Taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize political campaigns

Bill Knight column for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, March 19, 20 or 21

President Trump at the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast repeated his campaign promise to dismantle the “Johnson amendment,” the federal law prohibiting nonprofits, including churches, from getting involved in partisan electoral politics.

“I will get rid of and totally destroy the ‘Johnson amendment’ and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,” Trump vowed. “Remember.”

We all should – though he didn’t mention it at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast.

Trump remembers. During December’s debate over tax reform, he tried to pressure Congress to include the move in the overhaul, but the GOP limied debate to topics affecting the budget, so the parliamentarian blocked the scheme. Before, on May 4, Trump signed “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” but it didn’t kill the “Johnson amendment” nor opened up politicking from the pulpit.

The “Johnson amendment” is part of the tax code, named after then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas), who was upset that a tax-exempt organization supported an election opponent and introduced the change in 1954. It bars nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates. If a tax-exempt organization violates this prohibition, it could lose its tax-exempt status, meaning it would be subject to taxation and donations it receives wouldn’t be tax-deductible. The change wasn’t controversial (continuing during the Reagan administration when the law was updated) .

After all, contrary to Trump’s claim, religious leaders may, as private citizens, speak freely about politics. They just can’t use the 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt resources of their nonprofits to do it. In fact, a 2015 Secular Policy Institute study said that tax-exempt churches in the United States costing the nation $71 billion annually in tax breaks, including federal income-tax subsidies, property-tax credits, state income tax, and  subsidies for parsonages and “faith-based initiatives.”

Advocating for the repeal, Trump panders to a base for which he doesn’t show respect: the “Religious Right.” Embodied in Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. (who almost violated the law by endorsing Mike Huckabee in 2008), Franklin Graham (the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Ralph Reed (formerly with the Christian Coalition and now chair of the Faith & Freedom Coalition), this political sect remains powerful despite Roy Moore’s loss in his unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat from Alabama. (Falwell, Graham and Reed all supported Moore despite several women accused him of sexual misconduct.)

Interestingly, since the “Johnson amendment” was enacted, only one church has been “punished,” according Father Thomas Reese: a Vestal, N.Y., church. In 1992 it paid for advertising stating, “Do not put the economy ahead of the Ten Commandments,” falsely asserting that then-Gov. Bill Clinton supported abortion on demand, homosexuality, and giving condoms to teens. The ad said it was “co-sponsored by the Church at Pierce Creek, Daniel J. Little, Senior Pastor, and by churches and concerned Christians nationwide. Tax-deductible donations for this advertisement gladly accepted.”

The Internal Revenue Service noticed and revoked the church’s tax exemption, and the church challenged the IRS in federal court. But courts said the church’s constitutional rights to free exercise of religion and free speech weren’t violated, ruling, “Plaintiffs were offered a choice: They could engage in partisan political activity and forfeit their Section 501(c)(3) status, or they could refrain from partisan political activity and retain their Section 501(c)(3) status. That choice is unconnected to plaintiffs’ ability to freely exercise their religion.”

However, the law isn’t just about churches. Some universities, hospitals and charities ranging from the conservative Koch brothers’ family foundation to progressive George Soros’ foundation could increasingly wield their wealth to influence elections – tax-free.

Critics such as the National Council of Nonprofits, Jewish Federations of North America, and Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) say Trump’s threat would just create another campaign-finance loophole, turning nonprofits into funnels for tax-deductible political donations. It also would increase government examination of churches, which aren’t obligated to meet reporting requirements other 501(c)(3) groups must.)

 “President Donald Trump and the Religious Right seek to turn America’s houses of worship into miniature Political Action Committees,” commented Barry Lynn, director of Americans United. “That would be a disaster for both churches and politics in America.”

Killing the “Johnson amendment” would divide congregations that come together to worship, not to argue over politicians. It would probably discourage tax-deductible giving to otherwise charitable causes since contributions would instead go to nonprofits active in politics. And it’s unpopular. Most clergy and everyday Americans oppose churches endorsing candidates, according to polls cited by FiveThirtyEight. In fact, two-thirds of Americans are against churches choosing sides in elections, says the Pew Research Center, which last year said, “In 2016, 66 percent expressed opposition to church endorsements of candidates.”

Is Trump’s OSHA ignoring the dead?

Bill Knight column for Thurs., Fri., or Sat., March 15, 16 or 17, 2018

Workers Memorial Day is more than a month away, but the April 30 event held annually will occur at a time when remembering the fallen from work-related injuries or illnesses is made more difficult by the Trump administration.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) dropped fatality information that used to appear on its website as a list of U.S. workers who died on the job, and the agency is “hiding” a severely edited version of the data.

OSHA removed an up-front list of workplace fatalities from its home page, and moved some of it onto a data page –  without names of workers killed, and only for deaths where citations were issued.

During the Obama administration, OSHA published a comprehensive list of worker fatalities and related data. In August, shortly after President Trump installed Loren Sweatt in a political appointment to Deputy Assistant Secretary, OSHA started cutting back worker fatality information formerly published automatically.

The theory had been that employers would more likely comply with safety standards if they feared bad publicity from accidental deaths at their facilities. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued that such disclosures were unfair and requested the cutback in transparency.

