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Subscribe to RSSA prominent tax attorney has accused an organization of state lawmakers and corporations officials with improperly claiming nonprofit status, alleging the group’s role is to benefit businesses, the Republican Party, and legislators and not the public.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) “elevates commercial gain for a few over the well-being of society’s less fortunate,” says a complaint penned by Marcus Owens, the former chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s nonprofit corporations division, on behalf of Clergy VOICE, a group of ministers from progressive churches in Ohio.
ALEC has attracted attention recently for its model “stand your ground” and voter ID laws which led major corporate backers like Coca Cola and Kraft Foods Inc. to drop their membership in the face of a threatened boycott by activists. The Florida gun law became a hot topic following the slaying of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen, by a neighborhood watch volunteer in February.
Until recently, ALEC has enjoyed a low profile, despite its substantial influence over legislation in the nation’s statehouses. The group claims on its website that it has helped craft close to 1,000 bills introduced by state lawmakers and that “an average of 20 percent become law.”
In its complaint, Clergy VOICE says ALEC has “deliberately and repeatedly failed to comply with some of the most fundamental federal tax requirements applicable to public charities” and that evidence “quite strongly” suggests that the group is violating civil and criminal tax laws.
The clergy’s complaint goes beyond allegations of improper lobbying, claiming that ALEC exists for the “private benefit” of its members rather than for charitable, educational or other exempt purposes that serve the public interest and deserve special tax treatment.
The Center forwarded the complaint to ALEC’s media relations representative Tuesday via email but a call was not returned. The Center forwarded the complaint and questions Wednesday morning to the organization and was told it had been passed along to “appropriate parties” but did not receive a response.
The 30-page letter sent to the IRS on June 18 was inspired by a separate, whistleblower claim lodged by consumer group Common Cause in April, which alleged ALEC is a corporate-funded lobbying group, which violates IRS rules that govern 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations. The complaint was based, in part, on information about ALEC obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy, a nonprofit research group opposed to ALEC's legislative ambitions.
ALEC, formed in 1973, has consistently argued it is bipartisan and educational in nature, because it provides research and analysis for legislators. It pays no income tax and donors to the organization, including its corporate members, can deduct their contributions from their taxable income, just as they would for a charity.
The Internal Revenue Code says a 501(c)(3) organization “may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” ALEC reports no lobbying on its annual filings with the IRS, according to the complaint, but state records in North Dakota show two lobbyists registered to represent the organization in 2008 and 2009: Mark Behrens and Cory Shaecher.
ALEC was formed in Chicago by a group of state legislators and the late Paul Weyrich, a pioneering conservative activist and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation. Based in Washington, D.C., the group says its mission is to advance “free-market enterprise, limited government and federalism at the state level through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector and the general public.”
Its 23-member board of directors is made up of entirely of state legislators. But it also has a “private enterprise board” consisting of corporate representatives, including GlaxoSmithKline, PhRMA, Pfizer Inc. AT&T Inc., Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, Altria (formerly Philip Morris) Client Services, ExxonMobil Corp. and State Farm Insurance Co. Legislators join for $50 per year while private sector members join for $7,000, $12,000 or $25,000 for the top-tier “Jefferson Club.”
The criticism of the group is focused mainly on its “task forces,” which bring legislators and corporate members together to create model bills.
The complaint alleges that industry representatives have “effective veto power” over the recommendations of the task forces.
While ALEC describes the output of its task forces as bipartisan analysis and research, the complaint said the task force proposals “do not appear to contain ‘a sufficiently full and fair exposition’ of the public policy issue underlying the legislative proposal. To the contrary, they promote the ideological views and business interests of ALEC’s Private Sector members — the corporate funders.”
Clergy VOICE consists of 18 religious leaders who have come together in the past to challenge nonprofits. In 2004 and 2006, they filed complaints against two large Ohio churches alleging they were promoting Republican candidates.
They also challenged the tax-exempt status of a Christian organization and its $1.8 million Washington, D.C., townhouse that housed conservative Christian members of Congress. The “C Street Center” made the news as a refuge for three Republican politicians tarnished by scandal.
The religious leaders do not represent their congregations. Half are members of the United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination that has been historically liberal on social issues. In a cover letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, they accuse ALEC of compromising free and fair elections, weakening union rights, degrading the environment and a host of other offenses.
