Donations
to the Tides Center are tax exempt, but other than its support for some issues
unpopular with conservatives I found nothing overtly political on the web site.
The
third organization on the Google search list is the RightWingWatch.org operated
by People for the American Way. This is a liberal organization.
RightWingWatch was on the search list in connection with an article refuting a
claim by a televangelist, Rick Joyner, that Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City
Bomber) was actually a left-wing radical, not a right-wing terrorist.
Rick Joyner is the founder and executive director of MorningStar Ministries and
Heritage International Ministries. He is also the Senior Pastor at the
MorningStar Fellowship Church, a tax-exempt organization.
People
for the American Way bills itself as a non-profit organization, but they don't
use our tax money. When you donate you get this disclaimer:
"Because
we lobby Congress, donations to People For the American Way, a nonprofit
501(c)(4) organization, are not tax deductible."
In
contrast, the Freedom Works Foundation is a conservative non-profit
organization. It is currently headed by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick
Armey, a Republican. The site says it is inspired by the leadership of Barry
Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Its content is distinctly conservative. If
you press the icon to donate to the foundation website you are taken to the
donation page for Freedom Works (without the word "foundation"), which
is a political-action organization. There you will be given a choice to donate, "...
where my donation will be used directly in the fight in Washington,"
or "... where my donation will be 100% tax deductable and will be
used for education, research and other efforts." So the Freedom
Works Foundation, which is tax exempt, shares the donation page of Freedom
Works, which isn't tax exempt. I found that a little confusing.
Now,
for symmetry sake, Google "right-wing organizations." The first three
organizations (excluding the C.S. Monitor) on the search list are People for
the American Way (or RightWingWatch), which does not count donations as tax
deductions, the PublicEye.org, operated by a tax-exempt group named Political
Research Associates, and Common Dreams, also tax exempt. The Common
Dreams link is to a three-paragraph article on the resignation of the IRS
commissioner. It didn't seem to present a political slant.
The
People for the American Way provides an extensive list of right-leaning
organizations with detailed information on each. Unlike the David
Horowitz Freedom Center, however, this list appears to contain only US
organizations. There are no attempts to link these groups to foreign or
domestic terrorist organizations. The site describes their effort this way:
"Right
Wing organizations come in all shapes and sizes, from think tanks to legal
groups, local and national lobbying organizations, foundations and media
forums. At any given moment, the Right is at work in our public school systems,
courthouses, in Congress and state assemblies. At the same time, right-wing
groups are reaching huge audiences through media outlets they own or influence
-- promoting regressive policies that seek to drive wedges between and among
Americans."
So
regressive policies and promoting division among citizens is the worst this
group has to say about right-wing organizations.
Political
Research Associates also provides a list of right-wing organizations similar to
the one at the PFAW. This list is far less detailed. It doesn't include
foreign or terrorist organizations. There are no militia groups or hate
groups or overtly raciest organizations on the list as far as I can tell.
It doesn't include the Aryan Nation or the Klu Klux Klan, for instance
(not that I necessarily consider them left wing).
This
isn't an exhaustive survey, of course. It's just an exercise. But on the
face of things it does appear that some tax-exempt organizations have very
political, almost sinister agendas. It also seems that conservative-leaning non-profits are more overtly political and include more information of
questionable educational value. The problem of political activity among tax-exempt groups does seem a bit asymmetrical. The added value to the
public worthy of extending tax credits to these, or to any, overtly political
organization is dubious.
Does the IRS have the personnel and resources to properly handle
their workload?
According
to the IRS, the answer is no. IRS funding was held flat for three years between
FY 2005 and 2007. There was a 2.5% cut in its 2012 budget and now it is being
squeezed by budget cuts and the sequestration, prompting protests by IRS
personnel. There is also this summary of the IRS situation prior to the last
two years of further budget cuts:
The most serious problem facing U.S. taxpayers is the
combination of the IRS' expanding workload and the limited resources available
to the IRS to handle it. Among the consequences:
" the IRS is unable to adequately meet the
service needs of the taxpaying public. [it's only funded at an 80%
level for this service.]
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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