Focus on the Family says it didn't organize protest of Dairy Quee

[Judi Lynn]

Focus on the Family says it didn't organize protest of Dairy Queen
posted by: Dan Viens (Web Producer)
Created: 4/25/2005 1:24 PM MDT - Updated: 4/25/2005 1:24 PM MDT

COLORADO SPRINGS (AP) - Focus on the Family says neither it nor its lobbying arm organized a protest against the business of Senator Ken Salazar's wife, or the senator himself.

Salazar has accused about 30 protesters from the conservative Christian group of showing up yesterday outside the Dairy Queen store owned by his wife in Westminster. Some protesters carried signs with pictures of fetuses or the slogan "Boycott Salazar DQ," and impeded traffic to the store.

But Focus on the Family says today that they have no way of knowing whether any protesters are constituents of the organization. It says some people actually were there protesting its group.

But Focus of the Family is saying that the protesters probably were upset that Salazar changed his position on the use of filibusters to delay voting on some of President Bush's judicial nominations.
(snip/...)

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=7ad10df8-0abe-421a-007b-284e6bd5f408&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

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Just heard Mike Malloy talking about this on Air America. It absolutely defies description, doesn't it?

Is It the Ice Cream?
Associated Press


Senator Ken Salazar is accusing Focus on the Family supporters of trying to disrupt his wife's business in an attempt to intimidate him.

Salazar's office says about 30 protesters from the conservative Christian group showed up outside the Dairy Queen store owned by his wife in Westminster today.

Some protesters carried signs with pictures of fetuses or the slogan "Boycott Salazar DQ" and impeded traffic to the store.
(snip)

The lobbying arm of Focus on the Family has placed ads criticizing Salazar, a Democrat, and other Senators for holding up some of President Bush's judicial nominations.
(snip/...)

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/1504897.html

[Trajan]

1. Is Focus On The Family a tex exempt organization ?

It surely should NOT be ....

[BiggJawn]

3. Of COURSE it is...

It's a "CHURCH", after all....I'll bet they don't pay income witholding on their employees, because they don't HAVR employess, only "Associate Pastors"...Like the janitor, who pursues his "Johnny Mop Ministry" every day in FOTF's Shitters...

What would happen if people started showing up outside churches on Sunday and Wednesday with pictures of ice cream cones?

[Judi Lynn]

4. Oh, God! Glad you asked. I found this nauseating article......

About James Dobson, Focus on the Family
By Gil Alexander-Moegerle

UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES

Consider the story of two book publishing companies, Focus on the Family, Incorporate(;, and Word, Incorporated, one of the largest publishing houses serving the conservative Protestant world. Both solicit, sign, publish, and pay authors for manuscripts and then publish and sell those books in commercial bookstores, making a profit in the process. Both solicit manuscripts from exactly the same pool of author-- those written by conservative Christians on subjects that would be considered of religious or spiritual help to the reader. Both produce books for sale in exactly the same bookstores. Both advertise and promote. Both enjoy revenue from such sales. However, one of these companies does all the above and pays its fair share of taxes while the other insists that it should not have to pay taxes and does not do so. This second business claims that it has a right as a 501(c)3 to opt out of its share of taxes but still uses the government services that taxes pay for. Why? What is the difference between Focus and Word with regard to the book publishing enterprises of each? Is one a national treasure like the Grand Canyon that we've all decided to preserve and subsidize while Word is on its own to sink or swim in the great competitive marketplace? Are we, as American taxpayers, interested in digging a little deeper into our pockets when our tax bill arrives in order to support the publishing efforts of Focus on the Family, all the while discriminating against the equally valuable work done by Word by not subsidizing their enterprise?

Furthermore, taxes arc not some needless surcharge we inflict on wealthy business people for the fun of it, after which we lock the loot in our national treasury. Taxes pay for services that businesses need and receive from government agencies. The fact is that Focus and Word expect and require exactly the same city, state, and federal services in order to conduct their businesses. One of them pays for those services and one does not. Some of the local property taxes on a company pave the streets in front of its offices. Word pays for the streets its employees use. Dobson claims he should not. Those same taxes pay the electric bill for the lights on those streets. And they construct and maintain the water lines that feed those offices and the sewage lines that drain them. If either corporate staff dials 911, the police or fire fighters will do everything in their power to assist those employees with a crisis. One pays and one does not. Why do we tolerate the unfairness of one company paying for what it uses, while the other demands that everyone else in the community pay a portion of its bill when both compete nose to nose in the marketplace? Why do we accept the uneven competitive playing field created by this inequality?