The organization singled out a handful of corporate-influenced model bills, including a cap on damages for asbestos claims, the “stand your ground” legislation pushed by the National Rifle Association and an immigration bill which reportedly served as the basis for Arizona’s law and was drafted with help from a private prison company. The immigration law was partially knocked down by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25.
The complaint also said ALEC had improperly provided a benefit to lawmakers by creating “scholarships” under the control of the national headquarters that paid for the lawmakers’ attendance at meetings ”held in luxury hotels, frequently in vacation-worthy destinations like San Diego, New Orleans and Scottsdale.” These include “perks such as meals, recreational activities, and subsidized childcare for legislators and their families” that are often not reported by the lawmakers on their state ethics disclosure forms, the complaint said.
“Meeting agendas include events like golf tournaments, open bar parties and baseball games — all subsidized directly or indirectly by ALEC’s corporate members,” the letter said, citing an estimate by ALEC that these benefits cost $1 million to $2 million each year.
ALEC claims to be bipartisan, but all 23 legislative members of its board listed on ALEC’s 2010 tax return are Republicans, according to a Center review. The clergy complaint claims 72 of ALEC’s 74 filled state chairman seats are held by Republican legislators.
The group states ALEC faces potential civil penalties for “a pattern of filing multiple inaccurate” tax returns with the IRS, such as not reporting lobbying activities and providing incorrect information about its payments to legislators for travel and entertainment.
It also says the group may face criminal tax penalties if the misstatements or omissions were made “knowingly or willfully.”
Whether the IRS will pursue any action is difficult to say. Complaints are typically answered with a “thank you” letter acknowledging their receipt and the agency does not release details about investigations or audits.
Owens, who was director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS from 1990 to 2000, said he expects a reaction.
“The legal analysis is done for them. They just have to read it,” he said. “I would be surprised if the IRS took no action in response to this letter.”
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, independent investigative news outlet. To read more of CPI’s stories go to iwatchnews.org.
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So let me get this straight. Lets say KOCH Industries "contributes" a million dollars to ALEC. Because ALEC is a "non-profit" the money is tax free. KOCH Industries can then use the "charitable" contribution as a deduction? Sounds illegal to me!
About time someone went after ALEC....bunch of fricken crooks.
They are no worse than the myriad of religious tax exempt organizations that routinely support various partisan political activities. This clergy group is just pissed because they are getting beaten at their own game. If the IRS cracks down on ALEC then they need to crack down on every church whose pastor brings political endorsements into his sermon and every religious organization that takes out politically motivated ads that are designed to defeat or elect specific candidates. Religious organizations being tax exempt is a thing whose time has come and gone. It was originally done to prevent government from using taxes as a way to punish or reward certain religious organizations that either opposed or supported certain government actions and initiatives. Churches today have become so intertwined with politics that there is no longer any justification for any of them to maintain a tax exempt status.
@JS in SD...nicely put.
Devils hiding under the skirts of "public good". The ONLY good they have ever accomplished was keeping the 1%ers in caviar and Bom Perion. Stop all tax breaks for "religious" institutions.
The clergy is exempt from taxes UNLESS they get involved in political activities. ALEC is tax exempt because they are supposedly a group {501 (c) (3)} that strives to accomplish goals that benefit the "public good". Examples of ALEC's "draft legislation" activities are
1) Voter ID laws which help the PUBLIC by causing voter disenfranchisement and ensure that less democratic leaning voters are expunged from voter lists.
2) "Stand your ground laws" which have benefited the PUBLIC by increasing guns sales, decreasing hoodie wearing folks from walking the streets without body armor and making the US into the wild west again.
3) Fought against legislation in Ohio that made it easier for the state to recover money from businesses that defrauded the state. Definitely not in the "public" interest to help states recoup money lost due to business fraud.
4) Introduced a bill to force hydraulic fracturing fluids to be disclosed to the public. Unfortunately the law creates MASSIVE loopholes that allow corporations to avoid disclosing any chemicals considered "proprietary" even if they are KNOWN carcinogens that can pollute PUBLIC water sources. MORE important to keep these chemicals "secret" than to have the PUBLIC's drinking water sources pollution free.
