501(c)(4)

A 501(c)(4) group is one that is supposed to promote “social welfare.”  Contributions to those groups are tax deductible, provided the groups don’t have as their primary purpose the influencing of elections.  All kinds of political PACS, including hundreds of Tea Party groups, blatantly violate the law, not only in spirit but in actuality. 

I don’t understand why the I.R.S. apologized for auditing Tea Party groups applying for tax exempt status.  Keep in mind that when a tax exempt contribution is itemized, that is less money collected by our government.  That means an increase in the deficit.  So we have millions of dollars going into PACs promoting conservative causes (and obviously candidates who support those causes), and the donors, mostly rich, can deduct their propaganda from their tax returns.

Our own 9/12 group here in Carbon County, an anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-environment, Glenn Beck-inspired group, says on its website that it is a non-partisan group that backs no candidates.  Yeah.  

When I picketed a 9/12 event with a sign asking “Who funds the 9/12 group?” local businessman Fred Reinhard asked me “Who cares where the funding comes from?”  I told him I do.  I like to follow the money.