internal revenue service

While they are not concerned with churches that support Republican candidates or tell members to leave their church if they voted for Kerry, the Republicans sure do worry about the NAACP:

Several Republican members of Congress sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service questioning whether the NAACP had veered into political advocacy and asked for an investigation into its tax-exempt status, according to documents released by the civil rights organization.

The IRS began looking into the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People about a month before the 2004 presidential election after a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond that was largely critical of President Bush's policies.

Political campaigning is prohibited under the NAACP's tax-exempt status. The IRS said its inquiry would focus on whether Bond's speech was too political, and that the investigation is among dozens into the activities of tax-exempt groups during the 2004 election season.

The NAACP received more than 500 pages of documents the IRS has gathered to begin its inquiry. The group had made requests under the Freedom of Information Act and provided the documents to The (Baltimore) Sun.

Well I guess when Bush only gets a 9% approval from black voters, then why should they care. After all, using the IRS as their "political henchmen" is a tactic very common in the GOP.

Well is this of any shock:

A group of religious leaders accused the Internal Revenue Service yesterday of playing politics by ignoring its complaint that two large churches in Ohio are engaging in what it says are political activities, in violation of the tax code.

In a letter to Commissioner Mark W. Everson, the clergy members cited reports of political events involving Fairfield Christian Church in Fairfield and World Harvest Church in Columbus and groups affiliated with them that have occurred or been disclosed since they raised the issue in January.

Interesting. The complaint is that these churches were holding fund raisers for Ken Blackwell, who is running for governor here in Ohio. Now the IRS won't investigate them (but they had no problem going after a California church a few months ago). I guess this is Bush's way of thanking Blackwell for giving him the presidency in 2004. Also odd is the timing of this news. This week we have found out that Blackwell (who is currently the states top election official) has financial ties to Diebold and that some Ohio election officials have been indicted in connection with recounts of the 2004 election.

Today, the
L.A. Times takes us through a part of Abramoff that we haven't heard much
about, his abuse of charities.

WASHINGTON — In his own way, disgraced super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff
engaged in many charitable endeavors over the course of his decade-long
career as a Washington insider.

There was the time he laundered money through a religious group's
accounts to try to bribe a congressional aide. He diverted funds from a
youth athletic foundation to bankroll a golf junket for a congressman and to
bolster the bank account of his Washington restaurant. He used two other
nonprofits to line his own pockets with millions of dollars defrauded from
clients.

Charities are supposed to advance the public interest, which is why they
aren't taxed. But Abramoff, by his own admission, used them to evade taxes,
enrich himself and bribe public officials, according to a plea agreement he
signed with federal prosecutors in January.

"One of the most disturbing elements of this whole sordid story is the
blatant misuse of charities in a scheme to peddle political influence," said
Mark Everson, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Abramoff's use and misuse of nonprofits played a key role in each of the
three counts of his indictment: conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion. He
admitted evading $1.7 million in income taxes over three years, in part by
using nonprofits to conceal personal income from the IRS.

The fast-growing ranks of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations are
tailor-made for operators like Abramoff.

Our childhood days of fun, running through the woods, hiding behind trees
only to jump out and catch our enemy. We would take turns, one day I would be
the cowboy, then the next day it was my turn to be an Indian. It was a great
summer past time comprising of exercise and go old harmless fun.

For Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the fun never seemed to end. Instead
he changed the rules of the game and made it into something not so harmless and
with somewhat less exercise. Jack Abramoff’s idea of a good old game of cowboys
and Indians consists of a few key elements. The cowboys are comprised of Jack
Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, and for Christian Coalition executive director, now
running for Georgia lieutenant governor-Ralph Reed. Their enemies are none other
than the American Indians. This game has a prize for greater than ego. The booty
in this game exceeds $82 million.

A Senate panel yesterday, chaired by Republican John McCain, said the
lobbyist group has possibly committed mail and wire fraud and these allegations
should be pursued by the Justice Department. The Justice Department is already
looking into more than $82 million that has been defrauded from Indian tribes
around the nation. Allegations were also made into tax fraud, brining the
Internal Revenue Service into the bigger picture now. The Washington Post has an
excellent article on this which can be read

here. Nightline also did a report on it this week, and they have great
resources including emails which can be viewed by visiting
Nightline’s website.