News
Late yesterday, Democracy 21 joined the Campaign Legal Center in filing comments with the Federal Election Commission urging the agency to reject a request by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) for permission to fund federal election activity with money raised outside federal contribution limits (i.e., “soft money”), which would clearly violate the McCain-Feingold Law soft […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Justice Scalia truly outdid himself in the dissenting opinion he wrote in the DOMA case, decided yesterday by the Supreme Court. He appears to have perfected the art of “situational jurisprudence.” Justice Scalia has had no problem voting to invalidate laws enacted by Congress when he is eliminating […]
We are pleased that President Obama has begun the process of nominating FEC Commissioners to fill the one vacant seat and the five expired seats on the Commission. From what we know, Ann Ravel, head of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, has been an outstanding leader in the area of campaign finance oversight and […]
In a letter sent today to the Senate, reform groups urged Senators to support S.375, the “Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act,” that would require electronic filing of campaign finance disclosure reports by Senate candidates under federal campaign finance laws. The reform groups sending the letter include Americans for Campaign Reform, Campaign Finance Institute, the […]
In a letter sent today to the House Ways and Means Committee, Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, urged the Committee to examine the failure of the IRS to properly enforce the tax laws against groups improperly claiming to be “social welfare” organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code in order to […]
In a letter sent today to members of the House Administration Committee, reform groups called on the Committee to oppose legislation to repeal the presidential public financing system. The letter also urged the Committee to oppose proposed legislation to repeal the Election Assistance Commission. The reform groups sending the letter include Americans for Campaign Reform, […]
Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, today urged the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government not to undermine the IRS’s ability to enforce existing tax laws as they seek to address the agency’s targeting of certain groups filing for 501(c)(4) tax status. […]
In a letter sent today to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, forwarded fifteen letters that the watchdog groups had sent to the IRS beginning in October 2010 urging IRS action against groups improperly claiming 501(c)(4) tax status and calling for a rulemaking proceeding. The […]
In a letter sent to Senators and Representatives today, reform groups called on Congress to investigate and address both of the scandals at the IRS in order to prevent the same abuses from occurring in the future. As Congress rightly investigates the improper targeting of conservative groups, the letter also stated that Members have a […]
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 […]
Sign up for Democracy 21’s email list(s) to receive “Wertheimer’s Political Report,” our weekly newsletter released every Thursday and/or our regular news releases. (And, we won’t share your email.)
