Nothing New About Pfleger Pflouting Tax Law

My posts about Mike "Snuffy" Pfleger's abuse of his church's tax status notwithstanding, this is not the first time this issue has been brought to light. Yet curiously, not only has the IRS stood by doing nothing, but this aspect of the story has been all but ignored by "conservative" news outlets and bloggers--even though a clear double standard is evidenced in two recent news stories involving evangelical churches in Florida and Kansas.

In 2003, The Washington Post reported on Pfleger inviting then Democrat presidential candidate Al Sharpton to address the St. Sabina congregation. In their account, the Chicago Sun Times revealed:

[A]rchdiocesan officials are concerned about whether having a political candidate speak from the pulpit might violate laws regarding not-for-profit organizations, such as churches.

They shouldn't have worried. It was a good day. Catholic Citizens of Illinois reported a $36,000 collection plate haul.

Sharpton wasn't the only political candidate given a spotlight. As commentator Nicholas Stix observed about Barack Obama's relationship with Pfleger's St. Sabina in 2004:

He believes, with all his heart, in the separation of church and state – except when he campaigns in black churches, in violation of that separation, and in violation of the tax code.

Then we have some revelations from the Chicago Sun Times, April 12, 2005:

Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina says his church's outlay of $2,500 to send parishioners to a dinner and $1,500 for a golf outing, both sponsored by the 17th Ward Democratic Organization, was not illegal. "The perception was that Saint Sabina is funding candidates and taking church donations to do so," Pfleger said in a letter to the Sun-Times. "Neither is true." But as BGA director Stewart notes: "You have to ask, 'Who were these events hosted by and where did the profits go?'"

Events like these are meant to raise political cash, and a church's contribution crosses the already murky divide between state and religion. It's one thing for a church group to join a street protest to encourage social change and quite another to pay for attendance at a dinner sponsored by a political group. The rules about this are clear.

The article even says "Attorney General Lisa Madigan acted promptly by sending out information to tax-exempt groups..." so continuing to ignore the law is evidently willful, as opposed to an innocent oversight.

And here's a little apparent quid pro quo as reported by The Chicago Tribune early last month:

One of those long-time supporters was Rev. Michael Pfleger, the politically active leader of St. Sabina Church. He gave Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced $225,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs.

Pfleger said he made those donations personally, not on behalf of the church or to win grants.

"At a time when less people vote than ever, I don't think pastors should be silent on politics," Pfleger said.

No, apparently not, and 150 times your personal contributions are not a bad return on investment, either. Somehow, that pesky "wall of separation" liberals are alway harping about when the church/state issue involves conservative values (like pro-life Catholicism?) has become as porous and unguarded as our border. And with a nod and a wink, the St. Sabina congregation is in Obama's and the Chicago Democrat Machine's pockets, Pfleger has plausible deniability, and life on the South Side goes on.

Snuff Out Mike Pfleger

By now, you've probably heard of the recording of "moral authority" "Father" Michael Pfleger calling for John "R-i-g-g-i-o", the owner of a Chuck's Gun Shop (along with "legislators" who don't support citizen disarmament) to be "snuffed out."

Well like the good father says, "it's all about the Benjamins," which I guess is proof he understands street slang, and he understands what "snuff out" means among his (can you call a gaggle or a pack a "flock"?)

So what about the Benjamins, Mike? And why shouldn't your ability to apparently exploit tax laws the rest of us are forced to obey be snuffed out?

What am I talking about? Well, Mike's "church," St. Sabina, is a 501(c)(3) corporation.


That means, as a church, it's exempt from filing taxes, and contributions are tax deductible. But that also means, in order to qualify for this exemption, certain conditions must be adhered to. Per IRS Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization, Chapter 3. Section 501(c)(3), "Application for Recognition of Exemption":

The organization will not, as a substantial part of its activities, attempt to influence legislation (unless it elects to come under the provisions allowing certain lobbying expenditures)...

When we look at the section on "Lobbying Expenditures," it says:

In general, if a substantial part of the activities of your organization consists of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, your organization’s exemption from federal income tax will be denied.

Father Mike's monomaniacal "crusade" against people being able to protect themselves was evidenced not only by his appearance at the rally, not only in his pledge to continue harassing lawful businesses and the citizens who operate and patronize them, and not only by a history of disarmament advocacy (Google search terms "Michael Pfleger" gun).

All one really needs to do is look at the St. Sabina webpage:


He certainly doesn't make much effort to separate "Gun Legislation to Support in Illinois" from the rest of the church's mission, does he?

