The Immoral Economy and Donald Trump’s Tax Returns

Last updated on: October 7, 2016 at 4:28 pm by Rev. Jen Butler

The Immoral Economy and Donald Trump’s Tax Returns 2016-10-07T16:28:54+00:00 Rev. Jen Butler

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life

a katz / Shutterstock.com

In response to public outcry over his newly revealed tax return, Trump responded that it was a smart move on his part to take advantage of a tax benefit for real estate investors that allowed him to write off twenty years in taxes, paying himself a handsome salary while stiffing his workers.

Our faith traditions teach us that this is not a smart move: it is a sinful move born of a broken economic system that too often fails to make the well-being of people its top priority.

Americans do not think about economies or tax policies as moral issue but they are. Both the prophets and Jesus consistently critiqued practices that disadvantaged the poor. The Year of Jubilee in Leviticus was a set of laws that addressed growing inequality among God’s people. The prophet of Isaiah warned his people: “Woe to those who enact evil statutes… so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of my people of their right (Isaiah 10:1-2).” Jesus echoed Isaiah when he said had come to bring good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Jubilee (Luke 4).

Contrary to biblical teaching, free-market advocates argue that the economy is not a moral space, but one that relies on a free and fair market. Placing moral limits on the economy, they argue, would hinder this flourishing.

But the information revealed in Trump’s tax returns shows that the idea that the economy is governed by a free or amoral market is clearly naïve. Our economy is governed by unfair laws that benefit a few while harming many.

Consider how Trump’s actions affect the rest of society. Loopholes in our tax code allow wealthy business owners to deduct net operating losses (NOLs) against other income to lower their taxes rewarding them for failed investments. While we might all perhaps love this benefit, it doesn’t apply equally to all Americans. If I were to risk investing my savings in a small business that failed, I wouldn’t get a tax write off, I’d suffer the consequences of a failed venture.

It’s not fair that the wealthy are forgiven for their failures or catastrophic decisions while the rest of us face consequences. But the greater travesty is that while tycoons benefit, the rest of us pay the price for their tax breaks and bail-outs.

While Mr. Trump took advantage of a shocking tax loophole for real estate investors to write off nearly a billion dollars in taxes for the next twenty years, he paid himself a handsome salary and stiffed all of his contractors and investors. He also cheated his neighbors and fellow Americans since tax breaks for millionaires cost money. Trump’s loopholes cost taxpayers millions of dollars in tax revenue that should rightly go to repairing roads and bridges (creating more jobs); investing in education and affordable college, and making housing more affordable for families.

This tax loophole also added to the volatility of real estate markets around the country. As investors scoop up property using strategies that don’t require them to think responsibly about their business model or the impact of their investments on communities, families have struggled to find affordable housing or have been driven out of their communities through gentrification. Many families who pursued financial stability through home ownership now find their investments under water while the wealthiest developers and real estate magnates made out like bandits.

Religious organizations who are at the front lines of ministering to struggling congregants and delivering services to the poor have recognized the impact of such policies on our people. Religious organizations like the one I lead, Faith in Public Life, advocate for federal budgets that protect the poor and give everyone a fair opportunity at success. Coalitions like the Circle of Protection, which includes evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants and Jews, assert that the federal budget is a moral document. They advocate for tax policies like the Earned Income Tax Credit which helps low income working families whose wages are too low to cover their cost of living.

Pope Francis has frequently called on world leaders to establish economies that enable communities to flourish. He has warned against “self-serving tax evasion” which arises out of a “thirst for power and possessions” that “knows no limits.” The Pope has reminded us that an economy of exclusion violates God’s commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Policy debates over taxation may seem abstract, but these and other economic policies are life and death issues for most Americans as they struggle with poor health care, hunger, homelessness and lack of opportunity.

Nathaniel B. Davis argued eloquently this week that just as we have a Just War Ethic to govern how governments wage war, so too must we have a foundational morality for our economy. Theologians and ethicists helped shape Just War theory. Religious leaders and thinkers must now advocate for an ethics for a Just Economy and ensure our national leaders implement policies that are in line with such ethics.

For starters we can advocate for national leaders to fix our tax code. Both political parties have failed to make our tax system more fair by eliminating loopholes and reining in the banking industry so that American families and consumers aren’t harmed by reckless business activities. Perhaps the Trump campaign’s will change its own proposed tax policies which currently benefit a few like himself at the expense of American families.

The good news is that the economy can be transformed from an immoral space to a moral one as Nathaniel Davis suggests. Such a transformation will require strong leadership from faith communities who know first-hand the human costs of our failed policies. Whatever the outcome of this election, faith communities will be advocating for an economy that makes human beings, not selfish gain, its first priority.

Jennifer Butler is the founding CEO of Faith in Public Life. Before leading FPL Jennifer spent ten years working in the field of international human rights representing the Presbyterian Church (USA) at the United Nations and is an ordained minister. While mobilizing religious communities to address the AIDS pandemic and advocate for women’s rights she grew passionate about the need to counter religious extremism with a strong religious argument for human rights. Out of that experience she wrote Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized. Jennifer and her husband Glenn together run Iona DC: A Christian Community in downtown Washington, DC.

Previous Post

October 6, 2016

The Serenity Prayer (Part 1 of 3)

Next Post

October 11, 2016 The Serenity Prayer (Part 2 of 3)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Author Interviews Battle Over the Body and Blood of Christ Bearing Beauty Book Reviews Christian Education christian spirituallity christianity Christmas Church Church Leadership Contemplation Creation Care Death and Dying Death Penalty Disruptive Change Disruptors Series Easter Education Evolution and Faith Future of Progressive Christianity Gun Violence Health & Wellness Holy Week Interfaith Israel-Palestine Leading Differently Lent LGBTQ Living with Cancer Meditations on the Cross Mental Illness millennials Mimetic Mondays Monday Meditations Movie Reviews New Monasticism Pando Populus Parenting Patheos 10+1 Q&A Series PC(USA) Politics Pop Culture Practical Theology Series Prayer progressive christian Race Relations Reformation religion Religion and Politics Religion in America Rethink Church Social Justice Spirituality Spirituality of the Body Stump a Scholar Technology and Faith Thanksgiving Theodicy Trust Me Church Uncategorized Why I'm Still Christian Youth Ministry

Select a Month December 2025 April 2025 January 2025 September 2023 September 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 May 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many times is Jesus directly quoted in the book of Acts?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1 10 4 6