The NAACP has formally notified the Internal Revenue Service that it will not be cooperating with an IRS investigation regarding activities that might cost the civil rights organization their tax exempt status. The NAACP insists that the timing of the investigation is politically motivated.In a letter to the IRS dated this past Thursday, the NAACP attorneys said they would not hand over documents the IRS has requested, and countered with charges that the IRS had not followed proper procedure by launching their investigation prior to the filing of the organization's 2004 tax return.
The letter said the tax examiners aimed to influence the group's activities just before the November presidential election.The IRS has indicated that they are looking at 60 different non-profit organizations and churches to determine if they had violated federal rules prohibiting them from political campaign activity."We must conclude that the intention was to chill appropriate voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, whether conducted by the NAACP or by other organizations that are targeted by similar examinations in the program," they wrote.
The NAACP said the IRS challenged as improper campaign intervention a Bond speech this summer because it condemned the president's policies on education, the economy and the war in Iraq.
Bond had made speeches (including a major speech before the NAACP's National Convention last summer) that implied an endorsement of Democratic candidates over the Bush Administration. Bond has also made speeches denouncing the President and the Administration.
I made the statement nearly two years ago on MSNBC that Bond's statements and speeches had opened the door, and that it could potentially be bad for the organization. I'll repeat that here and now -- Bond's foot-in-mouth disease is what brought this on, and may cause the downfall of the entire organization. Unfortunately, if that does happen, I'll look for Bond and the rest of the Soul Patrol to immediately cry racism and try to blame conservatives in general and the Bush Administration in particular for this series of events.
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