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Washington State, Catholic Resident Fires Back at Atheist Group’s Anti-Religion Placard next to Christian Nativity Scene

Washington State, Catholic Resident Fires Back at Atheist Group’s Anti-Religion Placard next to Christian Nativity Scene











Photo by Associated Press


Olympia, WA (PRWEB) December 6, 2008

A Washington State Resident is responding publicly to a state sanctioned atheist attack on the Christmas holiday.

Steve Sanborn of Mead, Washington, this week sent a formal email to the Washington State Attorney General’s office with hopes he might persuade state officials to understand that an atheistic attack on religion is not equal to an artful depiction of historical religious beliefs.

The state this week authorized a placard to be placed in the state Capitol by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) of Madison, Wisconsin. The placard is placed next to an authorized Christian Nativity scene. Several Christian organizations are also filing complaints to the state.

Sanborn says the offensive placard is not a statement of belief but rather an attack on Christ-centered holy days and Christianity itself.

The placard reads, in part, “At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Sanborn said. “I’m a Catholic and the placard posted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation essentially states that I am therefore cruel and stupid – and the state has sanctioned this?

“Even Ebenezer Scrooge opted to leave Christmas alone. Why can’t atheists be as generous as Scrooge at Christmas and leave it alone?” Sanborn asked.

The Nativity scene and Atheist placard were installed alongside each other in a hallway between the state Senate and House chambers, separated by a large bust of the state’s namesake, George Washington. These and other displays were granted permits from state groundskeepers to be placed in the Capitol’s grand marble hallways.

Sanborn said he does not recall FFRF ever making a public foray when Muslim or Jewish holidays are in season.

“We live in a predominantly Christian nation, not an atheist one. If it is equal time these people want, then perhaps they ought to erect their own stable with no one in it,” Sanborn said. “This would actually reflect what they believe rather than attack those who believe otherwise.”

FFRF co-president, Dan Barker, was quoted in recent news as saying it was important for atheists to offer their viewpoint alongside the overtly religious Nativity scene.

“Our members want equal time. Not to muscle, not to coerce, but just to have a place at the table,” said Barker.

“For the state to assert that such a placard is somehow equal in the world of ideas merely shows its inability to be logical,” Sanborn stated. “Will the state now allow me to offer my viewpoint on a placard that says Atheism is a form of insanity?”

As Bill O’Reilly did earlier this week, Sanborn says he encourages other Christians to contact Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire, at 360-902-4111 to respectfully tell her how they feel about the offensive placard.

Contact Steve Sanborn via email at emptystable @ gmail.com.

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Can’t Pay Your Back Taxes? Get Tax Help to Make the IRS an Offer They Can’t Refuse

The best negotiation advice ever: Every one walks away a little “hurt.” When fighting the IRS over your back taxes, you may feel manacled by the threat of tax liens, wage garnishments and jail time. But don’t worry, a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist knows all sorts of expert strategies to give you the tax help you need to walk away from the IRS with your money and your freedom intact. The trick is partnering with a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or a tax attorney to increase your chances of qualifying for an IRS payment plan helping you settle your back tax debt for the lowest possible amount, and removing bank levies, tax liens or wage garnishments.

The best tax help a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney can offer is to broker an Offer in Compromise (OIC) settlement. While the IRS web site seems to make it easy to settle your back taxes by simply filling out an Offer in Compromise form, Uncle Sam’s tax help brings serious dangers. Make one mistake and not only will you pay more than you have to, but your very freedom could be at stake. Instead of thinking of it as IRS help, you should look at the Offer In Compromise form as a plea agreement in a criminal trial. You are admitting your full back taxes liability in the hopes of a reduced sentence. Is it smart to try to broker a criminal plea agreement without the tax help of a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney? No way! Unless you’re a Certified Tax Resolution Specialists or a tax attorney, leave tax settlements and Offers in Compromise negotiations to the experts.

New Offer In Compromise changes you need to know: The offer in compromise (OIC) application is a challenging and burdensome process. The privilege of being approved for an OIC closely resembles receiving

The $10,000 Formula to Settle your Back Taxes There is a simple guiding tax help formula about back taxes: If you owe less than $10,000, and you haven’t been in trouble before – you can call the IRS and they will hook you up with a payment plan to be paid in 36 monthly installments.

