The IRS is Flopping on Election 2016

Ideas and Issues
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130514_irs_building_ap_605New Orleans      Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself when you’re reading the daily papers because what you’re reading is so unbelievable. Today’s interplanetary, Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not set of stories features the USA’s Internal Revenue Service, the IRS, or the Service, as they call themselves, and the fact that they pretty clearly are flopping on the coming 2016 presidential election and deciding to let the pols pretty much do whatever they want, whatever way they want, and look the other way. Are you kidding me?!?

Ok, we all know that money has flooded politics and pushed the biscuit cookers, little people, and regular Joe’s to the margin. The currently trending Supreme Court did that, too, remember with Citizens’ United opening the floodgates to the Kochs and every other two-bit billionaire who wanted to buy, rent, or own a politician or party. Comedians famously organized their own super-PACs last election in protest of the money floating those supertankers of political influence.

What I do not think we had fully realized is that the IRS was going to just rollover and look the other way on all of this mess. Who do they think they are? The Federal Election Commission or something?

Not merely satisfied with super-PACS, although almost all of the candidates are still taking the PAC-crack, many are aligning themselves with tax exempt bodies formed as 501c4 formations, ostensibly classified as exempt from taxes because they are devoted to “social welfare.” In this case the welfare seems to be favored presidential candidates. They do not have to divulge their donors and many are clear that they have no intentions to do so by damn. Furthermore, though they are technically not supposed to coordinate with candidates and their campaigns, many share staff, board members, and, reportedly, extensive coordination and division of responsibilities with the candidates in that wonderful period when they stalked the country and the corporate suites without formally declaring the obvious fact that they were running for president. One such outfit, the Conservative Solutions Project, tied to Senator Marco Rubio has raised almost $16 million according to reports, more than many other candidates. Not surprisingly they have taken over some of the polling, analysis, research, and advertising that would normally have been done by the candidates own campaign. Come on now!

The IRS seems too buffaloed to bother, the people can go to the devil. They are not going to issue regulations on what is allowable political activity and expenditure until after the 2016 election when the cows are way past the barn, and maybe they will have already elected a cowboy president who will think all of this is dandy. Unbelievable!

Meanwhile on the home front we’re supposed to jump up and salute every April 15th and stand at attention with chills running down our spine every time we get a letter from the IRS. Don’t tell me that’s never happened to you!

Clearly there’s a solution. We need to reincorporate ourselves as 501c4’s and tell the IRS next time they ask that we’re going to do whatever we darned please just like all of the candidates for President. So there!

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Please enjoy Rickie Lee Jones’ Jimmy Choos. Thanks to KABF.

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