Ever since 1954, when the US Tax Code was modified to allow the IRS to remove the tax exempt status of any church whose pastor made political statements over the pulpit, a vital form of political speech has been silenced.  Since then, several administrations have used the IRS to silence Political Speech in this country that ran contrary to the designs of that Administration.  Recently, the IRS has been threatening to remove the tax exempt status of several churches.  According to the AP, 33 pastors from churches around the country have made a stand against this infringement of their First Amendment Right.  And this is exactly what it is.

The First Amendment guarantees that all citizens of this country are protected from government retribution if they make speech that is unpopular in the eyes of the government.  This IRS code needs to be declared unconstitutional and these pastors need our support.

Throwing more fuel on this fire, the Bush Administration made its official opinion known.  When asked by Les Kinsolving, WorldnetDaily's White House Correspondent, Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto made it clear that the Administration sides with the IRS:

"Kinsolving asked: 'The AP also reports that 33 pastors in 22 states made specific endorsements of political candidates in challenging the IRS-Lyndon Johnson ruling about no political endorsements in churches. And my question: Does the president believe that America's clergy should be denied the freedom of speech to endorse political candidates?'

Fratto responded: 'Those rules are set forth in IRS regulations, directed by statute. And the IRS is enforcing the law, and the president believes that the IRS should enforce the law.'"

Fratto does try and back out of the statement by suggesting that he has not spoken with the President about this specific issue, but it is pretty clear that the Administration does not support the First Amendment Right to Free Speech.  If it did, it would condem this law and seek to change it through Congress.

The Administration's silence speaks volumes.