Southern_Man

Yup, just get your state and local government officials to remove the property tax exemption for non-profits and churches will pay property tax just like all the rest of them. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

While I am sure that is the IRS assertion (that it is merely a front I am sure the tribe asserts that this is a legitimate employment services agency. All depends on the specifics of the facts and it appears that the tribe managed to convince a panel otherwise. As you well know the whole issue rests on what can be proved or persuaded in court. I think you are right, if you can prove that the only reason is to avoid the unemployment tax then that would be illegal, but the IRS must not have met its burden. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

You should contact Blue Skies magazine about doing a cartoon strip for them. I agree w/ this. Your drawings are really excellent. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

I'd say that meant you had a keeper.... Anybody we know? "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Best: Took a woman I had met once to a wine festival. Made some black bread, brought some magos and sharp cheese. Had lunch, listened to bands, tasted wine and talked for about 6 hours about anything and everything. I was a little ambiguous about being at an event that long for a first date but you know you have some connection when you can spend that long together w/ no awkward silences. Ended up dating her for a while and even though it didn't work out long term she is still a friend and a great girl. She went w/ me when I made my first skydive, too. Worst: Can't say I have any horror stories. I would guess the Wiccan girl I went out with. That was a bit weird. Put me off of dating anybody w/ Wicca beliefs, I just couldn't relate when she talked about her solstice party and the circles and what not she was a part of. She and I went to a bookstore for part of our date and she was telling me the plusses and minuses of a bunch of different Tarot decks. Usually even when I didn't click w/ somebody and didn't have any interest in seeing her again I was still able to learn something about somebody else and enjoy myself. I think that was the key to dating for me, enjoying the process and not being anxious about clicking with any one person. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

You might prefer to collect unemployment but there are a lot of people who work in poultry processing plants today that take significant risks because it is all they can get (partially because many of them are illegal). I live in an area w/ major poultry processing industry and have met any number of people who have worked in the poultry plants. Would they revert back to Sinclair times w/out regulations? Very unlikely, but they are not exactly paragons of safe workplaces today. They are also not exactly paragons of safe food handling practices either. That is with regulations in place, although only sporadically enforced (again because most of the workers are illegal here). "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

So, presumably the employees of the Native American company would not be eligible for unemployment insurance if they were laid off. That would not be unique as some other categories of employers do not have to pay unemployment insurance either. I wonder if the employees understand that? "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

I'm not sure why manses should be free from property tax anyway. I am okay w/ taxing them. Just information, if a pastor buys his own house w/ a housing instead of living in a manse, that home is subject to property tax (as it should be). "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Nobody is talking about taxing people to go to church. That would be an infringement. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Oh, another caveat to the minister's income tax rules: ministers (and I believe this applies to other nonprofits as well) are not to receive "excessive salary." What's excessive salary, you may ask? Whatever the IRS declares (retrospectively) that it is. This appears to be what Ms. Meyer has run afoul of. Unlike what the article linked states, there really is not a limit on what somebody can make and there is no limit on what a nonprofit can own. These things are assessed on a case by case basis where the IRS investigates and determines retroactively that compensation has been excessive. The IRS has pointedly refused to issue guidelines by which an organization may determine if the compensation they are giving is reasonable. There also appear to be issues w/ the property tax exemption I mentioned above. Again, I don't know details of either her ministry or the local tax statutes. If there are no services or congregation it would be consistent with the places I've lived that they would owe property taxes. I am pretty sure the churches were not allowed to own more than one manse per pastor, either, although I would really have to check that. Another thing to consider is that not all megachurches are structured the same way. Rick Warren limited his salary for a number of years to $67,000 a year (yes that is not exactly starvation level but not high at all compared to his congregants or other pastors). He didn't need it, he made serious bank on his books which were considered his side interests. I think Bill Hybels was similar as well. Ms. Meyer appears to have run all of her compensation from books, videos series, speaking engagements, etc. through the ministry itself. That is a lot messier but perhaps necessary if she does not have a standing congregation, I couldn't really see that she does. Ms. Meyer preaches a prosperity gospel, so I don't see that there is a difference between what she preaches and what she lives. People may disagree w/ the contents of her preaching but hypocrisy doesn't seem to apply here (at least in my judgment). "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Clergy pay taxes. Clergy taxes are a little bit weird. Without going into a lot of detail, they are considered self employed for purposes of SSA/Medicare taxes but are employees for income tax purposes. Clergy can either buy their own house or use a house (parsonage or manse) the church has purchased for them. The use of the manse is taxed for SSA/Medicare purposes but it not taxed as income. If you buy your own home you may receive a housing allowance which is not taxed for income tax purposes. You may still deduct your mortgage interest. Property taxes are local but in the jurisdictions I am familiar w/ churches were supposed to pay taxes on property not being used for a primarily religious or charitable purpose. Example, one church I know was renting their manse while they were between pastors. They should be paying property tax on that manse. I would guess such rules are poorly monitored but I don't really know. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Whuffo you go into that Polar Bear habitat? "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Nope. He is in public and has no privacy expectations. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

