What isn't getting reported with regard to the IRS - the 501(c)(4) loophole and Citizens United ruling
More information needs to come to light regarding the recent outbreak of news regarding the IRS for me to fully conclude on the matter. However, at this point, I have a feeling that like with many conservatives calling Benghazi a massive cover-up and scandal being quite an exaggeration, the IRS ordeal is also getting blown out-of-proportion.
What seems to be getting ignored by a very large majority of the media is the the effect the 2010 Citizens United ruling had on this whole process. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United by a count of 5 to 4, the number of groups applying for 501(c)(4) status rose from 1,500 in 2010 to 3,400 in 2012 - more than twice the number reported just two years earlier, prior to the Citizens United ruling. For those that don't know, 501(c)(4) status is the section of the federal tax code which governs nonprofit groups whom are dedicated to "social welfare."
Given that definition, such groups are prohibited from being "primarily engaged" in political activity, yet that very definition is quite vague, which paves the way for a potential loophole, allowing for more groups to apply for a tax-exempt status. Due to the sharp increase in the number of such groups applying for tax-exempt status and the before-mentioned rule which prohibits giving 501(c)(4) status to groups whom are primarily engaged in political activity, these were likely two very large factors in the IRS targeting a significant rise in such conservative groups.
What should be looked at by the president, Congresspeople, and people in general whom were angered by the before-mentioned reports is closing the 501(c)(4) loophole and overturning the Citizens United ruling. Unless that happens, there will likely be similar such reports in the future.
Lastly, if Congressional Republicans want to use this story in an attempt to rile their base and motivate them to vote in the 2014 midterm elections, let's get something straight here - the IRS has targeted liberal groups in the not-too-distant past as well as conservative ones. Conservative groups aren't the only "victims" of the IRS.
Just last year, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of liberal group Emerge America, because it was too focused on benefiting the Democratic Party.
In George W. Bush's years in office, the IRS targeted churches with liberal leanings as well as the NAACP, Greenpeace, and other such liberal groups. Yet, for some strange reason, this story didn't receive nearly as much anger from Democratic Congresspeople or nearly as much attention from the media.
Neither party is thrilled with this report and they shouldn't be. However, instead of pointing fingers at one another and running the risk of this very event occurring again in the future, they should sit down, work together, and find a way to close the before-mentioned loophole by better defining the line between political activity and social welfare, as well as overturn the Citizens United ruling, so we are less apt to reading a similar report four years from now.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/irs-tea-party-scandal-congress-nonprofit-obama
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/14/2006851/how-real-disclosure-laws-could-help-fix-the-irs-problem/
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/14/when_the_irs_targeted_liberals/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57584356/irs-chief-we-should-have-done-better/
What seems to be getting ignored by a very large majority of the media is the the effect the 2010 Citizens United ruling had on this whole process. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United by a count of 5 to 4, the number of groups applying for 501(c)(4) status rose from 1,500 in 2010 to 3,400 in 2012 - more than twice the number reported just two years earlier, prior to the Citizens United ruling. For those that don't know, 501(c)(4) status is the section of the federal tax code which governs nonprofit groups whom are dedicated to "social welfare."
Given that definition, such groups are prohibited from being "primarily engaged" in political activity, yet that very definition is quite vague, which paves the way for a potential loophole, allowing for more groups to apply for a tax-exempt status. Due to the sharp increase in the number of such groups applying for tax-exempt status and the before-mentioned rule which prohibits giving 501(c)(4) status to groups whom are primarily engaged in political activity, these were likely two very large factors in the IRS targeting a significant rise in such conservative groups.
What should be looked at by the president, Congresspeople, and people in general whom were angered by the before-mentioned reports is closing the 501(c)(4) loophole and overturning the Citizens United ruling. Unless that happens, there will likely be similar such reports in the future.
Lastly, if Congressional Republicans want to use this story in an attempt to rile their base and motivate them to vote in the 2014 midterm elections, let's get something straight here - the IRS has targeted liberal groups in the not-too-distant past as well as conservative ones. Conservative groups aren't the only "victims" of the IRS.
Just last year, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of liberal group Emerge America, because it was too focused on benefiting the Democratic Party.
In George W. Bush's years in office, the IRS targeted churches with liberal leanings as well as the NAACP, Greenpeace, and other such liberal groups. Yet, for some strange reason, this story didn't receive nearly as much anger from Democratic Congresspeople or nearly as much attention from the media.
Neither party is thrilled with this report and they shouldn't be. However, instead of pointing fingers at one another and running the risk of this very event occurring again in the future, they should sit down, work together, and find a way to close the before-mentioned loophole by better defining the line between political activity and social welfare, as well as overturn the Citizens United ruling, so we are less apt to reading a similar report four years from now.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/irs-tea-party-scandal-congress-nonprofit-obama
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/14/2006851/how-real-disclosure-laws-could-help-fix-the-irs-problem/
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/14/when_the_irs_targeted_liberals/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57584356/irs-chief-we-should-have-done-better/
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