There's so much behind this statement from Jesus that we should hold fast to that neither time nor space will be sufficient for the elaboration I could make, but I'll go as far as I can, within the constraints that I have.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 NIV
Jesus was talking to the Jews who believed He was who He said He was and He could do what He said He could do. But let's go back a verse. "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." John 8:31. "If you hold to my teaching..." Whose holding onto His teachings? Certainly not the Republicans--who once claimed to the party of "moral majority" and who are now--the party of American Terrorists Inc.
I could start and end with the Tax Scam Bill that only benefits the rich, but there's so much more. First of all, poor people and most of the middle class--don't earn enough money to benefit from the repeal of the estate tax. We don't private air crafts, golf courses or wineries. You know who does? Yep--you got it--trump crime family! And it doesn't stop at them--Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell--the GOP leadership are also in bed with the Russians and since they fear losing their donors--Murdoch, Mercer and Koch brothers--more than their constituents--who actually voted for them, they are just as guilty as the trumped (I'll explain in a paragraph or two) crime family. In fact, only one GOP senator, Bob Corker--cared enough about his constituents to vote against the monstrosity tax bill that will eventually be responsible for the deaths of millions.
Don't take my word for it, go read the bill for yourself https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s1 (it's only 522 pages long) and then--using critical thinking skills--if accessible--decide for yourself.
But while you wade through the muddled waters let me summarize some points of interest. The elimination of the ACA mandate will lead to higher insurance premium costs for those of us who are unfortunate enough to use health insurance. But remember--we're also the ones who can't afford the coverage we pay for as it is. College students will no longer be able to deduct interest paid on student loans and if they receive scholarships, the scholarships will be taxed as income which will essentially wipe out any benefit for poor families who usually (not always) apply for and get the scholarships because they are smart enough to go to college, but families are not wealthy enough to pay for it. Charitable deductions will decrease because it is usually the wealthy who establish charitable foundations and just about anyone can contribute, but now--those contributions can no longer be deducted. Even with the decreased tax formula for corporations--they have already said, they would NOT use savings to invest in business, but will distribute to shareholders or CEOs as bonuses. How's that helping the working class, again?
Then, there are all those other little nuggets that make Republicans spasm in ecstasy. Now, a fetus can be declared eligible for a 529 deduction, and for the purposes of circumventing Roe v Wade, GOP asserts life begins at conception in order to make women liable for having an abortion. Itemized deductions have disappeared along with state and local tax deductions, home equity, medical expenses and so much more. Now, remember I said there would be an increase in deducting estate taxes and that includes gift taxes. So, I guess for purposes of simplicity--IF the poor were rich, they could gift their money to their children and not pay taxes on it. But the rich get richer with changes to the AMT (alternative minimum tax rate).
Wow! Just found a huge break for poor people! Because we're going to be paying more in taxes, GOP decided to make sure we would file by providing free tax filing through IRS (already in place, but don't expect to get back more).
This could go on for days but let me get back to the trump crime family and how they benefit. A family corporation gets deductions and all sorts of breaks up to $25,000,000. Now, how many of you are making $25,000,000 a year in a family business? They're also the ones who get the breaks on owning the wineries, the golf courses, and the air craft maintenance. Since we have no idea of what their taxes look like, we'll never know whether they exceed the limit or if in fact they're paying their fair share (fair as defined by the Greedy Old Predators).
The truth is--though the GOP claim to be Christians (followers of Christ), they know not how to do what He said. What did He tell us to do? Defend the rights of the poor and the needy; feed and house them (Matthew 25), love all--unconditionally (the greatest commandment) and to know--there will come a reckoning day when we'll all stand before Him and give an account of what we've done in the earth. Some--(GOP primarily) who think they'll get into heaven will be surprised when they hear, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I NEVER knew you." They have forgotten one very important truth--it is more difficult for a "rich man to get into heaven than a poor one" primarily because the poor--spend more time trying to help others than the rich who worship their money. Don't believe me--do some research! How about this one little tidbit--the trump foundation--collected money from others for the ostensible purpose of helping those in need, and yet they used the money for themselves--a football, a portrait, buying favors with elected officials--all the things--poor people don't do.
And let's not forget how we arrived at this place--loss of integrity and honor from elected leaders--the evangelical community--the ones who are supposed to truly reverence God and His Word--lied to their congregations about trump being a Christian and in some cases, beat them over the head with the notion that as a Christian--they HAD to vote for trump. Pushing a personal agenda by manipulation is not exactly the Will of God--as they promoted. The Will of God--as bestowed upon us all to choose is accepting the fact that God is a God of choice, not manipulation. He does not and will not take "choice" from us and makes clear there are consequences for our choices--good or bad.
We're now in the "horrible consequence" phase because of weak-minded individuals who chose to join a cult and worship the demagogue--trump. This cult supports and encourages corruption at the highest level (evil in high places), sexual predators and pedophiles and wants us all to look the other way--when treason is about to be laid out before the nation. They attempt to "gaslight" us with screams of "fake news" when the only groups reporting fake news is Fox News, Breitbart and Infowars (as well as trumptv). These groups only present opinions without any journalistic integrity and they certainly don't represent Christ-like values promoting bigotry and hatred.
Okay, I guess I have to end this, but I wanted to make some truths clear so people would be "free" to read, research and judge a matter for themselves, rather than just accept the talking points of a corrupt group of Greedy Old Predators. I believe America can do so much better without those professing to be Christians and aren't with those who are and live the life so all will know--who truly knows and trusts Jesus Christ.
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