Generally speaking, ALEC is a group that brings our state legislators and corporations together so that they can decide how to best service the PUBLIC's needs by writing legislation that benefits corporations, kills unions, creates ways of sidestepping state/federal regulations and decreases and to promote conservative ideals. Created in 1973 by Paul M. Weyrich and several other Republicans who were seeking to create a state-level clearinghouse for conservative ideas. These ideas TEND to benefit corporations, the UBER-wealthy and special interest groups (anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-environment, gun lobby, etc.) as opposed to the PUBLIC good. They are basically state level version of the biggest lobbying group in the US aka Chamber of Commerce which, coincidentally LARGELY favors republicans and their goals.
America! Fu_K Yea!!! Where corporations are worth more than the people and their safety and health!!!
America!!! Where money = free speech so if you are poor just STFU.
America!!! Best government money can buy...
are the libbys as fired up to go after the democrat party's puppet master George Soros?...I think not
by the way Georgie has over 11 billion in gold....do libbys think he is a 1%'er ? , interesting
notliborcon , haha funny , an "independent" is just a liberal who is scared to admit it
"Bom Perion" if your gonna play the role of a Bolshevik then get the terminology right , sheesh
if you have to ask, TROLL!!!!!!!!
Notdliborcon- you probably would suggest the old Soviet Union versus the U.S. as your workers paradise? Be my guest and leave for paradise now! I'll meet you there down the road....
Oh brother.
JS has it just right- the churches of America are just tax-free liberal sink holes, who stick their fingers in every political pie and scream murder if caught. Time to up their taxes . Good thing they wouldn't get taxed on their usefulness, or they'd still be paying nothing.
It's sad that you really don't understand the definition of rotten crooked politics... It's pure and simple tricks to escape taxation that should be paid...
Ritdog-908299, Churches and liberals in the same bed? You have to be kidding... right? ...LMFAO, Liberals and churches...Humpf, You got your information all crossed up there fella........
Killing unions does benefit the public as does fracking. ALEC doesn't have to do anything to sell guns, Obama is the undisputed king of gun salesmen. Ask any gun store, they've never heard of ALEC but they sure love Obama.
49 states now allow conceal carry and more than half have stand your ground laws because they work. As gun laws have been liberalized, violent crimes have trended down year after year. Reid even sponsored a bill allowing conceal carry in national parks and Obama signed it. Go ahead, pin that one on republicans.
You need an ID to drive, not to vote? There is only one reason democrats are fighting this, voter fraud.
OK, how about filling a "complaint" against the 41 Obama White House staffers and some of their aides for willfully NOT PAYING THEIR BACK IRS TAXES ?
Might as well include the HUNDREDS of elected "elite" Congressional Representatives and HUNDREDS of Government workers in the "complaint" also.
While at it, might want to file a "complaint" against yourselves.
Wait a minute....how did GUNS get involved in this article ? Must be a prelude to the United Nations "GUN CONTROL INTERNATIONAL LAW".
And, how did VOTER ID get included ? Must be a prelude to another United Nations mandate on AN INTERNATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.
Jeffrey...calling me a "troll" is a personal attack , kinda like if I said your mom is a troll...please abide by the COH
So scary to think of private prison companies helping write laws. They want to put us all in jail so they can roll in money.
ALEC, numerous churches, 501c's and other "non-profits" definitely ought to be taxed. And the big supporters shouldn't be allowed to take deductions on their "donations" to them.
ALEC is definitely one of the worst ones and without a doubt is anything but a "non-profit". That won't put a stop to these groups, but at least we'll be getting some revenue out of them.
In recent times a few mistakes have been made by legislators bringimg up an official bill with things like "insert your State here" in the actual text of the bill. The legislators sponsoring the bills don't even know what's in it and just copy word for word what ALEC handed to them. ALEC even suggests being very careful about changing any wording, because they have spent millions on legal research to try to make bills that are "bulletproof" against challenges. ALEC's bills are exclusively right wing and corporate benefiting in their nature. Any suggestion that they are not partisan is an outright lie.
A lot of people don't know about ALEC and they definitely could use some public scrutiny. I think the public would like to know about the legislators that we are paying for to write legislation, who simply copy an ALEC bill on the official letter head, instead of working with all interests on legislation. Doing this ought to be grounds for impeachment of those legislators who are clearly deceiving the public and only serving the corporate and political interests behind ALEC. Besides losing non-profit status, this kind of operation shouldn't even be allowed to exist.