And what legislation would that be? Why don't we take a look:


What are those 501(c)(3) restrictions again?

But wait--there's more. We also see a link for "The Beloved Community, Inc." which a little searching also reveals to be a 501 (c)(3) for which contributions are tax deductible:


It might not be out of line to ask why they're listed as the "bullet" (hah!) for:

Save Our Children - STOP Gangs - Killing - Guns - Drugs - What Can I Do? Download the flier and Stop sign

especially since they answered "NO" on their 2005 Form 990, Part III, "Statement About Activities," question 1:

During the year, has the organization attempted to influence national, state or local legislation, including any attempt to influence public opinion on a legislative matter or referendum?

(I could present a picture of the form in question here, but that would violate the terms of use for the information source--but the IRS will know where to find it.)

But it probably doesn't matter anyway--because the links to the information and fliers are dead (but curiously, went to St. Sabina webpages anyway, not to the "Beloved Community" site.)

Fortunately, we have one of my favorite resources, The Wayback Machine, that archived the page in question. From it, you can download their flier:



You can print out their sign:


You can "Call legislators and tell them to pass common sense gun laws..." (How very compliant with 501(c)(3) restrictions!)

You can call the anonymous hotline (paid for with tax deductible contributions?)!

And you can even get "REWARDS!"

We will offer rewards to people who call in to our anonymous hotline 773-483-HELP (4357) and give us information that leads to finding and getting guns out of our community.

Hmm. I wonder if the funds for those were taken from tax deductible donations to the church, and how much was paid out?

These are just rhetorical questions I'm asking, mind you. I personally could never sic the IRS on anyone, as I view the entire agency to be a usurpation and a betrayal of the intent of the Founders. My purpose in posting this was merely to point out some questions that deserve to be answered.

Of course, were someone from the government to use this information and "snuff out" Mike Pfleger's ability to apparently circumvent rules the rest of us must follow, well...

The Snuffy You Know vs the One You Don't

When I got the news last night about Snuffy Pfleger's Napoleonic exile, I really didn't have time to do much more than make a quick post. There are a few observations I want to make sure are in the mix.

From the story I originally linked to:

This past Sunday, Pfleger told St. Sabina's congregation that he's received more than 3,000 threatening e-mails – some calling for his death. The messages caused the church to beef up security for Sunday's services.

What--did they say bloodthirsty stuff like "Snuff out Mike P-F-L-E-G-E-R?" And death threats? You reported those for investigation, right?

And what does "beef up security" mean? Aside from the fact that you've shown the only way to opppose a threat of force is to possess sufficient deterrent force, and the display of same is often enough to repel a threat?

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting over at St. Sabina, with the congregation demanding Snuffy's reinstatement--and some going on a hunger strike. It's fairly obvious the loyalty is to the man, not to the church, which lends itself to all kinds of interesting conclusions and creates all kinds of interesting possibilities if the demands are not met.

One other revelation I found quite telling:

Over the weekend, he said that the days since his Trinity address had been the most difficult of his life, even more painful than when his foster son Jarvis was gunned down near St. Sabina on May 30, 1998.

Good grief--literally. It really is all about you, isn't it, Snuffy?

That is simply not a statement anyone who is a real father-- biological or adoptive-- could make. The levels of pain aren't even on the same scale. Or shouldn't be.

Now on to the replacement Snuffy: Here are a couple bits of information concerning temporary stand-in, Father William Vanecko. We might as well just start calling him Snuffy Lite, because:

• He's another anti-gun hand-wringer, and

• He's Boss Daley's brother-in-law.

Hide or Seek?

As reporters we pay attention to context and we are limited in time and space. Jim had 70 lines to write his story. I have 24 hours in my day.

Manya Brachear, aka The Seeker ("on a quest for Truth--with a capital T"), comes up with some excuses on why The Chicago Tribune didn't think a priest inciting a mob to "snuff out" a gun store owner was newsworthy enough to even mention.

Other readers of the blog have raised an interesting issue about the church's involvement in political activism. It certainly doesn't take place only at St. Sabina. Certainly fodder for another discussion in weeks to come.

Thing about news, Manya, and being an "authorized journalist" one would think you'd know this, is that it's considered news because it's timely, hence the disinterest exemplified in the old saying "yesterday's news." The time to discuss this is not "in weeks to come"--it is now.

You've already laid the groundwork for the "Billy's mom let's him do it" excuse, but I think I've presented enough evidence to show those getting a pass on this are cut from the same cloth as Snuffy Pfleger. Funny, how when more traditional evangelicals open their yaps, the political left suddenly gets all indignant and watchdoggy and everything.

