GOP TARGETS MEALS ON WHEELS!

[Teatownclown]

Their budget cutting is part of a continual pattern to destroy social services....

Let's put our foot down on this.

[Conan71]

According to their own web site, only 8% of their funding comes from government grants.

http://www.mowaa.org/yourdollars

It wouldn't be that hard to make up from donations in the private sector.  Sorry no outrage here.

Everyone wants something out of the government, we simply cannot afford every single social program, no matter how noble or worth the cause.  Solicit private donations rather than expecting the government to borrow money to cover the program.  It wasn't that long ago that people depended on their churches for services like MOW.

Anyone else remember when churches provided charity and the government governed, not the other way around?

[Teatownclown]

No perspective Conan.....1.3 billion cut is nothing in this deficit. These are divide a nation and conquer election issues. Let's cut cut cut. Austerity measures don't work.

It's not an either/or situation. From public education to meals on wheels, we have a duty to help those that need a hand up. This is not a church duty. There are other organizations like Iron Gate that the church sets up to do the same. This social service is necessary for those who need assistance. This is not a food stamp program...

[Conan71]

No perspective Conan.....1.3 billion cut is nothing in this deficit. These are divide a nation and conquer election issues. Let's cut cut cut. Austerity measures don't work.

Get your calculator out and start adding up all the billions here and there, grants, the pentagon, White House Admin, Congressional perks, you name it.  It adds up into something really significant.

Now, for real perspective, take a look at the financials in the following link- 2009 is the latest they have posted

http://www.mowaa.org/Document.Doc?id=345

MOWAA took in $6 billion, of that, $485 million was government grants.  They spent $3.6 billion.  They don't need government grants when they are perfectly capable of raising more than enough money on their own.  

Quit watching Feartube and research your own facts direct from the source.

[Teatownclown]

Feartube? LOL.... That's not Feartube it's TruthTube. You just hate it that more money goes to help the underclass. You think it's "the Churches duty?" They're too busy building cathedrals and skimming from the plate. I think we should quit allowing tax deductions to churches and save 60 billion a year in the budget. What you say?

[Conan71]

Feartube? LOL.... That's not Feartube it's TruthTube. You just hate it that more money goes to help the underclass. You think it's "the Churches duty?" They're too busy building cathedrals and skimming from the plate. I think we should quit allowing tax deductions to churches and save 60 billion a year in the budget. What you say?

A real church is simply a small community (not a way for a pastor to glorify himself via huge monuments to his/her ego and $120K sports cars).  Communities used to take care of their own.  There's more than enough private resources without pimping the federal government.  I suspect Trinity Episcopal's Iron Gate program does just fine without government funding.

Seriously.  Please explain why an entity which took in far more than they spent via private donations, membership dues, and convention proceeds  needs government money?  I simply hate pissing money into rat holes which don't need it or would find it in other areas if the government tit weren't so accessible.  What's your solution for the deficit?  Keep spending and taxing more?

[Teatownclown]

Romney donates %10 of his income to LDS to void the government handing out help through organizations like MOW his tax liability. And then LDS builds these monstrosities while avoiding MOW. It's a joke how the GOP/Teabaggers refuse to coral the religiousity of taxes. How come you never look at the other side of the coin?

[Townsend]

 I suspect Trinity Episcopal's Iron Gate program does just fine without government funding.

They need funding for crowd control while they feed their guests and litter patrol after they feed their guests.

[Conan71]

Romney donates %10 of his income to LDS to void the government handing out help through organizations like MOW his tax liability. And then LDS builds these monstrosities while avoiding MOW. It's a joke how the GOP/Teabaggers refuse to coral the religiousity of taxes. How come you never look at the other side of the coin?

I'm actually pretty ambivalent on taxing religious institutions.  One reason I don't favor it is I'm afraid they might lose much of their ability to function as charities in helping the needy or providing educational services via schools and universities.  One reason I'm for it is there are obviously some church leaders who use the church as nothing more than a tax dodge.  I'm not sure how you construct a means-based formula for taxing religious institutions.  I agree, there's probably a pile of taxable money there, but why does the government spend so damn much that we even need to consider raising that much more revenue?

Have you even bothered to research what humanitarian aid the LDS provides around the world or is it far simpler to follow Bill Maher's rant on this and discount any good which comes from donations to the church or any other charity, for that matter?  BFD, the LDS in their charitable endeavors isn't terribly unlike the Red Cross, United Way, etc. ad nauseum.  As a church, they are allowed to spend money on their own facilities for worship and to minister to their flock.  Same as the Catholic Church, same as the Baptist Church, same as Islam, same as Judaism.  

