"One Reason To Apply For Tax-Exempt Status: Anonymity" by Brian Naylor at NPR

[applegrove]

One Reason To Apply For Tax-Exempt Status: Anonymity

by Brian Naylor at NPR

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/15/184223558/one-reason-to-apply-for-tax-exempt-status-anonymity

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"One of the really sad and unfortunate side effects of our very ugly political atmosphere of the past many years has been that participating in public debate often comes with the threat of economic reprisal now, and in extreme cases also comes with threats to safety," says David French, senior counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, which provides legal services to many right-leaning groups. "And so anonymity is an important part of public participation and always has been in our country."

But that anonymity has not been permitted in campaign financing since Watergate, and critics say 501(c)(4) organizations are a way for big donors to political causes to hide their contributions. If they gave directly to political candidates, those donors' names would be public.

Although 501(c)(4) groups are not permitted to primarily engage in political activities, critics say that is exactly what many are doing.

Paul S. Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center says this is an opportunity to clarify things: "It's that gray area [of] how much candidate election work a (c)(4) can do that is a point of controversy and also an opportunity for a clarification by Congress and/or the IRS in the wake of this unfolding controversy."



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