[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/16/13

Wed May 15 20:43:57 PDT 2013

<http://electionlawblog.org/>

    "The Real IRS Scandal" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50477>

Posted on May 15, 2013 8:39 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50477> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Yet another oped 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/opinion/the-real-irs-scandal.html?ref=politics> 
with this name, this one in the New York Times by Sheila Krumholz and 
Robert Weinberger of CRP.

Also in the NYT opinion section, a Room for Debate section, Should 
501c4?s Be Eliminated 
<http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/05/15/does-the-irs-scandal-prove-that-501c4s-should-be-eliminated/?ref=opinion>?, 
and an editorial, Take Politics Away from the IRS 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/opinion/take-politics-away-from-the-irs.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>. 
The editorial is similar to the position I take in my /Slate/ piece 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/05/the_irs_tea_party_scandal_the_lesson_is_better_campaign_finance_disclosure.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "Groups that sought tax-exempt status say IRS dealings were a
    nightmare" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50474>

Posted on May 15, 2013 8:33 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50474> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/groups-who-sought-tax-exempt-status-say-irs-dealings-were-a-nightmare/2013/05/15/35405920-bcd9-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html>:

    Some groups, including several interviewed by The Washington Post,
    were asked to provide names of donors or membership lists, which
    experts say the IRS cannot legally do. The agency also demanded
    names of board members, copies of meeting minutes and résumés,
    details of community organizing efforts and numerous other details,
    according to questionnaires obtained by The Post.

    "It was pretty much a proctology exam through your earlobe," said
    Karen L. Kenney, the coordinator for the San Fernando Valley
    Patriots, a tea party group in Southern California that was sent an
    IRS questionnaire with more than 100 questions on it.

    The San Fernando group first submitted its application for nonprofit
    status in the fall of 2010, which was after the IRS's
    Cincinnati-based "determination unit" had implemented its
    politically charged screening criteria. The group wrote the agency a
    $400 check to fast-track the process, but 19 months went by before
    the group heard anything, Kenney said.

Sounds like a /real/ scandal to me, and not just a distraction from the 
disclosure problems which also exist as to c4s.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    Were Lois Lerner's Remarks Friday at Tax Meeting "All But
    Rehearsed"? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50470>

Posted on May 15, 2013 6:10 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50470> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here 
<http://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/22293-ten-festering-wounds-in-the-obama-administration-s-irs-scandal.html>at 
Nonprofit Quarterly.

UPDATE: This is a very smart take on the IRS mess.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    Illegal Tweeting in BC Elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50467>

Posted on May 15, 2013 5:18 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50467> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The horror, the horror. 
<http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/15/twitterstorm-erupts-during-b-c-election/>

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> | Comments Off

    "Acting Chief of I.R.S. Forced Out Over Tea Party Targeting"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50463>

Posted on May 15, 2013 4:47 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50463> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/us/irs-says-counsel-didnt-tell-treasury-of-tea-party-scrutiny.html?hp>: 
"President Obama announced Wednesday night that the acting commissioner 
of the Internal Revenue Service had been fired, and he pledged that his 
administration would cooperate with Congressional investigations into 
the targeting of conservative groups."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "Sheldon Whitehouse: IRS Tea Party Targeting 'Not The Only IRS
    Scandal'" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50460>

Posted on May 15, 2013 2:39 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50460> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

HuffPo reports 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/15/sheldon-whitehouse-irs_n_3281252.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "The IRS wants YOU --- to share everything"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50457>

Posted on May 15, 2013 2:27 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50457> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico reports. 
<http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=DA016CBA-5054-4D41-BC1A-3AFE4A86CED4>

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "Center for Competitive Politics urges the Supreme Court not to
    defer to Congress when reviewing contribution limits"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50454>

Posted on May 15, 2013 2:20 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50454> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See this press release 
<http://www.campaignfreedom.org/2013/05/14/center-for-competitive-politics-urges-the-supreme-court-not-to-defer-to-congress-when-reviewing-contribution-limits/> 
about this amicus brief 
<http://www.campaignfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/McCutcheon-Brief.pdf>filed 
in /McCutcheon./

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "The Real IRS Scandal" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50451>

Posted on May 15, 2013 1:18 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50451> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Hiltzik column. 
<http://electionlawblog.org/latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20130514,0,1622097.column>

I renew my objection <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50427>. Saying that 
what happened to conservative groups is not a "real" scandal is a way of 
denigrating what the IRS has done, and I am quite sure that many of 
these liberal critics would have been absolutely OUTRAGED if the Bush 
IRS had targeted "progressive" groups for special scrutiny and sat for a 
very long time on their applications for tax exempt status.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "Conservative group says IRS approved non-profit status after
    applying with 'liberal-sounding name'"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50448>

Posted on May 15, 2013 1:12 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50448> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Yahoo! News reports 
<http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/conservative-activist-green-name-gets-irs-stamp-approval-193457897.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

    "The Real Problem at the IRS | Commentary"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50445>

Posted on May 15, 2013 12:54 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50445> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Melanie Sloan 
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/the_real_problem_at_the_irs_commentary-224844-1.html> 
of CREW: "Everyone can agree it is unacceptable for the IRS to target 
particular organizations based on political ideology. If that's what 
agents at the IRS were up to, they were wrong and there should be 
consequences. The real problem, however, is not that the IRS is overly 
aggressive but that it has sat by idly while an ever-increasing number 
of groups blatantly violate the laws governing 501(c)(4) organizations. 
Where is the outrage over that?"

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
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    "Source: Two 'rogue' workers principally behind IRS targeting of
    conservative" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50443>

Posted on May 15, 2013 12:52 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=50443> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports 
<http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/politics/irs-conservative-targeting/index.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off

-- 
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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