[EL] It's About [Harassment], [Silly]

[Rick Hasen]

To the contrary Steve.  I want to take the IRS out of the business of 
being a campaign finance regulator, and have Congress set clear rules 
for disclosure of contributions used to fund significant amounts of 
federal election advertising (with an exemption for those who face 
realistic threats of harassment).

On 5/14/13 3:20 PM, Steve Klein wrote:
> Rick, like Nancy Pelosi 
> <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/05/13/pelosi_irs_scandal_an_opportunity_to_scrutinize_501c4s_and_overturn_citizens_united.html>, 
> acknowledges that there's a problem with the IRS harassing groups 
> based on their ideology.
> The solution is to provide the IRS with the names of people who 
> support ideological groups.
> Forgive a sarcastic response, but, "Wait, what?"
> Whether under fear of government incompetence or malfeasance, there 
> are strong, principled reasons to oppose disclosure. This episode only 
> reinforces my belief that disclosure serves, at best, an 
> "obfuscational interest" in political discourse, letting the Willie 
> Starks of the world find dirt on speakers (and "there's always 
> something") rather than engage on important issues.
> --------
> "It's About Disclosure, Stupid; The larger failing behind the terrible 
> IRS treatment of tea party groups." <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50351>
>
> Posted on May 14, 2013 2:41 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50351> 
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I've writtenthis commentary 
> <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/05/the_irs_tea_party_scandal_the_lesson_is_better_campaign_finance_disclosure.html> 
> for /Slate/.
> -- 
> Steve Klein
> Staff Attorney & Research Counsel*
> Wyoming Liberty Group
> www.wyliberty.org <http://www.wyliberty.org>
> /*Licensed to practice law in Illinois. Counsel to the Wyoming Liberty 
> Group pursuant to Rule 5.5(d) of the Wyoming Rules of Professional 
> Conduct./
>
>
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-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

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