“They saw this as a way to scare employers straight,” said Marc Freedman, director of labor law policy for the Chamber of Commerce.

Others might concede the approach might have been ineffective – if employers had no shame.

Dr. David Michaels, President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA from 2009-2017, has tried to stand up for the agency amid attacks by Congressional Republicans seeking “voluntary” compliance with job safety and health standards.

Capitol Hill’s ruling GOP prefers a voluntary program letting employers get safety advice without being required to follow it. In exchange, employers virtually escape inspections – as infrequent as those are.

Michaels, now a professor of public health at George Washington University, said that OSHA is underfunded and understaffed. The agency’s budget has remained flat, at $550 million yearly, for almost a decade and its workforce has shrunk, he said, and chronic budget woes trimmed the ranks of OSHA job-site inspectors down to about 2,200 – or approximately 1 compliance officer for every 59,000 American workers.

That means that the typical U.S. workplace would see an OSHA inspector once every 159 years.

 “It is not hyperbole to use the word ‘carnage’ to describe the hazardous conditions in the workplace before OSHA,” Michaels said.

In 1970, 14,000 workers were killed on the job, or 18 per 100,000, he noted. Last year it was 5,190, or 3.6 per 100,000, not counting those who die later from occupationally caused diseases, such as black lung, asbestosis and various cancers.

Also, under the Trump regime, OSHA only lists fatalities in states where OSHA oversees workplace safety (about half of the states do this for themselves).

Meanwhile, according to Sam Pizzigati, a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, “In 2016, the latest year with full stats, 991 construction workers nationwide died from fatal work injuries, a 3 percent increase over the year before.”

Despite concerns those numbers raise, a complete picture is difficult with less information routinely available. For example, OSHA under Trump also drastically reduced announcements and news releases noting OSHA enforcement actions.

Meanwhile, Trump nominated Scott Mugno, an executive with FedEx, to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, but as of press time, the full Senate had not confirmed the appointment, so Sweatt is also acting OSHA chief. The nomination continues the parade of insiders and walking conflicts of interest Trump has named to administration posts – when he nominates anyone. As with many other positions in Trump’s administration, OSHA’s chief of staff and senior adviser jobs remain vacant.

Labor can learn lesson from teachers

Bill Knight column for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, March 12, 13 or 14

Last week’s unexpected outcome of West Virginia teachers’ nine-day strike may not be a turning point for organized labor, but their victory is surely a valuable lesson.

Given teachers’ job description, let’s say, appropriately, that we should learn from teachers.

On Tuesday, West Virginia’s legislature and Democrat-turned Republican Gov. Jim Justice unanimously agreed to give striking teachers a 5-percent wage increase, and schools reopened the next day.

A struggle led by the rank-and-file involved tens of thousands of workers, earned widespread support, and ended with a substantial victory – the largest pay raise in the state’s history, GOP State Sen. Craig Blair told CNN.

West Virginia’s legislature also:

* dropped demands for disastrous changes to the Public Employees Insurance Agency,

* shelved terrible education bills, and

* dropped anti-union measures such as the misguided (and misnamed) “Payroll Protection” proposal, a retaliatory nuisance bill that would have prevented union dues from being deducted from members’ checks.

Lessons include: Change is possible; common ground exists despite differences in politics, sports, food, whatever; helping each other is natural; and even John Denver music can be embraced on picket lines.

The strike was organized mostly outside the traditional union structure because West Virginia is a Right To Work state with few collective-bargaining rights, teachers unions operate there but don’t have the legal authority to exclusively represent employees, and workers don’t have the “right” to strike.

Further, the way West Virginia funds public education required strikers to deal directly with state lawmakers.

“When workers have no contract or collective bargaining and do not belong to the union that says it represents them, they have not organized a ‘wildcat’ strike because they are not violating the ‘no strike’ provision of the contract,” said Lois Weiner in New Politics.

February 22 saw the massive mobilization of some 35,000 teachers – who’d gone four years without a wage increase. They struck the state’s public schools in all 55 counties, affecting 227,000 students and countless families.

West Virginia teachers were facing rising health-insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles, and everyday people could identify. Also, according to National Education Association data, West Virginia teacher pay in 2017 ranked 47th of out the 50 states (Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Dakota were worse).

Throughout the strike there was an almost joyous sense of community; the teachers’ action became more than a work stoppage. In nine days – the longest strike in state history – the walkout turned into a movement. Participants were from inside and outside classrooms, throughout school-job classifications; eventually the settlement benefited the state’s entire public sector; and the job action saw impressive community support from parents, other workers and taxpayers. Despite the inconvenience of finding child care, a feeling of good will prevailed.

“I feel like my life won’t ever be the same again,” Charleston middle-school teacher Jay O’Neal told Jacobin magazine writer Eric Blanc. “If we can do it, anybody can do it. You need to organize people around a specific issue.”

Now, other teachers are rising up in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, organizing at workplaces and on social media with a determination not seen for too long.

Tulsa, Okla., teacher Larry Cagle on March 1 said, “If we strike, I double-dare you to fire us. We’ll just go to Texas. They’re looking for new teachers.”