How Much Does the IRS Think You Are Worth? An offer in compromise is an agreement between a taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service that resolves the taxpayer’s back tax liability, usually for a fraction of what’s owed. The taxpayer must file and pay his taxes on time for the next five years after acceptance…sort of like Tax Probation. The IRS settles for a lesser amount if there is doubt about the collectability of the amount over the remaining Collection Statute of Limitations vs. what they think they can collect now. If the IRS determines that receiving a lump sum now (albeit just a fraction of the amount owed) would be more than it would cost the agency, in overhead costs, over the remaining life of the collection statute, they will accept your offer.

The minimum offer amount must generally be equal to (or greater than) the taxpayer’s reasonable collection potential (RCP). The RCP is defined as the total of the taxpayer’s realizable value in real and personal assets, plus his/her future income. A Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney can find ways to show the IRS that you’re not Daddy Warbucks while providing tax help such as removing wage garnishments and reducing your back tax debt.

To Qualify for an IRS Payment Plan or Tax Settlement Before your tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist can make an Offer In Compromise or negotiate a payment plan with the IRS to settle your back taxes, you need to come clean and file all delinquent tax returns with the IRS.

DO NOT SUBMIT AN OIC TO DELAY OR HINDER COLLECTIONS If the IRS believes you are just using the Offer in Compromise to delay paying your debt or thinks you aren’t acting in good faith; they can revoke (return) OIC privileges to settle your back taxes debt. If you get on the wrong side of the IRS, the individual IRS agent has a lot of latitude to decide what they will allow you to do. An experienced Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney will have threaded that needle hundreds of times before, giving clients back tax help without angering the IRS.

Why Some Offers in Compromise are More Likely to Get Accepted Than Others Please note that in 2007, nationally, 46,000 Offers were submitted with only 12,000 or about 26% were accepted. The acceptance rate of a good tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist, on the other hand, may be as much as five times (approximately 90%) the national average. Why? Because experienced Certified Tax Resolution Specialists or tax attorneys won’t allow clients to submit frivolous OICs. Sometimes the best tax help a tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist can give is to say “no” to a client that is about to foolishly blow their hard earned money to settle their IRS back taxes. You must financially qualify and eligible for this program.

Last resort: Learn How to File For Bankruptcy Correctly to Help Solve Tax Problems and Reduce IRS Debt If the IRS rejects your Offer In Compromise or denies you the privilege of making one, you still have the right to declare bankruptcy, but even that is tricky without the help of a tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist. To get the maximum tax help from this drastic step, you have to declare bankruptcy at the correct time to eliminate your back taxes. TIMING IS EVERYHTING HERE! But what most clients (who try this without the tax help of a tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolutions Specialist) don’t know is that to completely discharge your back taxes debt you have to file on the correct date.

There are 3 general rules to be met to file for bankruptcy and discharge income taxes:

1) The income tax (payroll tax cannot be “bankrupted”) returns must be 3 years old or older than the due date, including filed extensions;

2) The returns have to be filed with the IRS 24 months prior to the petition, therefore Substitutes for Returns (SFRs) do not count (an SFR must be replaced with an “original” filed return and then wait 24 months). It has to be an originally filed return. And it must have been filed at least two years prior to bankruptcy.

3) 240 days have to pass from the date of assessment. Date of assessment is usually the date of filing, but if the IRS does an audit and they assess additional tax, that establishes a new assessment date for that year. So it is possible for a taxpayer to have two or more assessment dates for one year. If it’s used correctly, income taxes can definitely be discharged. You need a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist, or tax attorney, to properly analyze and interpret your IRS tax transcripts and Records of Account to determine when and if you are eligible.

So remember, even if you have crushing IRS debt from back taxes with no hope of ever paying it back, there are lots of possibilities. A Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney has a full arsenal of tax help to settle your back tax debt with the IRS on a reasonable payment plan or an offer in compromise that pays pennies on the dollar of back taxes owed. With an experienced Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or tax attorney at your back, you can strut away from the IRS negotiating table with more money in your pocket and no danger of going to the big house.

For more information on how to resolve your back taxes and IRS problems, visit http://www.taxresolution.com for a free tax relief consultation or call 866-IRS-PROBLEMS.

Michael Rozbruch is one of the nation\’s leading tax experts. A Certified Tax Resolution Specialist (CTRS), licensed CPA and the founder of Tax Resolution Services. He helps individuals and small businesses solve their IRS problems and is dedicated to educating the public on tax planning and other strategies for managing their personal and business finances.