start taxing churches.

Did you know that between each institution, the church as a whole receives $71 billion in tax exemptions each year? That is a burden falling on the shoulders of many taxpayers whose religious beliefs do not align with the church's teachings. The church whines all the time that it isn't fair to make them pay for contraception when it goes against their beliefs, but who do they think is paying for their entire operation? It's time to start taxing the church, one of the richest enterprises in the country -- the United States Catholic Church alone spent $170 billion in 2010, money that only 16 companies in the entire country have. It's time to stop making the American people pay for religious services that only a portion of them utilize. It's time for the church to start paying its own way.