NYT reports: This campaign is the first time the group has expressly advocated for Mr. Obama’s defeat in an ad. “We don’t take this lightly,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. “We’ve always stayed away from express advocacy. … Continue reading
Category Archives: tax law and election law
WSJ: “A group of Republican senators is pressing the Internal Revenue Service for more information on its plans to consider changing regulations of politically active non-profit groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, which have been accused of misusing their tax-exempt … Continue reading
Larry Ottinger has written this oped in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. … Continue reading
Press release: “The latest attempt by American Future Fund (AFF) to evade existing campaign finance laws was challenged today by watchdog groups in a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed … Continue reading
NPR reports. … Continue reading
U.S. PIRG press release.: : The Top 5 ‘dark money’ spenders on presidential election ads have reported less than 1% of their spending to the FEC, which is all that is required by the agency’s insufficient standards, according to a new … Continue reading
Andy Kroll on why its “open season” for secret outside groups. … Continue reading
NYT editorial. … Continue reading
Here. … Continue reading
Politico reports. … Continue reading
Must-read Andy Kroll on the effects of the Van Hollen ruling: Crossroads GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio declined to say if and how his group’s strategy would change. “Crossroads is aware of the key dates, and closely follows all law and … Continue reading
FEC Press Release On March 30, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in Van Hollen v. FEC, Civ. No. 11-0766 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2012), found that the Commission regulation at 11 CFR 104.20(c)(9) is invalid. … Continue reading
WaPo: “Campaign watchdog groups see a glimmer of hope in a new letter from the Internal Revenue Service, which suggests that the agency might consider changes to the rules governing tax exemptions for politically active groups. Some tax experts, however, … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA: “The Internal Revenue Service has approved more than 50 small, locally based organizations seeking tax-exemption under tax code Section 501(c)(4), including some tea party groups, Steven Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement told a House subcommittee hearing … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA: “Organizations receiving money from so-called anonymous donors are supposed to tell the Internal Revenue Service what they know about the donors’ identity. While no one else may know who they are, IRS does. But even then, there are … Continue reading
This report comes from Politico/Las Vegas Sun. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA reports. … Continue reading
Via email: IRS Responds to Rulemaking Petition Submitted by Democracy 21 and Campaign Legal Center, Says Agency Will Consider Changing Rules for 501(c)(4) Eligibility In a letter sent today to the IRS, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center acknowledged … Continue reading
NYT: ” In early 2010, a new organization called the Commission on Hope, Growth and Opportunity filed for nonprofit, tax-exempt status, telling the Internal Revenue Service it was not going to spend any money on campaigns. Weeks later, tax-exempt status … Continue reading
Sunlight: “As the Senate this week takes up the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that Sunlight and other open government groups are supporting, it’s worth enumerating the reasons why. Let’s start with $115 million. Call it a very conservative estimate of … Continue reading
Eliza: “There’s plenty of room for disagreement over whether unrestricted political money helps or hurts campaigns and whether fixes such as full disclosure would work. But when starting points differ so wildly, it’s time to set the record straight. No … Continue reading
The article, “Outside groups switch election tactics to keep their donors secret,” begins: “Outside groups are going to extra lengths to keep their donors secret, worrying that public disclosure could open up their supporters to harassment.” The Hill has bought … Continue reading
NYT: “The Democratic Party’s Senate campaign arm will file a formal complaint Monday, July 9, with the Federal Election Commission against three of the Republicans’ biggest campaign groups, accusing them of willful violations of federal election law and asking that … Continue reading
Must-read NYT report: “During the 2010 midterm elections, tax-exempt groups outspent super PACs by a 3-to-2 margin, according to a recent study by the Center for Responsive Politics and the Center for Public Integrity, with most of that money devoted … Continue reading
NPR reports. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA: “Clergy VOICE, a group of central Ohio Christian clergy of various denominations, has asked the Internal Revenue Service to sanction the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), or strip it of its tax code Section 501(c)(3) charity status, claiming … Continue reading
Roll Call has more about the complaint letter. … Continue reading
That’s the title of a story from yesterday’s Wall St. Journal. As a follow-up, Paul Streckfus’ EO Tax Journal (paid service) asked some intriguing questions about the source of the information that the IRS is taking steps to investigate … Continue reading
Transcript of an interview. … Continue reading
Roll Call: “Nonprofit groups that spend big money on campaign-style ads will face growing pressure to comply with tax and campaign finance laws in the wake of a federal court ruling last month, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in … Continue reading
Ben Adler reports for The Nation. … Continue reading
USA Today reports. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA: “The Internal Revenue Service has revoked the tax-exempt status of a tax code Section 501(c)(4) organization after determining that its purpose was to advance the private interests of its founder, ‘a political figure’ who ran for office in … Continue reading
Eliza reports. It is the IRS’s job to make sure that organizations are not abusing the 501c4 organizational form. Let’s stop the unsupported hysterics. … Continue reading
iWatch: “A joint investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics has found that more than 100 nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code spent roughly $95 million on political expenditures in the 2010 election compared … Continue reading
NYT’s “The Caucus:” “Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Friday accused President Obama, his campaign and his administration of engaging in Nixonian dirty tricks, including keeping an enemies list, inciting “mob” attacks on its critics and leaking confidential tax information, … Continue reading
Bloomberg: “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s advertising is outpacing both political parties in close Senate races, adding volume to attack ads — some of which have been questioned by fact-checkers — being aired against Democrats. The nation’s biggest business lobby … Continue reading
Tip of a very large iceberg, I suspect. Must-read Bloomberg BNA: “The insurance company Aetna confirmed June 14 that it donated about $7.8 million to two major Republican-leaning organizations—the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Action Network—which have sponsored tens … Continue reading
Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld two disclosure-related FEC rules. This was the latest opinion in the long-running case, Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. FEC. Among other things, the Court upheld the FEC’s … Continue reading
Tax Prof blogs and links the IRS’s letter. … Continue reading
Important Bloomberg report. I expect and fear that any action will come too late to rein in these sham Super PACs for this election. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA on Van Hollen case: “In the wake of the district court decision in Van Hollen, groups that have sponsored electioneering communications appear now to be adjusting their strategy by altering the timing or content of their ads. Messages … Continue reading
See this press release. … Continue reading
HuffPo reports. … Continue reading
Big news from the D.C. Circuit in this order and opinion. The opinion for two of the three judges explaining the reasons for denying the stay lean heavily on how the challengers to the district court ruling are unlikely to … Continue reading
Alliance for Justice: “The regulations governing federal campaign finance are constantly changing, even during an election year. Unfortunately, for nonprofit organizations engaged in issue advertising, the rules about disclosure just got murkier. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the … Continue reading
Must-read Dan Eggen report for WaPo: “Nearly all of the independent advertising aired for the 2012 general-election campaign has come from interest groups that do not disclose their donors, suggesting that much of the political spending over the next six … Continue reading
NPR reports. MORE from Bloomberg. … Continue reading
iWatch: Sixty-two percent of funds raised by two conservative groups associated with former Bush adviser Karl Rove have come from mystery donors, a statistic that shows the increasingly important role being played by nonprofits in a post-Citizens United political world. American … Continue reading
No breakdown yet on how much to its secret GPS arm. … Continue reading