So you have no intention of reporting on the St Sabina/tax abuse angle, do you, "Truth" Seeker? You probably don't get enough lines, and besides, there are only 24 hours in your day.

Feel free to add comments to the article this post's title links to--but be careful and "keep the comments here civilized, reasoned and polite. If the discussion devolves into name calling, comments will be closed."

See, if the truth hurts, we'd rather hide than seek.

Stop the Snuf...uhh...Violence

[Select "ABC7 Special: Stop the Violence" from video menu]

We have to deal with the availability of guns. We have to change the laws...

We have to change the laws and legislation and we have to go after the legislators who are being pressured by the NRA and other organizations to keep them from changing those laws...

We've got to change the legislation--maybe we need to change the Second Amendment. Maybe we gotta go back and look at that and say "Is this really what the fathers meant when they said we have the Second Amendment?"

...We need to do sweeps of the houses...guns have to come off the streets...

We're looking for common sense laws.

Nope--no legislation politicking there, Snuffy. No wonder Americans United for Separation of Church and State are hesitant to get involved. I mean, from the 501(c)(3) St. Sabina graphic in front of your mug, it's clear you're speaking as an individual...right?

The rest of this propaganda-fest is just sickening. A bunch of hacks and bureaucrats, who have failed utterly and miserably when given countless plundered millions to pursue their socialist agenda, proposing more of the same as the solution, and blaming everyone and everything except the system they have created to foster dependency, and allow individuals to abdicate responsibility for control over their lives and freedom. Proposing to register every handgun in America owned by those of us who are not out of control, and leaving us to the tender mercies of your street constituencies won't exactly fly in the heartland, folks.

And how about that ABC7? Fair and balanced, no? Could the moderators have looked any more sympathetic and understanding? I'm sure glad they listened to my suggestions.

They're Ba-ack...

I'd forgotten about this screenshot I took a couple days ago because I've been kind'a busy lately...

They're ba-ack.

Yo, Snuffy-- do you think someone in Congress may be interested in you because of your use of St. Sabina's tax-deductible contributions?

At least the feds aren't checking up on Red's Trading Post this time...

Looks Like Snuffy's Going on a Sabbatical

Rev. Michael Pfleger removed from St. Sabina for decades-old sexual abuse allegation [More]

I'm going to hold off on saying more because I've got a piece on this submitted to AmmoLand that ought to be coming out soon.

[Via John Richardson]

CBS 2 is Proud

CBS 2 is proud to bring together resident and community leaders for a town hall meeting to talk about ways to keep everyone safe...

The guest list for the invitation-only meeting included about 70 very high-profile members of our community who were tapped specifically because of their expertise or insights into gang culture or law enforcement.

Among them were: Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church, Chicago School Board President Rufus Williams, Jesus Garcia, president of the Little Village Development Corporation, and CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller.

Let me guess. The consensus was for more "gun control."

"Invitation only"? You mean it was a private "public meeting"? Nothing like stacking the panel with rabid advocates and keeping out alternative thought to reach a foregone conclusion.

Because when you hold open public meetings, who knows what unexpected things might happen?

CBS 2, you have nothing to be proud of. Decent "Authorized Journalists" would be shamed at presenting manipulated and engineered events as "news." You have demonstrated for all to see that you are mere propagandists, lapdogs of government as opposed to watchdogs. This is absolutely disgusting, absolutely contemptible, and I'd be interested to see what kind of complaints could be filed with the FCC concerning abuse of your broadcast license.

"Speaking Truth" indeed. I guess just because Felicia Middlebrooks says "there's no shortage of leadership and ideas in this room" we should believe her, especially the part about "compelling dialog, open and honest." Still, when she talks about "leaving with a mandate and making some radical changes," her credibility does go up a notch.

No audience manipulation going on either, what with the melancholy piano solo in the film clip, the sympathetic announcer, the crafted script. Still, it's a wonder no one saw the irony of the segment with Blair Holt and "his bright future snuffed out," particularly with Snuffy "I didn't know it meant that" Pfleger on the panel.

[Via HZ]

Snuffy Violates IRS Code--Again

Abuses Church's Non-Profit Tax Status by Injecting St. Sabina in Political Campaigns

We and others have pointed this out about Snuffy before. Many times. No one with the ability to do anything about it, especially Americans United Against Non-Marxist Church/State Partnerships, the Chicago Archdiocese or the IRS cared.