Is it just me?, crooked rightwing chicago-style politics you are against, but crooked leftwing chicago-style politics is whats gonna save us all? I am against this kinda stuff no matter what wing it is, and someday, i hope, those that do this kinda crape, will regret their decisions to screw over the American people, as both side have.
Rit, if you have to ask, and Valhalla... FIRST and FOREMOST George Soros has contributed 2 million and you consider him the "master" of the democratic party. If that is true then what is the relationship between the GOP and Sheldon Adelson (71 million), Foster Friess (2.1 million), Joe Craft (1.9 million), William Dore (2.25 million), kenneth griffin (2 million, Jon huntsman Sr (2.25 million), Bob Perry (7.5 million), Robert bowling (2.1 million), Harrold Simmons (17.1 million), ETC. DO YOU GET THE POINT??????
You fools don't even realize that our government (99% of GOP and 75% of democraps) has been sold to the highest bidder. Do you HONESTLY believe that legislation written by any politician benefiting from these UNPATRIOTIC shill's largesse will represent the Public's interests rather then the myopic interests of the particular campaign contributor?
RIT: A workers paradise would be to restore the US worker's environment, pay and benefits to those during the 50's thru 70's. These were, arguably, the most prosperous years for EVERYONE not just the wealthiest Americans. A family could afford healthcare, education, savings for retirement and could be relatively certain that the life they left their kids would be better than the one they had as children. Nowadays two parents work more time for less money while education, healthcare and retirement savings are increasingly more expensive, if not downright impossible, to pay for.
GASP!!! Republicans are gaming the system? Say it ain't so.
Tea Party Taliban Commander banned, rereg of Hugh Class=.
Yes Larry...I know it comes as a giant shock but yes, this is the first time the GOP did something wrong.
Wait, I mean....it's the first time they did something wrong, and got caught.
No wait, I should say, it's the first time they did something wrong, and got caught....this week. And today is Monday.
You get what you pay for.
We have phoenomenal elected officials. Both sides of the aisle represent the best politicians money can buy!
I hope that the IRS acts on this issue now and not after the election. I am tired of these phony political and religious groups not paying taxes even though they are special interest groups with specific political agendas.
Unfortunately, manipulating greedy legislators for personal profit isn't illegal. They may lose their nonprofit tax exempt status, but it's not like these guys really care. All they want is anonymity, so the best part of this is exposing them for who and what they are.
What a low-life littany of corporate members... Big Pharma, Big oil, cigarette companies, insurance, and the Kotch brothers.
Radical leftist Tides foundation outspends them all combined. Why no outrage over them? Soros?
What have you been smoking PHil?
Phil, Tides is for civil discourse and higher education. What's your problem? (and NO, they are not affiliated with your favorite boogy man George Soros, regardless of what unhinged assassins believe!)
If anyone goes to jail for ALEC activities before the Banksters of Wall Street do, I would hit the floor.
Not even a snowballs chance in hell of anything becoming of this.
Nope, as George Carlin said, "It's a big club, and you're not in it!". Truer words were never spoken.
Go ahead and lay down then. Just don't bother those that are standing up and being counted. Down with ALEC!!!! Jail is too good for these bastards.
Jail Soros, he's ruined countries to make his fortune. Jail Obama for war crimes.
Valhalla, apparently the mighty GOP/TP isn't as aware of the evil Soros or that horrible Obama's war crimes as you are. If there was anything to any of that, (besides propaganda value) don't you think they'd have filed a complaint or brought up charges? They've never been shy before.
Maybe you better do it yourself, to get the ball rolling.
It would seem that Phil spent too much time in GlennBeckistan.
Until entities (and individuals) with big money are prevented, by law, from casting undue influence on our political processes, democracy as we know it will continue to enjoy a back seat view of a world ruled by the rich and powerful.
Another group presenting a "fair and unbaised view". Facetiousness alert, severe facetiousness alert actually. Another Faux News organization for the right wingers.
As opposed to moveon.org, huffington post, NPR, MSDNC, CBS, ABS, Tides foundation, Ford foundation, Soros, etc. Hypocrite.
Val, do those orgs write a lot of legislation, do they? Sponsor a lot of retreats? Boy, you're sure blowing a lot of smoke today, maybe you should take a break.
I hope the government shuts these bastards down and fines them billions.
