By Haley Halverson and Ken McIntyre
Mitchell and Smith urged the public to take a stand by registering their comments with the IRS through the Center for Competitive Politics’ website on the issue, NonProfitFreedom.org. More than 67,000 comments had been made as of Friday morning, but the deadline this Thursday, February 27, for comments is rapidly approaching because, Mitchell said, the new rules improperly “popped up” without prior notice near the Thanksgiving holiday……The changes also would force the groups to surrender previously confidential donor information — which could deter citizens from participating in politically active nonprofits. The changes fall outside IRS expertise and authority because they are concerned with campaign finance law and have nothing to do with raising federal revenue, Smith said. “This is an effort to regulate campaign finance disguised as tax regulation,” he said.The Supreme Court, Smith said, has ruled that campaign finance regulations cannot require disclosure of individual donor information unless the nonprofit organization in question expressly advocates a specific candidate. He said political operatives are attempting to get around the law by acquiring the details under the guise of tax status so that they can “harass and bother” donors.Smith noted that the Federal Election Commission, the agency that oversees campaign finance, is structured with bipartisan safeguards, detailed enforcement processes and advisory components that the IRS lacks. The IRS, he said, is “not equipped to make these kinds of campaign decisions, and it’s not equipped to ensure the public confidence that these decisions aren’t being made simply for political gain.”