This time, his demonstrable activities go beyond dedicating a "substantial part of...activities...carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation." He's also involved his church in direct campaigning against specific candidates.

Per IRS IRS Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization:
With this in mind, here's what he's been getting away with. With in-your-face defiance. I took these screen shots in case the links "disappear."

From four years ago:

Note he was careful not to actually come out and endorse anyone or flat out say don't vote for anyone. Wink-wink.

And now for this election:


I had to shrink the page to fit it here, and it's difficult to read. Let's take a closer look:


Note the key language he inserted this time that he did not on prior occasions:

If you want to keep guns off our streets don't vote for them!

Red-handed, Snuffy. Red-snuffing-handed.

This is not about whether or not we agree with the IRS code. What it's about is making sure we are all equal under the law. If Snuffy can do this and suffer no consequences, then a conservative church ought to be able to do so as well, and campaign against anti-gunners.

Thanks to 45Superman at Armed and Safe for calling this latest law-breaking to my attention--I believe he'll have some comments of his own on this, and I'll provide a link when he does. [UPDATE: Here it is.]

Feel fee to share this information. Not that I have hopes anything will come of it.

UPDATE: Feel free to join me.

UPDATE: It's in the Cardinal's hands...

"Snuffed Out"

Hannity and Colmes cover the Mike "Snuffy" Pfleger brouhaha. By the way, the above is just a graphic--you need to click on the title link to get to the actual video player.

As expected, Alan dives right in to misdirection and apologia. The difference between this and an Ann Coulter column, Alan, aside from her well-known employment of satire as a literary tool, is she's not hysterically egging on a frenzied mob with street language right in front of anyone's doorstep. And as for your cynically referencing "the great Christian tradition of forgiveness," that sure doesn't sound like what the commie priest is doing.

The double standard is palpable. If I used the same terminology and applied it to our elected Chief Executive or one of the campaigning hopefuls for that job, I'd fully expect a visit from the Secret Service. If I said it in relation to the director of an abortion clinic, or, Allah forbid, a leader in our Guest Mufti Program, I'd expect the "terrorist threat" card to be played. Still, we can expect the wayward Snuffy will get away with this, and to tell you the truth, I'd rather we played more loosely with the First Amendment than tighter.

I believe everybody is missing the point. I believe all this noise will result in nothing. Is that what we want the outcome to be?

We've already seen a jury of his peers nullify charges where his committing the deed was never in question. And we've seen the Church hierarchy abdicating any authority to rein in their maverick.

I believe the key to shutting him down, the way to truly hurt his subversive operations, is through the tax issue I raised a few days ago (and incidentally, over a year before that). And that's why, it's with no small amount of frustration that I see this issue totally ignored not only by all "authorized" media, and not only by any "pro gun" organizations, but also by any other gun blogs save a few allies.

I just got the following from an EA ("Enrolled Agent"--a tax specialist) that convinces me I'm on the right track with this:

Mike Pfleger's 990 or 990EZ would have been due May 15 if The Beloved Community, Inc. is a calendar year filer and if it received total revenues in excess of $25,000 in 2006. (I suspect you will never see the 2006 returns if the organization has gone mostly inactive, there would not be enough revenue to force filing)

I would suggest that our friends in Chicagoland pay a visit to the location where the books are kept (per the 990 you have) and demand to see the organization's public records and be furnished with photocopies of same. See IRS instructions for form 990, page 11, for details: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990-ez.pdf

I wouldn't mind seeing that, but as I indicated previously, it looks like everything is being done under the auspices of St. Sabina, which files no return because it's a church. I think it would need to be their books examined for donations and expenditures related to affecting legislative outcomes--including use of their assets for same, such as work product and correspondence stored on computers, telephone bills, vehicle use, etc.

If you're interested in kicking Snuffy in the nuts, this is the tack to use. Focusing on his hate speech, while useful for gaining some temporary attention, does little more than visibly divide people into their respective camps.

[Video link via 45superman]

Take This, All of You, and Beat It, for This is My Bodyguard

An armed security guard associated with staunch anti-gun and nationally known social activist, Father Michael Pfleger, was arrested on May 27 outside St. Sabina’s Roman Catholic Church on the South Side where Pfleger is a senior pastor.  [More]

Snuffy a hypocrite? Oh, go on...

Interesting, that he resorts to the Bart Simpson defense...

[Via Michael G]

When George Snuffed Snuffy

...a priest...may not endorse candidates nor engage in partisan campaigning... Fr. Pfleger’s remarks about Senator Clinton are both partisan and amount to a personal attack.

