CCP
Heritage Panel: Taxing the First Amendment: Using the IRS to Censor Speech?
Heritage is hosting a panel, Taxing the First Amendment: Using the IRS to Censor Speech?, featuring CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith, Republican super-lawyer Cleta Mitchell, Eliana Johnson of the National Review, and Wall Street Journal Editorial Board member Kimberley Strassel. The panel, moderated by Hans A. von Spakovsky, begins at 12pm and will be live streamed at this link…
In the News
NTU: The I.R.S. Proposes One Rule to Silence Us All
By Douglas Kellogg
Because the issue itself can be viewed as characterizing the candidate, and a website is “public communication”, the new I.R.S. rule could very well be taken this far. There could be even more surprising potential applications for this rule, a very unpleasant thought.
Why is this even a concern for the I.R.S., when the Federal Election Commission polices these things, is a very good question brought up by Center for Competitive Politics.
Whatever motivations are behind these power plays may remain shrouded, but their free speech-crushing results and absence of logic should be enough for the growing, bipartisan, opposition to stand on.
Independent Groups
Bolder Advocacy: Responding to The New York Times on IRS Rules
By Abby Levine
Organizing a 527 is not so “easily” done for mid-sized and smaller groups that wish to engage in nonpartisan election work activity.
The Times is wrong when it claims “[a]ny group that wants to engage in political activity or issue scorecards can easily continue doing so by organizing a group under the tax code’s Section 527.”
The cost of creating a new entity—or entities—will discourage many small, grassroots organizations from doing so. The more complex the rules, the greater the deterrent for organizations with limited funding. Creating an entirely distinct political organization to promote their policy agendas – new clean water laws or “no smoking” ordinances, for example — would be too costly and burdensome.
The big organizations can hire the lawyers and accountants required to organize a 527. Small players can’t afford this kind of assistance. As a result, much smaller groups may well be frozen out of legitimate citizen engagement.
Disclosure
CLC: Campaign Legal Center Receives MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative & Effective Institutions
According to MacArthur, the Award is not only recognition for past leadership and success but also an investment in the future. The Campaign Legal Center will use its $750,000 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions to build up its reserve fund and redesign its website.
Wall Street Journal: John Garvey and Andrew Abela: Why We’re Keeping a $1 Million Koch Gift
By JOHN GARVEY And ANDREW ABELA
Critics of the gift have argued, as one of the petitioners put it, that if we accept gifts for improper purposes we “send a confusing message to . . . faithful Catholics that [a bad cause] has the blessing of a university sanctioned by Catholic bishops.” The question is: Does the Koch donation represent such a gift?
Some might say that it does because the donor is open to moral reproach. We hear similar arguments when Catholic schools choose commencement speakers who support objectionable causes, like abortion. (President Obama speaking at Notre Dame comes to mind.) In this case, critics do not claim that the Charles Koch Foundation is a bad actor because it funds improper activity elsewhere. The problem, they say, is that Charles Koch and his brother, David, hold some views that we should reject.
This objection is a rather strong form of guilt by association.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
Wall Street Journal: Another Misguided Cruz Missile
By Kim Strassel
A rump band of Beltway conservatives has seen the enemy and it is not Harry Reid. It is Mitch McConnell, whose scalp is apparently worth blowing yet another shot at a Republican Senate majority.
There’s a new dividing line in the conservative movement—between a majority who’d like to win against President Obama, and a handful who’d like to win some scalps. It was on vivid display last week during the Senate debt-ceiling vote. Republicans were looking to avoid a fight they were destined to lose. Democrats had the votes to pass the bill with a simple majority, meaning they also would have owned their president’s refusal to tackle the debt.
Lobbying and Ethics
The Hill: Americans for Prosperity registers to lobby
By Megan R. Wilson
But in a twist, the group didn’t register any lobbyists, which is standard practice on the forms. Instead, the group specified that no AFP employees would meet the legal threshold to be considered a lobbyist.
Federal law defines a lobbyist as anyone who spends more than 20 percent of their time making contact with policymakers — including the time spent conducting research or planning that contact — on behalf of a person, corporation or other organization.
FEC
CPI: FEC to Claire McCaskill: Show us your money
By Dave Levinthal
The Federal Election Commission wrote Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to ask why it hasn’t yet received a paper copy of her campaign finance report for final three months of 2013.
And it’s no love letter.
“It is important that you file this report immediately,” Deborah Chacona, the assistant staff director in the FEC’s Reports Analysis Division,told McCaskill’s campaign committee on Wednesday. “The failure to timely file a complete report may result in civil money penalties, an audit or legal enforcement action.”
