And they’re right in thinking so.
And this explains why one can’t see when a US President (who demands that people stand during the National Anthem and insults the other branches of government) acts more dictatorial than any Democrat President. You have fixed in your mind that it will come from the left and can’t actually look around and see what is happening in the world.
Trump “insists” that athletes stand for the national anthem, though he doesn’t have the power to force them to do it and doesn’t seek the power. He insults others in government. (and who doesn’t) On the other hand, Barack Obama forced the Little Sisters of the Poor (and all others) to provide contraceptives and abortifacients for their employees and themselves against conscience and under penalty of huge fines and possibly subject them to contempt of a court in the end.
What Trump is doing is state coercion. He has threatened laws protecting the NFL if they don’t get the players to stand. That is coercion. If only he would put that kind of effort into trying to get racists to stop using the Confederate flag.
No he isn’t. He threatened to undertake changing a (now nonexistent) law that gave special tax status to the NFL. he didn’t propose fining or jailing anyone. Only congress can change tax laws. Under Obama, it took away a special tax benefit for agricultural commodities storage facilities. Things like that happen. In Trump’s case, it already had.
Is the point to advance a decent agenda, or to avoid being called a racist?
Ok, so he threatened to change a law that isn’t real. So it’s not state coercion because he doesn’t know what a law is nor what his role in government is. Got it. Doesn’t make me feel better though.
Well, I don’t see it as a violation of religious freedom to fill out a form saying that you are a religious organization and will not provide these contraceptions on the basis of religious belief. Like I said, it seems like the administration provided a reasonable compromise and somehow that wasn’t enough.
It doesn’t matter how you rationalize it. The Little Sisters and a number of other religious institutions didn’t see it that way. Nor did some of the courts. I do realize it was one of the Obama administration’s “talking points” that it was a “reasonable compromise”. But in reality it wasn’t because they very act of signing the form would result in contraceptive and abortifacient coverage being provided to their employees and themselves, making them complicit. Besides, the original mandate didn’t have that “compromise” in it. It was just a straight up fiat. The “compromise” was only proposed when the lawsuits started.
It is not my intent to make you feel better. Proposing tax law changes, as you might have observed, is very much in the works for all kinds of reasons. That’s what congress does for a living, among other things.
It’s not even talking points - it just that it makes sense to me. The theology behind the Little Sisters’ point of view seems very twisted. They would be in no more responsible for their employees using contraceptive then they would be if the employees took the money they earned and bought a gun and murdered someone.
No doubt, because by pointing out that Trump doesn’t have a clue about the laws of the land or his actual job, it seems like he may not be qualified to hold the job. Of course, I wasn’t fool enough to vote for him because I suspected he didn’t understand what the laws were nor the actual responsibilities of being president. Now, at the end of the day, threatening tax breaks to the NFL is state coercion though and you should not pretend there is no state coercion.
Don’t blame us for your bitterness over Trump’s victory.7_Sorrows:
And the nonstop cheerleading of Trump since the election by you and Ridge tells me all I need to know.
Being forced to buy Obamacare or be fined was not coercion?Ridgerunner:
What Trump is doing is state coercion. He has threatened laws protecting the NFL if they don’t get the players to stand. That is coercion. If only he would put that kind of effort into trying to get racists to stop using the Confederate flag.
As far as the Little Sisters, they refused to fill out a form that said they had religious objections to providing contraception - they were not required to have it as part of their policy. I am on mixed feelings on this since many Catholic organizations had no trouble signing a form and, more embarrassingly, we found out many Catholic organizations were providing contraception coverage. It comes across as very much fake outrage.
I’m not blaming you. I am saying that you act like it was a choice you made, but you weren’t satisfied with who you could have voted for and I question that because of the nonstop cheerleading.
You don’t believe the government has the power to tax?