What was your batting average? "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

You need to jump every 30 days as a student to maintain currency. Every 60 days for an A licensed skydiver. I don't mind jumping all winter (every jump is fun even when it is cold) but Virginia is not New England so I'll let somebody more local give more details about that. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Nice video--what is the canopy and what is the wingloading on it? Looks like it is flying pretty level and not spinning/diving. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

I would guess not enough seats remaining for .38 Special or REO Speedwagon or Hammer. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

That is called an agency fee. Non-union workers in a union shop must pay an agancy fee to the union for the union having done them the, ahem, "favor" of negotiating wages. Those workers cannot vote in union elections and the only thing they get for their fee is to be allowed by the union to work there. It doesn't matter if the company wants them, if they don't pay the union, they can't work. Unions: Extortion at it's finest and blessed by the government. I'm no expert but from what I read here it looks as though that is also illegal here in Virginia: § 40.1-62. Employer not to require payment of union dues, etc. -- No employer shall require any person, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment, to pay any dues, fees or other charges of any kind to any labor union or labor organization. (Enacted 1947; amended 1970.) "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Virginia is a right to work state, so nobody will be forced to join a union to keep their job. I think they may be required to pay some portion of the union membership dues, but I don't know the details on that. Danville really, really cannot afford to lose jobs, I hope this does not cause the plant to close or move. I would guess that one reason IKEA opened a plant there is that there are plenty of people w/ production/manufacturing experience willing to work for relatively low wages. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Yup... I'm sure the Democrats taking over control of Congress was just a coincidence. I wasn't really addressing causality, only posting correct figures. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Could you provide a citation for your figures. I'll go and try to track mine down, also. Thanks. Sure but these figures are widely available and agree at pretty much every site I've looked at (within a small margin of error anyway). Here's a Heritage Foundation piece, I trust you won't accuse them of being lefties distorting the truth: http://www.creators.com/opinion/david-limbaugh/budget-smoke-and-mirrors-where-s-the-outrage.html "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Bush ran deficits of about $100B per year, while Obama is running that per month. To compare the two doesn't make sense. Your facts are just plain incorrect. Bush's deficit was never as low as 100B for a year: the Bush administration ran up deficits of $158 billion in 2002; $378 billion in 2003; and $413 billion in 2004. Then, with revenues pouring in, the deficits began to fall: $318 billion in 2005; $248 billion in 2006; and $161 billion in 2007. It went up dramatically in 2008 and exploded in 2009. I'm not sure those figures include the two wars he got us involved in (which were kept off-budget and funded by emergency appropriations but which have to be paid for nonetheless). (I am not an Obama partisan). "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Irreducible complexity is just an elaborate God of the Gaps argument. Such arguments have not fared well through the years. Frankly is bespeaks a lack of imagination. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

Welcome to skydiving. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

This. They are already (rhetorically) backing off from the cuts for this year, which only total 21B dollars or 1% of the cuts needed. No chance they take any serious action to actually put this "agreement" into effect. It is all political theatre. "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"