Wednesday, May 15

There is a surge in misuse of nonprofits to hide political spending, and the IRS should do more, not less, scrutinizing of such groups

Arn Pearson writes in The Guardian:
"The recent IRS admissions about the use of 'tea party' or 'patriot' labels to flag applications for nonprofit status for additional scrutiny raise serious questions about political bias, and should receive a thorough and independent investigation.
"There is rightly a growing call for House and Senate hearings to answer those questions, but any investigations must delve deeper into the bigger problem facing our democracy after the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen United: the dramatic surge in the misuse of nonprofits to hide political spending by billionaires and corporations from American voters, and the lack of any meaningful enforcement response."
The IRS should do more, not less, scrutinizing of political groups