The Economist reports that Russian military deaths will probably reach 1 million this month, with injuries at ~4 million. The ratio of severely wounded to killed is estimated at about four to one, reflecting both the severity of injuries inflicted in Ukraine and the low priority Russia gives to medical evacuation or the prompt field-hospital treatment that saves lives.
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On May 29, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth notified Congress that he blocked shipment of proximity fuses for AGR-20 rockets to the Ukraine. The fuses are needed by Ukraine to intercept Russian drones. The fuses are essential for Ukraine’s ability to counter drone attacks. This crippling decision shows djt’s ongoing hostility to the Ukraine, its people's suffering and democracy generally.
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The Hill reports that the USSC unanimously voted to greatly expand church access to tax dollars, a cherished, high priority goal of American Christian nationalism. In this case, Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, the court allowed a secular charity with links to the Catholic church to avoid paying state unemployment taxes. That overturned a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that denied the tax exemption because the organization does not proselytize or restrict services to Catholics, making it secular.
This decision is very important because it greatly expanded the scope of religious freedom under the First Amendment. The ruling (1) increases the autonomy of religious organizations to define their missions without state interference, and (2) expands the scope tax exemptions for faith-based entities. Wisconsin estimated that a ruling favoring Catholic Charities might lead 1 million workers to lose unemployment benefits if religious employers withdraw from state programs. That is sufficient to destabilize the state's unemployment fund. This holding decreases state authority to regulate entities claiming religious exemptions. It also potentially creates instability in social safety nets as more charities claim to be religious, whether they are or not, to avoid paying state unemployment taxes.
The Court’s reasoning elevates religious intent over secular intent when evaluating charitable work. Now we have a two-tiered charity system. The exact same charitable act, e.g., feeding the hungry, is now constitutionally and officially “sacred” in a religious context, but merely “secular” in a secular context.** This legal privileging of religious identity, not the moral or social value of the act itself, defines the core of this theocratic ruling. This further erodes already very weak church-state separation. Overall, this is part of a concerted Christian nationalist effort to completely displace secular charity with religious charity, while undermining social safety nets.
** In other words, this decision looks at the claimed motivation behind charitable acts, not the acts themselves. So, feeding the hungry is deemed “sacred” under the First Amendment if done by Catholic Charities because it is claimed to flow from Catholic social teaching. By contrast, a secular food bank performing the exact same work lacks this legal shield from taxation, even if its commitment to alleviating hunger is equally profound. This is tax law favoring theocracy over secularism, pure and simple.
Q: Should all tax advantages for (1) all religions, (2) all religious charities, or (3) all secular and religious charities be withdrawn?