The Briefing Room
General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: mystery-ak on December 15, 2013, 11:22:58 pm
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http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/15/Obama-IRS-Tightening-the-Noose-on-Tea-Party-Groups (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/15/Obama-IRS-Tightening-the-Noose-on-Tea-Party-Groups)
by William Bigelow 15 Dec 2013, 2:32 PM PDT
Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel noted on Friday that Barack Obama and the IRS have a new plan to target Tea Party groups in advance of the 2014 elections.
During Thanksgiving week, the Treasury Department announced a proposal to limit the political activity of 501(c)(4) groups. The Obama Administration claimed that the plan was necessary to clarify confusing tax laws.
The House Ways and Means Committee investigators believe that the proposal was designed by examining Tea Party group applications, figuring out exactly how they proceeded, then limiting those very actions in the new proposal, thus shutting them out of the political process.
House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp said, "The committee has reviewed thousands of tax exempt applications. The new regulation so closely mirrors the abused tea-party group applications, it leads me to question if this new proposed regulation is simply another form of targeting."
Tea Party groups, just as other tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organizations, have to prove that the majority of their work is for "primary" social-welfare purpose if they want to keep their tax-exempt status. The primary purpose of most Tea party groups is illuminating for Americans the size of government and the erosion of the Constitution. They do so through nonpartisan voter guides, speakers forums, pamphlets, or voter-registration drives.
Now, however, the IRS is planning to recognize those very activities as "political activity," not “social welfare,” thus rendering Tea Party groups unfit for 501(c)(4) status.
Thus, the new proposal is not about clarifying tax laws but rather, as Dave Camp stated, "to put Tea Party groups out of business."
The new rule only applies to 501(c)(4) groups. The League of Women Voters Education Fund, a Democratic stronghold, is registered as a 501(c)(3), considered a "charity" that is strictly limited regarding its political activity. That same organization claims on its website that it holds "candidate debates and forums," and its "educational activities" include "understanding candidate views and ballot initiatives."
The League can still issue its voter guides, registrations, and candidate forums. Any conservative social-welfare organization acting similarly will probably lose its tax-exempt status. And guess which groups are unaffected by the new rule, because they are 501(c)(5)s?
As Strassel writes:
The same president who in May was "outraged" by the IRS's actions now says it was all just some confusion over tax law (which his new rule fixes). He told Chris Matthews last week that the media had hyped what was a few poor IRS souls in Cincinnati who were "trying to streamline what is a difficult law to interpret... And they've got a list, and suddenly everybody's outraged."
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I'm sure Boehner and McConnell will investigate that real good.
Boehner - "Frankly, I just think they've lost all credibility."
McConnell - "You know how you deal with schoolyard bullies? You punch them in the nose and that’s what we’re going to do."
Chuck D -"Yo one can play the game, two can play the game. Yo Flav read on"
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Here's a simple solution: stop being a tax-exempt. It will put additional financial strain on an organisation, but it will also free the organization from the puppet strings of government control. It could also be publicized "profitably" as the organization really doing its "fair share" and paying taxes honestly, rather than shirking its duty like liberal organizations and refusing to do its fair share by hiding behind its tax exempt status.
If you let the devil pay the piper, the devil gets to call the tune.
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Here's a simple solution: stop being a tax-exempt. It will put additional financial strain on an organisation, but it will also free the organization from the puppet strings of government control. It could also be publicized "profitably" as the organization really doing its "fair share" and paying taxes honestly, rather than shirking its duty like liberal organizations and refusing to do its fair share by hiding behind its tax exempt status.
If you let the devil pay the piper, the devil gets to call the tune.
How about we just get rid of the income tax and the IRS altogether and be done with it!
http://fairtax.org
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Here's a simple solution: stop being a tax-exempt. It will put additional financial strain on an organisation, but it will also free the organization from the puppet strings of government control. It could also be publicized "profitably" as the organization really doing its "fair share" and paying taxes honestly, rather than shirking its duty like liberal organizations and refusing to do its fair share by hiding behind its tax exempt status.
If you let the devil pay the piper, the devil gets to call the tune.
It's a shame that's what it comes down to, but this is the reality in the age of Obama. And I don't believe for one moment that things will ever be the same again.
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How about we just get rid of the income tax and the IRS altogether and be done with it!
http://fairtax.org
It's the only FAIR (play on words) way.
They're cracking down on Tea Party groups - but not a thing being done about the Union 501(c)5's........ how is that fair??????? to favor the libs and screw the conservatives.
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It's a shame that's what it comes down to, but this is the reality in the age of Obama. And I don't believe for one moment that things will ever be the same again.
I'm not so sure that it's a shame. It's unfortunate that liberal/leftist groups are given extra help with their finances by the fedgov, but what better way to show that you really stand with the ordinary joe than by standing with 'em under the knife of the IRS? Furthermore, if the organization runs at no more than a slight profit, the actual tax hit should be minimal.
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Here's a simple solution: stop being a tax-exempt. It will put additional financial strain on an organisation, but it will also free the organization from the puppet strings of government control. It could also be publicized "profitably" as the organization really doing its "fair share" and paying taxes honestly, rather than shirking its duty like liberal organizations and refusing to do its fair share by hiding behind its tax exempt status.
If you let the devil pay the piper, the devil gets to call the tune.
You can operate a for profit entity, but not make a profit and not pay taxes.
However the donors want a tax-exempt entity, to make their donations suitable for write off.
I say go ahead and presume the tax exempt status will prevail in the end. Collect and disburse the funds. Disclose the uncertainty to donors.
And fulfill all the rules for 501-C-4.
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It's the only FAIR (play on words) way.
They're cracking down on Tea Party groups - but not a thing being done about the Union 501(c)5's........ how is that fair??????? to favor the libs and screw the conservatives.
We would, for the fist time in any of our lives, TRULY have the ability to speak freely. We would also be able to start or expand a business without first having to explore the tax implications of doing so.
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I'm not so sure that it's a shame. It's unfortunate that liberal/leftist groups are given extra help with their finances by the fedgov, but what better way to show that you really stand with the ordinary joe than by standing with 'em under the knife of the IRS? Furthermore, if the organization runs at no more than a slight profit, the actual tax hit should be minimal.
Keep in mind that the IRS and the Federal Reserve go hand-in-glove...