Karl Rove and the IRS

The usual ninnies are suffering a collective fainting spell over the fact that Crossroads GPS, an organization to which Karl Rove serves as an adviser, has been designated a nonprofit “social welfare” group by the IRS — after years and years of review. Democrats dislike these groups, because they are permitted to engage in some electioneering so long as that does not constitute more than half of their spending, and because they are permitted to keep their donors’ identities private, which prevents Democrats from visiting retribution upon them. Given that Democrats are right at the moment arguing that they should be empowered to imprison people for holding the wrong views on global warming, that a Democratic attorney general in New York is attempting to prosecute Exxon for its political activism, and that the IRS already has shown itself more than willing to act as a political henchman for Democratic interests, this privacy is highly valued.

These groups are often derided as being phony, as nothing more than a dodge to avoid campaign-finance laws. But the facts of the case often are misunderstood: They are explicitly permitted to engage in regular ol’ electioneering, and they also are permitted to engage in issue advocacy.

The line between activism, advocacy, and campaigning is not as obvious as the Democrats would have you believe. Consider this thought experiment:

1. The purpose of our group is to assist the homeless.
2. We believe that there should be more programs and resources for the homeless.
3. We believe that the city council should support more programs for the homeless.
4. The Smith Program is an example of the sort of program we advocate.
5. The city council should create programs such as the Smith Program.
6. The city council should vote to enact the Smith Program.


7. We prefer that city council candidates support such programs rather than oppose them.
8. Smith is a candidate who supports the programs we think are good for the homeless.
9. Jones is a candidate who opposes the programs we think are good for the homeless.
10. Vote for Smith.

I do not see in there an obvious line between social-welfare activities and political activities.