Democrat Senator wants to use IRS to shut down speech

Although U.S. tax law discriminates against various groups (such as churches) by limiting what they can say, that would seem to run counter to the 1st Amendment. So the Democrats might get a nasty surprise if they push the matter so hard that it ends up in SCOTUS

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus sent a serious shot across the bows of the growing ranks of groups, most of them on the right, playing aggressively in elections under non-profit 501(c)4 and (c)6 status, with a letter asking that the IRS commissioner examine them for violations of tax law.

A central, and endlessly complicated, legal question is whether an organization's "primary purpose" is politics, and many find ways to spend 51% of their money, for instance, on policy campaigns. Different lawyers have offered different advice to groups on where, exactly, the line is -- but many, like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Job Security, are operating under different versions of the non-profit status to both advertise in elections and keep their donors secret.

The IRS should examine whether the groups' "political activities reach a primary purpose level" and "whether they are acting as conduits for major donors advancing their own private interests regarding legislation or political campaigns, or are providing major donors with excess benefits."

Source

The Left NEED censorship and control of information. Reality is too pesky for them.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).