The continuing scandal of the IRS targeting conservative groups provides an interesting juxtaposition with a recent Climate Change Rally in Washington, DC where no one showed up. What precisely is the BarackObama.com website that organized this and other rallies? A visit to the site’s About page provided this explanation:
Organizing for Action
Statement of PurposeOrganizing for Action is a nonprofit organization established to support President Obama in achieving enactment of the national agenda Americans voted for on Election Day 2012. OFA will advocate for these policies throughout the country and will mobilize citizens of all parties and diverse points to speak out for speedy passage and effective implementation of this program, including gun violence prevention, sensible environmental policies to address climate change and immigration reform. In addition, OFA will encourage the formation of chapters that will be dedicated at the grassroots level to this program, but also committed to identifying and working progressive change on a range of issues at the state and local level. In carrying its work, OFA will operate as a “social welfare” organization within the meaning of section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
So what precisely constitutes a “Section 501(c)(4)” group devoted to “Social Welfare”? The IRS’s website provides a long explanation. A portion of the last paragraph is key:
The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity.
Interesting. One wonders how an organization devoted to promoting the objectives of one political party, purporting to be a grassroots group specifically for one politician, does not violate everything stated in the IRS’s own rules?!? Perhaps there’s an unwritten exemption from any & all rules if the work you’re doing is for Barack Obama PBUH.
Sent your article to my reps. I want an explanation.
Actually it’s Dems not just Obama. He gets a little better treatment because the liberals need a cool black friend to show how un-racist they are.
Next April 15th, Americans should collective refuse to hand in their taxes. Just not file. There should be no more reason to support this dictator and his cronies.
Progressives/Obamabots have institutionalized the double standard.
Bwaahahahahaha….OFA is about as “not-for-profit” the same as GE, Bell, Gore, Jackson, Detroit are not-for-profit. Wait. Scratch the last one.
My more cynical half wonders if this is where all those recent government ammo purchases are going. After all, many communist dictators have had sympathetic community groups doing some of their dirty work.
From the given description it sounds like OFA is 100% a political organization and not a social welfare one. “Social welfare” should mean a charity; OFA is not engaged in charitable activities so far as I can see.
The IRS rules sound a bit like those in Canada, where a charitable organization can devote a small percentage of its resources/activities to political action (I forget offhand whether the maximum allowed is 5 or 10 per cent). The assumption is presumably that an organization on the ground may have a couple of ideas that may lead to more efficient “social programs”, or whatever, and mere information-sharing should not disqualify the organization from its charitable status. Putting aside any disagreement with the idea that government should be running a welfare state at all, the logic of the tax code on this issue is quite reasonable.
Pronounced “ofay”