Good morning,

The tax code, regulations, and case law runs 10 million words; the Bible contains about 800,000. I spent some time reflecting on 2,450 words that put law in life’s context.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute. 

Remember Goliad!
- Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, March 27, 2020
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• The U.S. Senate adopted a $2 trillion “stimulus” bill – essentially taking money from you to help you recover from the economic damage inflicted by government action. The big winner was government itself, of course. 
      
• Washington political analyst Rachel Bovard, whose commentaries run on Texas Scorecard, highlighted on Twitter some of the more egregious spending items. There’s the $75 million to the National Endowment for the Arts; does that stimulate you? How about the $25 million for the Kennedy Center? You shall not deny DC elites their right to pretentious social outings! 
      
• Bovard also points out $850 million for law enforcement grants that appear “to be structured specifically to allow sanctuary cities to get around admin policies that restrict funds to cities who ignore federal immigration law.”
      
• Brandon Waltens offers a summary of the stimulus bill’s low-lights.
     
• Ross Kecseg noted on his Facebook page the measure also sends $31.5 billion to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That money could have been spent building 22,000 hospital beds, which might have some relationship to the Chinese coronavirus stimulus bill. “Congress is a JOKE!” he wrote.  
      
• I am not sure anyone is laughing...
      
• Four former employees of Mike Bloomberg have filed suit against the billionaire’s former presidential campaign for defrauding them, alleging the candidate reneged on its promise to continue paying staff through the November election. Cary Cheshire reports on the case filed in Tarrant County.
     
• Speaking of left-wing lawsuits... Planned Parenthood is suing Texas so they can keep killing babies during the coronavirus pandemic. You’ll recall Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order prohibiting any medical surgeries that aren’t medically necessary; Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that the prohibition includes abortion facilities.
   
• Kim Roberts of The Texan wrote a thoughtful and informative article about the legal rationale for, and implications of, “shelter in place” orders.
      
• With the coronavirus and actions by government officials slowing the economy, more Texans find themselves in need, a food bank is standing in the gap to help. Robert Montoya profiles the Community Food Bank, which is providing more than just food.
      
• Considering public schools are closed and the infrastructure isn’t in use, Andrea B. asked via email if that means school boards might cut taxes since the action “should have significantly decreased the cost of education.” My recommendation: don’t hold your breath.

Friday Reflection

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

On the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee you will find what is today called the Mount of Beatitudes. It doesn’t take a major theologian to figure out why. It has long been recognized as where Jesus delivered his most famous talk, the Sermon on the Mount. In approximately 2,450 words, Jesus explained everything one needed to know to follow God’s Law.

That sermon started, of course, with the Beatitudes.

Jesus’ teaching was, and remains, subversive to the political and social establishment of the day. They were “false prophets,” Jesus said, “ravenous wolves” who “come to you in sheep’s clothing.” Their words didn’t match their deeds; sound familiar?

Jesus reset the Law to its proper place, pointing people (then and now) to a free and more abundant life in which we are called to govern ourselves and care for one another. This teaching was necessary. The Law had been a blessing from God – showing men how to honor Him and live peaceably with each other – but had been corrupted into a heavy weight of legal burdens and control.

Before diving in to that, though, the sermon’s opening Beatitudes remind us that while we may not control our circumstances, we are responsible for our attitudes in them. 

In the modern era, the law doesn’t come from pretentious religious leaders but from lawmakers who suffer those same human tendencies. For example, the U.S. tax code runs nearly 70,000 pages; when you add in the associated regulations and case law, the Tax Foundation reports, and you need to slog through some 10 million words to get the complete picture – but you’ll never understand it. And, yes, that is mostly by design.

(The complete Bible, in contrast, runs under 800,000 words depending on the translation you use.)

The tax code was originally a tool for financing our mutual benefits and obligations as citizens. It has morphed into a monstrous mess in which politicians punish foes, aid cronies, and impede innovation; it is political patronage at its worst.

Just as in Jesus’ day, those in control of making the rules often run roughshod over the underlying purpose of the law in a quest to control the people and benefit themselves. 

The tax code may be incomprehensible, but God’s Law is not, thanks to a simple sermon on a hillside. Jesus restored the meaning of the Law and offered a freedom that cannot be taken away. No matter how many incomprehensible words lawmakers use to (allegedly) “make things better,” the Sermon on the Mount shows in just a few pages how we can live effectively and constructively.