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**SNIP** The changes, which the acting IRS commissioner rolled out during the Thanksgiving recess just before he was replaced, have largely flown under the radar while Congress has focused on investigating suspected abuses. In May, an audit from the Treasury inspector general for tax administration found the tax agency had been singling out for extra scrutiny tea party and conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. The proposed rules would create a category of banned “candidate-related political activity” — including registration drives, voter guides and issue advocacy. Under the current IRS rules, groups that sign up under the 501(c)(4) section...

The U.S. Dept. of Justice is questioning the spending of a non-profit group linked to U.S. Rep Chaka Fattah, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Called Safety Net, the group aims to get guns off the street by trading $100 grocery store gift cards for firearms surrendered. The Justice Department said in an audit that it questioned the validity of $346,394 that was paid to its director, who was once a long-time Fattah employee, the Inquirer said. In fact, the director "repeatedly gave himself raises without board approval" the Justice Department alleges.

As the Super Bowl approaches New York much like a blizzard, here are some things to think about: in 2012, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was paid $29.5 million to run the organization. And that's n... Article Link: NFL Commish Makes $29.5 Mil a Year– 15 Times More Than Tax Free Org Gives to Charity, More than CEOs of Ford, Heinz, FedEx | Showbiz411 (http://www.showbiz411.com/2014/01/21/nfl-commish-makes-29-5-mil-a-year-15-times-more-than-tax-free-org-gives-to-charity-more-than-ceos-of-ford-heinz-fedex)

SHOULD CONGRESS END THE NFL's NON PROFIT STATUS? yes no

At the same time the IRS harassed Republican nonprofit groups during the 2012 political campaign, it selectively advised black churches and other Democrat nonprofits on how far they can go in campaigning for President Obama and other Democrats. This raw exercise in political favoritism has not been reported in the context of the still-smoldering IRS scandal, in which the agency in 2012 audited big GOP donors and blocked Tea Party groups trying to obtain tax-exempt status as part of what House investigators suspect was an effort to re-elect the president. But that same year, top officials with both the IRS...

*According to filings with the state of New York and the IRS, Al Sharpton’s nonprofit group currently owes $871,688 in unpaid payroll taxes including penalties and interest. His foundation, the National Action Network, was founded in 1991 but has been dodging it’s financial problems for years. The organization has a deficit of more than $1 million, with Sharpton loaning money to the organization amounting to about $111,000.

Newly uncovered video shows Lois Lerner discussing the political pressure that swirled around the IRS in 2010. Lerner says "everyone" was "screaming at" the IRS to stop the flood of money pouring into the 2010 elections through 501(c)(4) groups as a result of Citizens United. Lerner spoke to a small group at Duke´s Sanford School of Public Policy on October 19, 2010, just two weeks before the wave election that brought the Tea Party and Republicans significant gains in Congress. During her appearance Lerner was asked about the flow of money from corporations to 501(c)(4) groups.

When Tiffany got the text message, the former Air Force Reservist thought it was a scam. “Call this number. They’re giving out free homes to veterans.” It might as well have been a heartfelt missive from a down-on-his-luck Nigerian prince or an urgent notification that she’d won 2 million pounds in the British lottery. The Philadelphia woman who once served at the Horsham airbase immediately called the friend who’d sent the text to let her know her phone had been hacked. But it wasn’t a scam. It wasn’t spam. It was Operation Homefront. Courtesy of the national nonprofit, the single...

The worst charity in America operates from a metal warehouse behind a gas station in Holiday. Every year, Kids Wish Network raises millions of dollars in donations in the name of dying children and their families. Every year, it spends less than 3 cents on the dollar helping kids. Most of the rest gets diverted to enrich the charity's operators and the for-profit companies Kids Wish hires to drum up donations. In the past decade alone, Kids Wish has channeled nearly $110 million donated for sick children to its corporate solicitors. An additional $4.8 million has gone to pay the...

Reflecting on the real-life impact of the IRS "Questionnaire-Gate" scandals… “Congratulations, Restauranteur!” You’ve just signed a lease on a great property. It’s a beautiful restaurant, just the right size, with a modern kitchen, and a terrific location with plenty of parking. You start decorating – painting, ordering window treatments, maybe updating the floor a bit, bringing in a custom bar that you found at an auction, re-upholstering the chairs, no, every other chair, to make it distinctive. You’re making it your own. You’ve had the menu in mind for a while, so you start outfitting the kitchen to meet your...