And I'm sure Kaiser donates 10% or more to his synagogue, gets a hefty tax break and so it goes.  Any millionaire or billionaire worth their MBA also has a charitable trust set up to shield income from taxation and to distribute to charities of their own liking.

Every church, temple, and synagogue spends X amount on their monstrosity or building, many spend money on missions and humanitarian relief.

Why the sudden focus on Morons?  Oh yeah, election year.  

[MrsConan]

Hmmmm......the government gives money to social organizations that don't really need it so they can USE said organizations as scare tactics to get people's attention.  How convenient.  Because it is a social issue, the smokescreen works and the attention is directed towards the funding cuts instead of the facts.  And you wonder why we are all so sick of this political BS.

[Conan71]

Example of those heartless Mormons who don't help with hunger, I'm sure the 570,000 square foot warehouse they just opened in SLC wouldn't be big enough for TTC:

Mormons open mammoth new storehouse to feed the needy
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
First Published Jan 26 2012 01:04 pm • Last Updated Jan 26 2012 07:56 pm
The LDS Church opened the doors Thursday to its new 570,000-square-foot Bishops' Central Storehouse in west Salt Lake City.

The new storehouse, which sits on a nearly 36-acre site at 5405 W. 300 South, will include administrative offices, bulk/rack storage and refrigeration areas. It also will house support facilities for the church's trucking fleet.

The idea of a bishops' storehouse began in the 19th century, when many Mormons shared their excess goods with other members. Today, these storehouses are established across the globe to distribute food and other commodities to the poor and needy who have been referred to the program by an LDS bishop.

The day-to-day operations of a bishops' storehouse are managed by missionaries, who are full-time volunteers.

The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53382726-78/storehouse-lake-salt-bishops.html.csp

I don't have an Irish Setter in this race, I simply don't care for the spread of misinformation and ignorance.

[AquaMan]

Everyone wants something out of the government, we simply cannot afford every single social program, no matter how noble or worth the cause.  Solicit private donations rather than expecting the government to borrow money to cover the program.  It wasn't that long ago that people depended on their churches for services like MOW.

Anyone else remember when churches provided charity and the government governed, not the other way around?

Actually, no. At least not in my lifetime which spans the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy eras up to present. In fact I see more activity by churches now trying to take up the slack of reduced or eliminated relief and treatment programs than ever before. The mainline religions know their importance and reach out. The evangelicals will reach out too as long as the politics are right and they get plenty of attention.

"Solicitor" jobs designed to beg money from the government and foundations, go begging because it is so difficult to succeed at the position.

MOW is a great program. It likely will withstand funding cuts but it seems no successful program goes unpunished these days.

[AquaMan]

Hmmmm......the government gives money to social organizations that don't really need it so they can USE said organizations as scare tactics to get people's attention.  How convenient.  Because it is a social issue, the smokescreen works and the attention is directed towards the funding cuts instead of the facts.  And you wonder why we are all so sick of this political BS.

Really? You think the government is that cynical and sinister? "....hey, guys, lets set up a smokescreen by giving money to social organizations that don't need it so we can then infiltrate the organization and use it to scare the sheeple. Yeh, that's the ticket."

I don't. If there is a problem, it lies with the process of funding programs, the lobbyists who run Congress, and the sheeple who keep sending the same carnivores back every few years to eat our lunches.

[we vs us]

The maneuver that the House budget committee is attempting is to modify "budget sequestration," or more specifically the across the board cuts -- including to the defense budget -- that come as a result of the failure of the Supercommittee.  So:  the Supercommittee failed to come up with a method of deficit reduction, and according to the Budget Act of 2011, a Supercommittee failure triggers these across the board cuts.  These are cuts to everything -- defense, social programs, everything in the federal budget -- to the tune of $1.3T.  The GOP in the House is trying to rejigger the automatic cuts to only affect social programs, while completely sparing military budgets.  This legislation just left the (GOP-controlled) House budget committee, and is projected to clear the (GOP-controlled) House, but is not projected to see a vote in the Senate.  If by some miracle it does and becomes law, Obama has pledged to veto it. 

Sadly, it's just another example of the GOP trying to pay off the deficit on the backs of the poor. 

[nathanm]

Sadly, it's just another example of the GOP trying to pay off the deficit on the backs of the poor. 

God forbid we listen to Tom Coburn and get rid of most or all of the spending in the tax code.