[EL] Just treat PACs and c4s like c3s(?)

[Mark Schmitt]

Is the proposal here that if Michael Bloomberg spends $85 million on one 
of his political campaigns, it will be entirely deductible against his 
income, as if it were a contribution to charity?

That seems more like a subsidy than like freedom. And subsidies require 
rules and limits. Why not go in the other direction -- get rid of the 
charitable deduction, and treat all spending, whether it's for politics, 
charity, or your yacht, the same way? Lower rates/broader base/less 
complexity.



------ Original Message ------
From: "Thomas J. Cares" <Tom at tomcares.com>
To: "Election Law" <law-election at uci.edu>
Sent: 5/17/2013 4:13:53 PM
Subject: [EL] Just treat PACs and c4s like c3s(?)
>This has always seemed like an unequivocally-good reform to me.
>
>Just make all political spending (candidate contributions, PACs, 
>lobbying, everything) tax deductible.
>
>It's practically an infinitesimal portion of our economy, and by making 
>it taxable the government has to stick its nose where it doesn't 
>belong. This IRS scandal is obviously a great case in point. You also 
>have stuff like if a politician runs a genuine charity that also 
>happens to get him great public exposure (let's say the charity opens a 
>free day care center, and they run a tv ad where the 
>politician/charity-head announces its opening, while the election is in 
>2 weeks - should the charity not be allowed to run it because it's 
>contributions are tax deductible, but money supporting the candidate 
>wouldn't be? Should we have to trust the IRS to have no political bias 
>in deciding whether challenge the charity's c3 status?)
>
>And of course, civic activity should be encouraged and it's good public 
>policy to not tax it.
>
>Seems like a very simple solution to me.
>
>-Thomas Cares
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Rick Hasen wrote:
>>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, 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.”
>>>Posted onMay 14, 2013 2:41 pmbyRick Hasen
>>>
>>>I’ve written this commentary for Slate.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>
>>>Steve Klein
>>>Staff Attorney & Research Counsel*
>>>Wyoming Liberty Group
>>>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.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________ Law-election mailing 
>>>list javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 
>>>'Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu');http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>
>>-- 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 javascript:_e({}, 
>>'cvml', 
>>'rhasen at law.uci.edu');http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.htmlhttp://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>--
>
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