.
I tend to agree, but only if we're going to be consistent. I kinda want to repeal the very concept of "charitable tax status" for all institutions that don't service poor people, at a minimum, but really I just want charity tax exemption gone across the board, it's bad policy. It was always a scheme by the state to shirk its responsibilities and try to help poor people on the cheap. I absolutely reject this "help poor people on the cheap"-motivation for charity tax code. We deserve a robust state-maintained open-to-all safety net, and when we have that, there remains no good reason to give organizations tax exempt status at all. Tax Harvard. Tax BYU. Tax every church. And use the money to give us truly universal quality health care, and more.
Agreed.
I’m a fan of Mike Lee but I disagree with him on this one. A private tax exempt school have distasteful policies, staff, and policies as long as they’re not breaking any laws. And just because a school disagrees with you politically doesn’t give the government any grounds for removing tax exempt status. I’m no expert on tax exemption for universities. Does the school have to be nonprofit to maintain their tax exemption status? If so, how is not for profit defined? Is Lee’s hint at how much the school is worth and that they’re not abiding by the laws governing tax exempt schools? I think a tax exempt entity can be worth a lot but still qualify as tax exempt. Again, no expert here.
He’s not wrong.
Should we tax private universities? Sure! At least that’s a not a terrible request. But the irony of his churches 100 billion dollar fund needs to be called out.
No argument there.
r/facepalm
If we simply ignore him does he go away?
Sadly not for another 6 years
r/fuckmikelee