 IRS: Inalienable Rights Suppressor?
If you thought giving money
to the IRS was frustrating, try handing it your First Amendment rights.
Under the Democrats' new rule, conservative activists may have no
choice. In the run up to the 2014 elections, the President's party can't
hide from their scandalous record, but they can certainly keep the
opposition from talking about it. That seems to be the strategy behind
the greatest attack on free speech that no one is talking about. The Wall Street Journal is sounding the alarm
about the rule, which was made possible (along with who-knows-what
else) by the Hill's debate over the 1,600 page-beast known as the
congressional omnibus.
As part of the bargaining
process, Republicans tried to block a new IRS rule that would help
silence conservative groups before the midterm elections. Liberals went
to the mat to keep their intimidation factory afloat, sources say,
conceding a lot of legislative ground to protect a rule that would help
gag its political opponents. Under the proposal, the IRS would subject
lobbying groups like FRC Action, our 501(c)(4) legislative action
affiliate, to taxation and reporting on everyday activities
like: grassroots lobbying, candidate forums, candidate debates, voter
registration, voter guides, and general issue advocacy. Obviously, the
goal is to drive these groups out of business by making it too difficult
to operate.
"The fight was sparked by a
new rule that the Treasury Department and the IRS introduced during the
hush of Thanksgiving recess," the Journal explains,
"ostensibly to 'improve' the law governing nonprofits. What the rule in
fact does is recategorize as 'political' all manner of educational
activities that 501(c)(4) social-welfare organizations currently engage
in. It's IRS targeting all over again, only this time by administration
design and with raw political goals." Apparently, the fox that's now
guarding the henhouse wants to kill the farmer to make sure there's no
interference.
Movements like the Tea Party, which was built on the backs of
501(c)(4)s, would be forced to transition into PACs (Political Action
Committees), where all donors are reported. This gives the Left the
opportunity to harass and intimidate donors to conservative
organizations until there is no opposition to their radical policies.
The effect is an information blackout, where candidates won't be held as
accountable for their votes on unpopular policies like ObamaCare. And
heading into an election where the health care law, spending, the
economy, and other failures loom large, liberals need something to tip
the scales. "With one little IRS rule, [the White House] can shut up
hundreds of groups that post a direct threat by restricting their
ability to speak freely in an election season..."
And while this isn't the
IRS's garden-variety political targeting, these guidelines are equally
lopsided. As usual, the President looked out for his friends, deciding
-- not-so-coincidentally -- to exempt unions from the rule. Although
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) introduced a bill to block the guidelines from
taking effect, it's as good as dead in Harry Reid's Senate.
As Americans have come to
understand, this isn't your grandfather's IRS. This is the President's
biggest and most powerful weapon to punish his detractors. What was once
the tax collector is now the administration's favorite avenue for
carrying out political vendettas. And with Eric Holder as Attorney
General, they have no worries about being prosecuted for breaking the law.
If the IRS isn't collecting penalties from pro-life employers who don't
comply with the HHS mandate, its mafia will be stripping conservatives
of their other First Amendment rights.
Fortunately, conservatives aren't about to go quietly. Our good
friend Cleta Mitchell, who is representing the groups targeted in the
first IRS scandal, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
with Treasury to see how much collusion took place between the White
House and IRS on the creation of the rule. If you want to know how you
can get involved, click over to WeWillNotBeSilenced.org.
In the meantime, Congress
is still fighting for the transparency the administration refuses to
give. Last night, House Democrats sided with Republicans in passing Rep.
Lee Terry's (R-Nebr.) bill by a 259-154 vote to hold the White House's
feet to the fire on ObamaCare enrollment numbers.
Under Terry's measure, HHS will have to provide weekly reports on the
health care exchange's numbers -- something it's been reluctant to do
since the data reflects so poorly on the system. And if Terry's bill
becomes law, no amount of IRS bullying would be able to protect the
President from those facts!
Eat, Drink, and Read MARRI! Earlier this week, FRC's Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI) released a demographic chart-book of pertinent abortion-related data from the federal National Survey of Family Growth
for the years 2006-2010. In its analysis MARRI found evidence of deeply
troubling relationships. Nearly 90 percent of women who report having
had one or more abortions have had three or more male sexual partners.
And the more sexual partners a woman has the more likely she is to
abort. The younger a woman is when she starts sexual intercourse the
more likely she is to have an abortion. Girls who start sexual
intercourse at ages 12, 13 or 14 are the most likely to abort of all
women (about 40 percent of them abort). Cohabitation is closely related
to abortion: All but 17 percent of abortions are to women who have
cohabited and the more cohabitations the higher the rates of abortion.
However, women at the end
of their fertile years (twenty to thirty years after they have had an
abortion) are, we hope, less likely to underreport. When asked, only one
sixth of all women of that stage in life report having had an abortion
and only one fifth of women who have ever been pregnant. Strong, loving
families and abstinence before marriage are essential to the moral and
physical health of women and their unborn children, which is why
"Family" is FRC's first name.
Get Well Soon, Senator Coburn It
was with a heavy heart that Republican Tom Coburn announced yesterday
his decision to step down from his Senate seat, where he had been
serving Oklahomans for the last 10 years. Coburn, a former FRC board
member, fought -- and beat -- a serious case of cancer before. Now that
the disease is back, he felt it best to spend as much time with his
family as possible. For conservatives, who've admired his tough-as-nails
approach on spending (including the Wastebooks his office is famous for), his voice will be missed.
"Carolyn and I have been
touched by the encouragement we've received from people across the state
regarding my latest battle against cancer," the OB/gyn said
in a statement. "But this decision isn't about my health, my prognosis
or even my hopes and desires," Coburn said. "As a citizen, I am now
convinced that I can best serve my own children and grandchildren by
shifting my focus elsewhere." Like so many others, FRC will be praying
for a speedy recovery for one of the Senate's most reliable leaders. We
continue to be grateful for all Tom has done in the cause of faith,
family, and freedom.
** Celebrate religious liberty all weekend with columns from FRC experts Emily Minick, "Remembering the Religious Freedoms We're Losing," and Bob Morrison, "Religious Freedom Day: January 16, 1786."
Also, if you missed Ken Blackwell's appearance on Fox to talk about the
President's "promise zones," you can catch it in the video below.
Tony Perkins' Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.
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