Donald Trump had recently finished a familiar riff about banning gender transition surgery for children when the former president, speaking to an audience of Evangelical voters, moved on to something new: a policy that would affect transgender adults.

“I will ban all taxpayer funding for sex or gender transitions at any age,” said Trump, receiving thunderous applause at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington last month. The Republican leader, who moments earlier had also pledged to reinstate a ban on transgender men and women serving in the military, paused for several seconds to soak in the crowd’s adulation.

It’s the kind of moment — and the type of policy — increasingly common on the GOP presidential campaign trail this year.

    • Backspacecentury
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      112 years ago

      How fucking naive. You think the evangelical church gives a single fuck about taxpayers? How about they, as an organization, pay taxes first? That would help relieve some of the tax burden placed on literally everyone else to cover the services that they use.

      This is 100% related to puritanical social conservative bullshit and has nothing to do with taxes. At all.

    • @Saneless@lemmy.world
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      72 years ago

      Why can’t I oppose things at the taxpayers expense then? Burn any church that isn’t paying taxes to the ground

      • You’re perfectly free to oppose government spending. I never said otherwise. I fail to see how that relates to arson against people you don’t like

        • @ZombieTheZombieCat@lemm.ee
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          62 years ago

          If what it really came down to for people is “taxpayer spending,” then forcing churches to pay taxes should be a front and center issue for conservatives.

          But it’s not. Gee I wonder why.

          • Why would I want the government to tax even more? I want less spending and less taxes. Why would increasing taxation be front and center in that?

            • @Redditiscancer789@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Because if churches paid their fair share for all the freebies they get, the average person can pay less in taxes because they stop paying the churches share? How do you do not get this?

        • @Saneless@lemmy.world
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          52 years ago

          It’s just showing that people like you have the dumbest arguments time and time again

          They’re against “socialism” as they drive on publicly funded roads. Against “welfare” as they use WIC on food. Against where “my tax dollars go” when they are too poor to pay taxes. Hyper-pro second amendment people who get irritated when people enjoy the 1st amendment in ways they don’t like.

          Societies don’t work when everything we hate is shut down. And for the loons on the right, that involves shutting down just about everything.

          I’m not sure where and when it became a desired trait to be selfish and lack empathy with people like you, but it’s pathetic