POLITICO Inadequate IRS rules helped create scandal By Fred Wertheimer The current firestorm over the wrongful targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service is one part of a picture that shows the existing rules to determine the eligibility of groups to qualify as section 501(c)(4) tax-exempt “social welfare” organizations are woefully inadequate. The […]
CBS News Is IRS missing a bigger tax-exempt scandal? By: Wyatt Andrews
The Washington Post’s Wonkblog ‘Crossroads GPS and Priorities USA were created for the purpose of hiding donors’ By Dylan Matthews Fred Wertheimer is the founder and president of Democracy 21, a leading campaign finance reform organization. He worked for Common Cause for 24 years, serving as a lobbyist for the Watergate reforms and as a […]
Time The Real IRS Scandal By Alex Altman The IRS is unpopular on its best days, and the past few have been among its worst. The agency’s admission that it targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny drew condemnation from across the political spectrum on Monday. “Outrageous,” declared Barack Obama. House and Senate leaders from both […]
The IRS was dead wrong to target conservative groups claiming tax-exempt status as section 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations based on their names and identified interests. This never should have happened and steps should be taken to ensure it does not happen again. At the same time, however, it is clear that a number of groups […]
In a letter sent today, reform groups urged Senators and Representatives “to pass campaign finance disclosure legislation this year to close the gaping disclosure loopholes in the campaign finance laws. These loopholes resulted in more than $300 million in secret contributions being spent by outside groups to influence the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.” The […]
The Huffington Post FEC Commissioners All Serving Expired Terms Now By: Paul Blumenthal WASHINGTON — All five sitting commissioners at the Federal Election Commission are now serving expired terms, while the sixth seat remains unfilled since a commissioner retired on Feb. 1, 2013. FEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter’s term expired on Tuesday. Until their replacements are […]
In a letter sent to President Obama yesterday, reform groups expressed their “deep concern about the nation’s corrupt campaign finance system and about your failure, to date, as President to provide meaningful leadership or take effective action to solve this fundamental problem facing our democracy.” The reform groups included: Americans for Campaign Reform, the Campaign […]
The introduction of campaign finance disclosure legislation yesterday by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is an important step forward. The bill represents a breakthrough as the first bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate to address the problem of secret money being spent by outside groups to influence federal elections. Democracy 21 commends […]
The New York Times New York Reform = Public Financing By: the Editorial Board The recent arrests of a state senator and an assemblyman appear to have reminded Gov. Andrew Cuomo of his overdue promise to begin cleaning up Albany’s swamp of corruption. This week he announced several important proposals to end the political lawlessness, […]
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