So in other words you're admitting that Snuffy has been violating the mandates under which St. Sabina enjoys its tax exempt status? Something other churches have been penalized for?

Does the IRS know about this?

And what spin will the hypocrites at Americans United Against Non-Marxist Religion put on this--assuming they don't just ignore it.


Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured.

[Via HZ]

Pfleger Gun Turn-In Raises Legality and Safety Questions

His involvement of St. Sabina Catholic Church in advocating for anti-gun legislation (and even involving himself in partisan politics) have earned him rebukes from the Church and even a suspension, but they’ve been afraid to replace him, fearing too many parishioners who place a collectivist “social justice” agenda over religion would follow him out the door. And so far, he’s managed to skate by without official scrutiny of his church’s tax exempt status. [More]

Snuffy is still going full Pfleger. Never go full Pfleger.

Cardinal Pflogs Pfleger

The cardinal said in his statement: “Publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest.”

Better watch out, Cardinal George--he might threaten to snuff you.

And rather than be contrite, the renegade Snuffy Pfleger is predictably stiff-necked and defiant:

I thought things were getting better.

Not if Americans United for Separation of (Evangelical Churches) and State ever get off their hypocritical leftist duffs and apply the same standard to St. Sabina as they do to fundamentalist churches, Snuffster old boy.

[Via Armed and Safe]

The Pfleger Cover-Up Begins

Vince Clark, a spokesman for Pfleger, told Cybercast News Service Wednesday that the pastor wasn't aware of the violent connotation of "snuff" and didn't mean to threaten bodily harm. (Listen to Pfleger's comments)

"I've never heard that compared before with the word murder," Clark said. "He [Pfleger] was never aware of that. If that was the case he would never have used that language."

Right, Vince. The guy lives in da hood, throws out street slang like "the Benjamins," and no one has any idea what snuffing someone out means. And for gun owners to protest this lunatic's rantings "is uncalled for."

As for that Church hierarchy we're hoping will do something about this:

James Accurso, a spokesman for the Chicago Archdiocese...told Cybercast News Service that the church had no plans to take disciplinary action against Pfleger.

No, of course not. They're afraid of him, afraid he'll make a big stink, leave the priesthood and take his congregation with him. They have abdicated all authority for St. Sabina. It's no longer God's house, it's Mike Pfleger's. The rogue is calling the shots.

OK, what about the "authorized journalists," like our pals at The Trib? Nope, nothing there about this controversy, and that's no surprise to those of us who have been paying attention. Yuri Orlov gave us the reporter's reaction yesterday in a comment to a related post:

"Thank you for writing. If you read my story, you saw that I included very little of what was said at this rally. I was assigned to cover this story and assigned a certain amount of space for it. I did not include Father Pfleger's comments because I did not find them germane to the subject. I also will say it did not strike me as a threat of imminent violence. It sounded like a typical rally speech."

Well, we can see how much help we can count on there.

And what about the tax exempt issue reported by WarOnGuns? Forget coverage by any major media. And if you look at the links to that post, not many gun bloggers consider it meriting a mention, either, although I am grateful to KABA for posting it, as well as you few others.

Ah well. We do what we can.

MORE:
Armed and Safe (45superman has done a great job spreading the word and posting to forums. Many thanks, Kurt.)

"Thousands Of Guns Taken Off The Streets"

“We don't have to wait for the government to make a difference,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the pastor of St. Sabina. “We can make a difference by taking guns out of our communities. There's no reason for anybody to have a gun in their house unless they're law enforcement, as far as I'm concerned.”

Yeah, right, you sanctimonious witch doctor, we all know police are the only ones who can be trusted with firearms. It looks like somebody has figured out that letting cops fence stolen weapons--no questions asked-- is a no-risk way to make a profit.

There is a bit of a paradox: If churches are doing this to effect political outcomes, their tax exempt status could be scrutinized. If, on the other hand, they're doing this to advance their religious beliefs, what the hell is the state doing expending public funds/manpower to impose this on the public? Where's that "wall of separation" we're told is needed to protect us from theocracy? You can't have it both ways--or doesn't Chicago Police Supt. Philip Cline gushing like a giddy Million Mom as he actualizes Michael Pfleger's superstitious prejudices count?

Oh, and Rafael Romo--sorry to burst your bubble, but what you're doing is "shilling," not "reporting." You wouldn't recognize a watchdog press if it bit you--and it obviously hasn't, you tool.