Steve Bannon Arrested in New York on Charges of Stealing From ‘Build the Wall’ Fundraiser

[sallybutler]

Personally, I am not sure I like churches being tax exempt. It sort of makes them beholden to the government.

I feel the same way about colleges and schools that accept money from the government. Money almost always comes with strings.

 

[ProVobis]

Actually @Motherwit makes some legitimate observations. I defended Church traditionalists for 20 years before I heard on a Rush Limbaugh network some defense of an SSPX bishop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with what you are saying. I do think the day is coming, and it might not be far off, when the government is going to disqualify most Catholic charities from tax exempt status and donors from deductions. That is a power the government has retained for itself and it is a potential weapon to control them.

The Mormon church doesn’t ask for tax exempt status, and donations to it are not deductible. Their reasoning is that they fear the government will sooner or later use it to control them.

Unlike a lot of the Democrat apologists, (and conservatives) I don’t think the Democrat leaders are stupid. I think they know exactly what they’re doing. When Obama imposed the HHS mandate on Catholic and other religious organizations, that wasn’t an inadvertence. He wanted them to be complicit with abortion or “go out of business”. When Hillary Clinton said some people would have to “change their religion” to accommodate abortion, she meant it. When the DNC gives money to dissident Catholic organizations that support abortion, they know exactly what they’re doing. When the Obama administration disqualified Catholic charities from receiving government funds awarded to other charities because they wouldn’t refer for abortions, it knew exactly what it was doing, and intended it.

No matter what anybody thinks of the Dem party, I think it is foolish to imagine that it will not eventually suppress Catholic institutions that do not go along with their view of “civil rights” that include homosexual marriage and abortion. I think if Biden/Harris is elected, we’ll see that happen in the next four years.

 

[ProVobis]

when the government is going to disqualify most Catholic charities from tax exempt status and donors from deductions.

Can be done by doing something subtle like increase the standard deduction. A couple must contribute quite a lot to make itemizing worthwhile.

 

[pnewton]

When it comes to arrests of a political nature, I prefer to hold back an opinion. I have seen too many times sloppy indictments will get past a Grand Jury if the politics require it.

 

[graciew]

It is been around for quite a long time, Victoria. This Institute in the monastery issue and right wing ideology.
At some point , Cardinal Burke resigned from this Institute given the political tendencies brought in by Steve Bannon or so he said… He distanced himself from Bannon. There was more to it but I don’t remember details right now. I was searching for answers then… But there was that connection at that time.

 

[meltzerboy2]

I’ll state the obvious: never have there been more indictments than in the present Administration. And if Trump loses the election…

 

[TMC]

Here’s the thing that is odd about this story. Isn’t Bannon supposed to be super rich from BOTH his time on Wall Street AND the second fortune he is supposed to have made in Hollywood? So why would he dig into such a scam like this to siphon off a measly million or two? Is he not as rich as he claims? Is he just so corrupt that its like breathing, and he just does in naturally with everything he does? Or is there something else? And how does the Chinese billionaire factor in to all of this (if he does)?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can be done by doing something subtle like increase the standard deduction. A couple must contribute quite a lot to make itemizing worthwhile.

Except that a lot of people have other deductions, some quite large, like home mortgage interest.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Catholic Church is but one of the fronts being used to legitimize the financial profiteering of so many so called ‘non profits’. Bannon has relentlessly courted the Catholic base for his projects over the years.

If so, he’s not the only one. Sometime look up how much federal money is being given to diocesan organizations in Texas. Millions upon millions of dollars. Feeds lots of “charity bureaucrats”.

 

[ProVobis]

The 2017 Tax Act doubled the standard deduction thereby eliminating most tax benefits for charitable donations . The standard deduction which taxpayers can claim on their income tax returns without itemizing has been approximately doubled from $12,000 to $24,000 (for married couples filing joint income tax returns).

Charitable Giving: How To Save Tax Deductions Despite New Law

The 2017 Tax Act has dramatically restricted benefits from charitable giving. Donors should adjust their charitable planning techniques to salvage tax deductions despite the new limitations and restrictions including donation appreciated stock, bunching deductions with DAFs and more.

www.forbes.com

 

[sallybutler]

Think of the scorpion. I am not saying Bannon is like this, but it is in some people’s nature to do certain things, even if it hurts them and/or they don’t need it.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

Charged in the Southern District of New York. I would say, then, that there’s at least a 40% chance Bannon is guilty of something. Wonder how many charges they’ll file in order to get him to plead to one.

Here we see another example of undermining confidence in the justice system overall in order to make a political point. How many more good institutions need to be undermined before we realize we are only hurting ourselves?

If so, he’s not the only one. Sometime look up how much federal money is being given to diocesan organizations in Texas. Millions upon millions of dollars. Feeds lots of “charity bureaucrats”.

Wow! Not only must we undermine the Post Office, the Justice System, Scientists, Medical Experts. Now we even have to undermine the Catholic Church. Is there no end to this self-destruction?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Wow! Not only must we undermine the Post Office, the Justice System, Scientists, Medical Experts. Now we even have to undermine the Catholic Church. Is there no end to this self-destruction?

I am not the only one who has problems with some of the interaction between Church institutions and the government, or has a concern that it will get more problematic in the future. it doesn’t trouble you that government programs have sometimes tried to force Catholic institutions to refer for abortions or punished them if they didn’t?

