How many DUers use the $3 Presidential Election check mark on IRS taxes?

[Omaha Steve]

The Presidential Election Campaign fund is often forgotten on tax returns. It doesn't increase your tax OR reduce your refund.

Marta and I do it every year.

OS

The presidential election campaign fund checkoff appears on US income tax return forms as the question Do you want $3 of your federal tax to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund? ... Both the Republican and Democratic nominees in the general election receive a fixed amount of checkoff dollars.

15 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I (we) do it every year
	9 (60%)
	I (we) skip it every year
	5 (33%)
	Don't know anything about it
	0 (0%)
	I do it when I remember it
	1 (7%)
	other (feel free to explain)
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[samnsara]

1. i will skip it as long as trumps in office...

[Fluke a Snooker]

2. A more pertinent question...

How many DU's want to donate $1.50 to the Republican White Supremacist Nazi's?

...Thought so. Better to leave it unchecked and donate to the progressive...ALWAYS!

[Yupster]

4. That's always been the argument against public funding

of elections too.

[LanternWaste]

7. It's fun to pretend that one is the moral equivalent of the other...

It's fun to pretend that one is the moral equivalent of the other... but it really does little more than illustrate a thought process which denies both nuance and greater context, regardless of what you may inaccurately have "thought so."

[NCTraveler]

3. I don't support Republicans. nt.

[fescuerescue]

5. I do it for one reason

Statistically, the audit levels of those who don't check are slightly higher than those who do.

At least thats what my tax guy told me about 10 years back.

It may be BS, or no longer true. But it doesn't cost me anything to check the box, and it's not worth the time to throughly investigate.

[LAS14]

6. That's interesting. Where does the money come from if not your taxes or refund? nt

[Omaha Steve]

8. It comes from the general treasury fund

It has no effect on your tax or refund. It does come from taxes.

OS

[LAS14]

9. Ahh.. So it's like a vote instead of a donation. nt

[former9thward]

10. Your last sentence is incorrect.

The presidential nominees do not receive the money. John McCain in 2008 was the last nominee to accept the money. Obama rejected it because it would have placed limits on the amount of money he could raise. In 2012 both Obama and Romney rejected the money for the same reason. In 2016 both Clinton and Trump rejected the money. No major party candidate in the future will ever accept the money. No one wants to be limited in the money they can raise.

So now the money just goes to fund third party candidates who qualify and to finance the major party conventions. If that is what you want to contribute to, more power to you.

[Omaha Steve]

11. Isn't it still 5% of the vote to qualify?

IF so third party candidates aren't getting it.

[former9thward]

12. In 2012 minor party candidates got money.

None of them got 5%.

Libertarian Gary Johnson, Jill Stein of the Green Party, and Republican/Reform Party/Americans Elect candidate Buddy Roemer  received money.

I don't know who got money in 2016. Article on this by Think Progress: https://thinkprogress.org/the-288-million-in-campaign-funds-that-candidates-arent-using-fa62673bbcdc/

[Omaha Steve]

13. Looks like we will be skipping the $3 until the system gets changed

Thanks for the link.

OS