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is caught in an election-year struggle between Democratic lawmakers pressing for a crackdown on nonprofit political groups and conservative organizations accusing the tax agency of conducting a politically charged witch hunt. In recent weeks, the I.R.S. has sent dozens of detailed questionnaires to Tea Party organizations applying for nonprofit tax status, demanding to know their political leanings and activities. The agency plans this year to press existing nonprofits like American Crossroads, on the Republican side, and Priorities USA, on the Democratic side, to justify their tax-protected status as “social welfare” organizations, a status that...

As Congressional Democrats scurry for cover in the wake of the growing scandal surrounding IRS harassment of tea party and conservative groups, President Obama announced on Wednesday that acting IRS chief, Steven T. Miller would resign. As with Benghazi and seemingly everything else these days, Obama claims to have known nothing about it. Too much time at the golf course no doubt. But the dam is bursting on this story. Every day the number of affected groups grows as more and more is uncovered. Today it was revealed for example that the decades-old Leadership Institute was audited in 2011. To...

A Capitol follower who happened to be at a hearing on HB 2318 in Salem had their interest piqued when they heard Democrats pushing Benefit Corporations, and dancing around the questions being asked. A 2011 article in left-leaning The Nation magazine described Benefit Corporations as having “the purpose of making a ‘positive impact on society and the environment,’” “Benefit Corporations can’t be held liable by courts for failing to place profits over everything else. This is an important shift in law.”

Organizing for Action, the non-profit iteration of Barack Obama´s campaign organization, decorated its first big email blast with the well-known campaign logo of Obama for America. Jim Messina, the chairman of Organizing for Action, purportedly authored the email sent Tuesday, featuring the subject line "I need to know: Are you ready to get this done?" Messina was referring to the President´s new immigration legislation proposals, which he promoted at a campaign-style event in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. The language of the email is similar to emails sent by Obama for America during the 2012 presidential campaign:

First Lady Michelle Obama posted this new video that details the relaunch of President Barack Obama's campaign organization, Obama for America. The new organization is called, "Organizing For Action." Calling it the "next phase of our movement for change," the First Lady says that it will aim to train the next generation of grassroots organizers and leaders, and organize around local issues in American communities.

In an unprecedented move, President Barack Obama’s vaunted political organization is being turned into a nonprofit group—funded in part by corporate money—to mobilize support behind the president’s second-term agenda. Democratic officials familiar with the plan said Thursday the tax-exempt organization will be called Organizing for Action and seek to harness the energy of the president’s re-election campaign for future legislative fights. Officials said the group will be separate from the Democratic National Committee and advocate on key policy issues such as gun control and immigration, train future leaders and devote attention to local issues around the nation. … Coming just...

HELENA, Mont. - "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson will remain the face of the charity the Minnesota native co-founded, despite his having to repay $1 million after an investigative report released Thursday concluded he mismanaged the organization and misspent its money. Central Asia Institute Interim Executive Director Anne Beyersdorfer said Mortenson will continue to draw a salary from the charity. But it won't be as executive director and he is barred from being a voting member of the board of directors as long as he is still employed by the organization.

The Patriot-News reported the US attorney requested info on Sandusky and his charity, "The Second Mile." A grand jury has alleged the former assistant coach molested 10 boys, most of whom he met through "The Second Mile" n/p charity. It is not known if the subpoena is directly related to the ongoing case, or part of an unspecified investigation. "The Second Mile" received a request for info WRT Sandusky's travel records days after he was arrested. The subpoena also wants info about ex- Penn State president Graham Spanier, and two ex-school officials, who have been charged with perjury and failure...

Congressional Republicans are now interested in examining Media Matters For America‘s tax-exempt status, The Daily Caller has learned. Doing so would cause the GOP to wade into the complex world of tax laws that govern “exempt organizations” such as Media Matters and more than 1 million other charitable organizations that are exempt from federal income tax. Media Matters’ critics have questioned its tax-exempt status for some time. The Internal Revenue Service has a series of requirements that must be met before organizations can qualify. Successful applicants pay no federal income tax because the government presumes such charities perform services that...

An internal Media Matters For America memo obtained by The Daily Caller reveals that the left-wing media watchdog group employs an “opposition research team” to target its political enemies. Included in the list of targets are right-leaning websites, conservative think tanks, prominent financiers and donors, and more than a dozen specific Fox News Channel and News Corporation employees. “We will conduct extensive public records searches and compile opposition books on individuals,” declares the memo, likely written in late 2009. Investigations, it says, “will focus on the backgrounds, connections, operations and political and financial activities of the individuals.” One of those...