Finally some courage in the face of the plurocratic assault of the Austerity Party, the Retalibans.
ALEC has been committing TREASON against the 99% since 1973 and ALEC is in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States. We can credit ALEC with the 'Three Strikes Law' which has resulted in overcrowding of prisons and courts. This law was the first in the series that paves the way for privitization of prisons. America will be the only nation who PROFITS from criminalizing the public just as it is the only nation who TRADES HEALTHCARE (life) on the Stock Market. ALEC also crafted the SOPA and PIPA laws as well as the Patriotic Act. They are a fascist organization who meets in complete SECRECY! The public and Journalists are BARRED from their lavish barbarianism. ALEC must be disbanded and it's members, both congressional and 1% corporate owners, must to be prosecuted to the fullest extend to the law. Every living member since 1973 MUST be banned from political office and treated as the political criminals they are. ALEC has created 523 Bills since January 2010 for the Retalibans to LOWER the 1% tax rate. ALEC created 101 Abortion bills in the middle of this Depression so the Jesus Freaks can believe they don't have better things to worry about like how the hell we are going to feed the children that are here already. ALEC is like having Hitler in the Retailibans side pocket. ALEC is an abomination to our Democracy.
Just more liberal lies. Obama signed NDAA which is far worse than Patriot, which Obama also enhanced. 250,000 round of ammo bought by DHS on his watch. Tides foundation, Ford foundation, etc. make ALEC pale in comparison.
Phil, in case it escaped you, a Federal Judge in Manhattan threw out Sec 1021 of NDAA. That was the clause that allowed the military to bag any of us from anywhere and do whatever they want. While I agree that O should not have signed it, and should absolutely disband the useless bloated fascist DHS, you really do have a problem if you believe Tides and Ford Foundations are as bad for the US and our children's children as ALEC.
@ Valhalla Phil: Don't forget....Obama signed NDAA but Congress wrote it. It passed the House with 78% republicans voting for it. And passed the Senate with 94% republicans voting for it.
If you really really don't like it....you guys might want to go back and ask your own congress-person, "WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU
DRINKINGTHINKING?"Hopefully this will result in people paying a little more attention to what is really going on out there. The easy thing to do is to sit back and say both parties suck and have their own agenda. This is nothing more than an excuse to do nothing. As an Independent voter I recognize that the Democrats have issues of their own but these Republicans are out of control. Everything they say and do is is to benefit big money. They are 100% sold out to the Koch brothers and their buddies. We need to repeal Citizens United and put an end to ALEC as well. They are buying political offices and judges at every level and then writing legislation to benefit them at the expense of the rest of us. It is time for good, hard working Republicans citizens to step up and take back their party. They are no longer representing you, they are using you. If you vote for these Republicans you are voting for big oil, big pharma, big insurance and against yourself and your Country. Do the right thing and fix this mess.
If you are an independent I'm Al Gore. Nothing but a radical leftist rant.
Nice try.
Hey Al, talk to us about climate change!
Phil, I'm just curious if you have any idea how marginalized and limited you are. Seriously, you are like a talking-point parrot, squawking on and on. If you don't agree with someone, throw that "lefty" label on them and quantify them as the enemy. That way you are free from ever possibly looking at a point of view that might run contrary to your own.. well.. not your own, you don't really have a point of view of your own. You just have the point of view that your team has given you and told you was your own...
Partisans of either side of the aisle are but foolish pawns, used to keep the nation divided and bickering over useless trivialities, while the false two-party charade carries on the systematic destruction of this country and the citizens who live in it... but don't worry your little mind about it, just go listen to your partisan talking heads. They'll tell you that you know the truth and you're right about it all. They'll make you feel all snug and secure in the "truth" they've given you. They'll give your daily intake of talking points, partisan slang, jabs and snarky labels to use in the next political conversation you partake in, so you can pretend that sound more informed and intelligent than you really are.. stay asleep, little fella, your party is your friend and they have your back..
I hope they get sued and lose. The IRS should check out some of the politically active churches as well.
As well as MoveOn.org and MediaMatters.org.