That’s not “undermining the Catholic Church” that’s being on the side of the Church instead of that of government overreach.

But I guess it’s part of liberalism to want to shut up those who do not share its views. It used to be that Americans were proud of the ability of its citizens to critique or criticize government.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

It used to be that Americans were proud of the ability of its citizens to critique or criticize government.

When you criticize agreements between government and the Church, you are not just criticizing the government. You are criticizing the Church. When you cast doubt on the Church’s involvement in some charities, you undermine support for the Church’s involvement in all charities. The Church is already struggling to rebuild its public image in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal. Now you would have them take on public mistrust of charities that the Church supports. If you keep this up, the public will end up hating the Catholic Church, just like they did in early America.

 

[Nepperhan]

The NY Time editorial page thinks all this is simply an extension of Trump’s shilling to the American people:
" The Justice Department said Mr. Kolfage used some of the money to buy a boat, “Warfighter,” which he sailed in a boat parade held in President Trump’s honor on July 4 in Destin, Fla. According to the government, Mr. Bannon pocketed about $1 million.

The alleged fraud, at first blush, amounts to a clever misappropriation of Mr. Trump’s political image. The nonprofit wrapped itself in Mr. Trump’s flag, billing itself as a vehicle for supporting the president’s agenda, using his picture in its advertising and emphasizing that it had sought advice from the Department of Homeland Security.

But the scheme is also quintessentially Trumpian — a faithful copy of the president’s knack for trading on the hopes of disaffected Americans. We Build the Wall, in other words, was basically a Trump tribute band.

The plan itself was cribbed directly from Mr. Trump. It is the president, after all, who has sold many Americans on the fantastical idea of a simple solution to a complex problem — a border wall, which experts describe as unlikely to stop illegal immigration.

Crucially, Mr. Trump sold the border wall from the outset as a workaround for people frustrated that they couldn’t achieve their policy goals through the democratic process. He said Mexico would pay, so there was no need to ask Congress. Then he tried to shift money from the defense budget to start construction.

We Build the Wall shared that ethos. As the nonprofit explained on its website, “Our mission is to unite private citizens that share a common belief in providing national security for our Southern Border through the construction, administration and maintenance of physical barriers inhibiting illegal entry into the United States.”

This wasn’t a lobbying group. The point wasn’t to persuade Congress to build the wall. The idea was to usurp a basic function of government…

The looming question, however, is whether President Trump will keep Mr. Bannon at arm’s length. Americans can feel little confidence that Mr. Bannon will receive a fair trial and, if convicted, a fair punishment. By commuting Roger Stone’s sentence in July, Mr. Trump demonstrated a willingness to shelter his current and former associates from the legal consequences of their actions.

It is a sad reality of the moment that Americans have reason to question whether justice will be served…"

Opinion | Steve Bannon’s Art of the Grift (Published 2020)

The big idea to build a wall on the southern border looks like a big con.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Ridgerunner]

When you criticism agreements between government and the Church, you are not just criticizing the government. You are criticizing the Church. When you cast doubt on the Church’s involvement in some charities, you undermine support for the Church’s involvement in all charities.

A terrible rash judgment and wrong. I have a close relationship with Catholic Charities here. Their programs are very good programs. Another diocese attempted to dump a bunch of “asylum seekers” this government accepted from the UN and “farmed out” to charities. The organization I work with wouldn’t take them over because the other diocese had run through the funding and still had not gotten the asylum people anywhere near where they were supposed to be. Catholic charities can be very good. Some can be very inept, and some most definitely are.

That is nothing against the Church itself. But it is at least something of an argument that not all government/church programs are good or work well.

And that has nothing to do with the sex abuse thing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The looming question, however, is whether President Trump will keep Mr. Bannon at arm’s length.

I think he has, some time ago.

Roger Stone was entrapped into committing a “process crime”. Both Brennan Clapper did the very same thing and didn’t get indicted at all. So did Comey.

 

[billsherman]

Another diocese attempted to dump a bunch of “asylum seekers” this government accepted from the UN and “farmed out” to charities.

You mean refugees. If you are correct that they came from the UN - they were not seeking asylum, but had already been granted refugee status. There are very significant legal differences.

They were being helped by the Office of Refugee Resettlement which helps refugees get jobs (or training when needed), housing, medical care, and otherwise get on their feet in the US (language training when needed, etc.).

The ORR does a lot of its work by partnering with the USCCB and Lutheran Refugee Services. More than 100 Dioceses resettle refugees - the ones that don’t are usually too small to have the manpower needed, or occasionally when the state in which they are located successfully puts up barriers (by denying Medicare to refugee children, for example).

 

[JanR]

Bannon was fired early in Mr. Trump’s administration. Evidently, he saw something back then in him that he felt undesirable enough to terminate his services for.

No new president, in the very beginning, puts together the perfect team right out of the gate. Mr. Trump has fired and replaced several of his cabinet and staff members, as time went along.

While others might find that disturbing, I find it reassuring. Mr. Trump does want the very best people around him, and if the one’s he initially hires prove not to measure up, he doesn’t keep them.

Remember, President Trump came to us from the business world. A businessman does this regularly. He hires, and he fires. I think it’s a healthy thing.