Christopher Chang, a member of the staff of the city of Pomona, California, office of economic development supplied me with a report analyzing the precise impact on that city of the loss of property taxes, not to mention other taxes levied on normal businesses, when Focus on the Family was occupying office space in Pomona several years ago but not paying taxes. The report shows that Focus owned property with a valuation of $5,115,660, on which the property taxes during their three-year stay in Pomona would have totaled approximately $150,000. An estimated $150,000 in city services were used, but were not paid for by Focus on the Family. So who paid them?

The median annual household income in Pomona was $31,000 when Focus was located there. Pomona's population was 75 percent minorities. So minority families trying to survive in the Los Angeles area on $31,000 a year were given no choice but to pitch in a little extra so millionaire businessman Dobson, who lived twenty miles away in an upper-class white neighborhood, didn't have to pay any property taxes. Focus has not been able to sell its Pomona headquarters building since leaving town for Colorado in 1991. So that piece of property is still off the tax rolls to this day, and those neighbors are still paying for the street light in front of the vacant complex at 801 Corporate Center Drive. We ran do better than that.
(snip/...)

http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/fofcult4.htm

[Erika]

7. IRS should ask what Dobson has to do with religion?

Other than hate-mongering and using the system to avoid taxes.

[Maat]

9. I bought and read the book!

And I remember this passage. It was great!

From Gil's "Dobson's War on America."

[Mark E. Smith]

18. Kind of reminds me of the story...

... of the fundie family whose dad had just lost his job due to a major downsizing at the plant. Young daughter Rebbeca is out on the sidewalk talking to one of her little friends. "My daddy just lost his job and we don't have any money. But that's OK because we still have the Bible." "Really?" said Rebecca's litte friend. "So what are you having for dinner?" "Deuteronomy on toast," replied Rebbeca.

[Maat]

2. Well, FOF probably got the rightwing wackos worked up ...

based upon a total lie.

I think that all Colorado DUers should go out of their way to buy DQ ice creams.

This just shows you what cowards they are - whoever worked up these fundies.

[countmyvote4real]

8. It’s all in the local DQ franchise.

I still remember the DQ marquee in Athens, GA (circa 1978) that said “Repent or Die.” Damn, I wish that I had snapped a picture.

Anyway, not all DQ owners share the same marketing plan.

[NAO]

5. Dairy "Queens" = promoting the homosexual agenda?

Radical Cleric James Dobson issues Fatwa on Justices
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3463113&mesg_id=3463160

[bobthedrummer]

6. We are like The Republic of Gilead in some places.

And more like Philip K. Dick in others.
It's dystopia all around.

[Cha]

10. And salazar has been such a good

little enabler up until now.

[magpie]

11. Focus? no, Focthem n/t

[Selteri]

12. Focus on the Family - focus on your own DAMN family

I believe they are innocent of protesting the DQ as much as I believe that Dobson is truly a person of upstanding moral character and truly meek and kind (The animal abusing homophobe we all know and love.)

The thing I'll believe is that he's able to get away with saying he doesn't know who was there only because he didn't ask them directly.

Having lived in Coorado I think the only place we should see Dobson is in a Zoo with the other Animals!

[Blue Gardener]

13. Good excuse to stop in

And get a strawberry shake. If that happened at my local Dairy Queen I would give them more business if it would piss off the fundies.

[FLSurfer]

14. Someone from DQ should have

turned the sprinklers on them. Like the PETA protesters had done to them at KFC last week. If the sprinklers didn't get to them, use a hose. We have deemed a soaking is acceptable behavior.

[Pepperbelly]

15. I expect Focus of the Family is lying through their teeth.

That doesn't seem to bother them. They must have left that part out of THIER Bible.

[0007]

16. Westminster is in Denver. How come the story is coming out

of Colorado Springs?

[leesa]

17. Excellent job folks! Show EVERYONE how very whacked out you are!