I wonder why no one brought up that the First Lady called on Black Pastors to preach politics from the pulpit.
slodon, just when did she ask that? I want specifics, not fallacy generalization.
jeffery
Here you go.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54405000-80/church-issues-lady-obama.html.csp
http://www.inquisitr.com/267890/michelle-obama-theres-no-place-better-than-church-to-talk-politics/
Here is a video.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/greghengler/2012/07/02/michelle_obama_to_black_church_no_place_better_than_church_to_talk_about_politics
this is no different then the church going after roe V. wade or the fact that mitt romney gave all that money to the morman church to go after gay marriage mitt gave the tax free money to the church and got a tax break then the church spent the money on stopping gay marriage let's start taxing the church how much money do you think tom cruise gives to his church even murduch at fox news thinks they are creepy tax them
tommy
It is called CHARITABLE DEDUCTIONS on your tax form. I assume you pay taxes and file a 1040.
Don't you remember the separation of church and State doctrine?? Maybe you should look up the 1st Amendment.
slodon, on this point your right, But ALEC doesn't fit the description at all. It's crooked and you know it. It's not about a persons ability to voice concern with policy, This is about an overt group who move corporate agendas ahead of the public good. It stinks, and when it stinks this bad it's generally not good cheese, It's rotten....Peace
Unions have done this for decades where is your outrage over them? They have a direct line to the white house. Hypocrite.
Phil, unions are not a non-profit tax exempt entity. There in lies the difference. You should really try to go read a book and get an education somewhere beside the University of Fox before making comments.
The only thing Phil knows is that he is going to Valhalla some day, to sing and drink with Odin and Thor and the rest of the Norse gods. Either that, or he hijacked his name from somewhere and thinks it is cool. After just this little bit, is easy to tell he is in Romney's pocket, or would be if he could move his nose a bit higher and to the left.
also is the west boro baptist church tax exempt let's start with them
Obama has unlimited resources,all at the expense of american tax-payer. The real story here is,the progressives want to defund their opposition.What next, outlaw the republican party/conservatives? This administration is reaching the same level of corruption, that Nixon was known for!
R U Sure, strike that vote it was my mistake, Your talk is fallacy, This group is not a NFP, Never has been and never will be. I don't care what they fund as long as they don't call it a charity, that smacks of a bad dose of politics no matter what party you hail from.
You're breakin' my heart, R U. the poor, poor, republican party/conservatives/tea party have it so rough, and "everyone knows" they are so fair and honest always do the right thing for the country and would NEVER stoop to anything like voter repression, false information robocalls, flat out lie or other underhanded tactics.
Tell you what I'll do, I'll go pray for them, the GOP/cons/TP will appreciate that, I'm sure.
you must be having a wet dream. lol
The public needs to demand a release of names of all persons involved with ALEC. Then we can vote those people out. We need a congress of people who are willing to work together as a TEAM reguardless of party affiliations to "fine tune" all bills that are put through congress. If you have a "team player" running for office in your area---that's the person you should vote in.
Have democrats released all their sources? I think not. Is holder releasing all his info? Obviously not.
You want openness? Start with Holder.
I have a better idea, Valhalla. Lets START with ALEC, and then look for more GOP/TP "charitable non-profit orgs".
Nice try to divert, you want people to ignore a boulder and look at a piece of gravel.
Alec should not be exempt from taxes with all the political influence they have. They should be paying taxes just like the rest of us. This is not a charitable organization and if they are then I certainly could use some of this charity. The IRS need to take this status and all of the corporations need to pay a huge penalty. The IRS would send us to Federal prison so why not prosecute these companies and their CEO and board members go to jail. We would like to know EACH person and organizations in Alec. If everything was clear and above board they would be in hiding in the shadows and not want EVERYONE to know who they are. If you have to do something behind closed doors and in the dark you are doing something you should not be doing.
It looks like time to bust ALEC, lets finish this snake organization off for good. Maybe throw in some jail time for good measure
Not as long as ACORN and the new black panthers walk.
phil I think you missed a talking point or two. Lets see you got soros, acorn, black panthers, tides, etc, etc, etc, oh yes you forgot bill ayers, reverend wright and birth certificate. No bonus for you this week!!
What gets me is, with all that money and power and all that under-the-radar activity, including illegal activity, I have no doubt, WHY do they still have to LIE about so many things, from personal attacks on President Obama, to democratic policies to all manner of politicking, they MAKE STUFF UP ALL THE TIME, why??? If they're so confident of their agenda, come right out and put it side by side with progressive policies and let's put it to vote. Why do they have to gin up fear and nonsense about everything from immigration to healthcare to wall street reform to corporate taxes to the environment to teachers, everything, they LIE all the time. Now, as political animals, I understand the game, there is lying on both sides, but Republicans LIE so much and so frequently, from Limbaugh to Palin to their reps in Congress to tea partier types to Koch brothers, to Beck, Hannity, Coulter. Where is an HONEST Republican, I ask you?
Their only agenda is power but we both already know that. They could care less about the uninformed middle class republicans that vote for them.
More liberal propaganda. The left lies through their teeth, Soros, Pelosi, Reid, Obama, Holder, etc., the list goes on and on. The only way liberals can get elected is to lie. They lied in 2008 and were found out and replaced in 2010.
Multiplayer.: Isn't that the most bewildering, FixedNoose has fooled them into voting against their own interests, and the Becks and Limbaughs and Romneys laugh all the way to the bank, while pocketing their audience's hard-earned income!
Valhalla Phil: You just proved my point emphatically.
It's humorous to watch as "under the bridge dwelling creatures' comment on every post while hitting each and every one of the GOP talking points, soros, acorn, black panthers, etc. "they" are walking talking stereotypical trolls, in fact the definition of an internet troll as I defined it in 2000 while posting on slate as pagan is someone who posts talking points on every post in a weak attempt to sway public opinion. As my great great great grandmother always said, debating politics on the internet is like competing in the special olympics, even if you win you are still retarded.
acspore - They keep lying because Goebbels was right. If you keep repeating a lie often enough for long enough, some people will begin to believe that at least some part of it is truth. And given we're a consumer society, including information that most have no intention of fact checking, eventually if enough lies are told over and over and over the uninformed will begin to believe them.
If they let their ideas be compared, some might not like them,and because they don't like them, the ideas might be revised before they could be voted into law. That reasoning should be simple enough for any but Valhalla Phil to follow.
i used to warn people about alec before my last account got banned for trolling china just saying this was nearly a year ago
Get religion out of politics ,and politics out of religion. We should be like Italy and tax church property that isn't an actual church. Maybe tax em all anyway,they've been getting a free ride for too long.
Get ALEC out of our country. More and more everyday I think that the rabid conservatives in the country have us headed to a facist, oligopic state, not to a better United States..... What I don't understand is why they can't see what they are doing to the majority of the people in the country. This is the tyranny of the minority.
Better late than never.
Once again we see the dirty, take no prisoners, politics of the Obama Administration. If you can't beat them or, if they are a headache, do anything to slow them down or hurt (your enemy). So, what is this law suit all about (now)? Notice the timing? It is all about getting Mustafa Barack Hussein Obama re-elected.
One needs to remember Obama is not dumb. He has learned his lessons well. Look up his facist idol, Saul Alinsky. Read how BHO's philosophy developed and evolved from Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Mussolini, Tito, Hitler, etc. Then, read his thoughts and lessons learned from the Muslim philosophy.
BTW - Even Hillary Clinton, in a public speech, told BHO all his lies were despicable.
lemme get this straight...
"Once again we see the dirty, take no prisoners, politics of the Obama Administration. If you can't beat them or, if they are a headache, do anything to slow them down or hurt (your enemy)."
you mean Obama or the GOP?
Cause thats all this Congress (GOP) has been doing to this Administration since they sat down. So its ok for one side to do it but not the other. Come on man.
They held Eric holder in contempt the day after the health care ruling like an angry child in a playground after the other kid took their toys.
Shameful.
Hey I saac Plant, here is a tip for you- the lead sentence of a story is usually the statement sentence- it tells you what the theme of a story is. The below is the lead line of the story:
A prominent tax attorney has accused an organization of state lawmakers and corporations officials with improperly claiming nonprofit status, alleging the group’s role is to benefit businesses, the Republican Party, and legislators and not the public.
How does Facism relate to this? Do you know what Facism is?
I find ironic that there is a chance that Alec could possibly be taken out of the picture by the same method
that Al Capone was finally stopped- the IRS. The analogies between Capone and Alec are endless!
WinterFling, do believe you hit the wrong party with your comments on facism and all the other nasties mentioned. All that was in Time4aPurge's comment, not Isaac's. Have no problem with your statements other than the FACT that you are blaming the wrong party for things we both disagree with.