# If the IRS or FEC crack down on this, the GOP will claim another "scandal" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 21, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364 "2015-10-21T16:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/1 "2015-10-21T16:08:11Z")
[Political nonprofit spent nearly 100 percent of funds to elect Tillis in ’14](http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/10/political-nonprofit-spent-nearly-100-percent-of-funds-to-elect-tillis-in-14/) > [@](#): > > A social welfare group called Carolina Rising spent 97 percent of the money it raised in the 2014 midterm elections — nearly $5 million — running ads that helped Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) defeat the incumbent Democrat that cycle. > [@](#): > > The stark set of facts raises questions not only about whether the group spent the majority of its funds on political activity — verboten for nonprofits claiming 501(c)(4) status under the tax code — but about whether Carolina Rising was devoted to helping a single individual. That would violate an IRS rule barring social welfare organizations from benefiting one person — the so-called “private benefit” prohibition. No doubt if the IRS cracks down, as per the law and as it should, GOPers will proclaim yet another IRS scandal. And it’s a damned shame this kind of information only comes out a year after the crime. Thank-you Citizens United. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/2 "2015-10-21T16:38:27Z")
A quick google shows that the principal officer, Dallas H. Woodhouse, is the former NC Director for American’s For Prosperity. Mr. Woodhouse is also the current NC Republican Party Executive Director. He’s also one of the [two brothers that were confronted by their mother on C-Span last year](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/woodhouse-mother-calls-c-span). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/3 "2015-10-21T21:32:24Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > A quick google shows that the principal officer, Dallas H. Woodhouse, is the former NC Director for American’s For Prosperity. That’s not a secret. The “group” [trumpets as much on their website](http://carolinarising.org/about/), along with this ironic gem: > [@](#): > > Woodhouse worked with Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory to stop a massive expansion of taxpayer funding of political campaigns in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/4 "2015-10-22T13:04:07Z")
The only way I would complain is if this was the only violator they found. The issue wasn’t investigating right-wing organizations, it was the targeting of right wing organizations for scrutiny. Even the left wing organizations that got swept up only did so because they had words like “Patriot” in their name. I could see this administration just happening to only investigate campaigns that won in 2014, which would just happen to mean that mainly right-wing orgs got targeted. But of course it would also end up looking into a couple of left-wing organizations so it would be impartial according to those who wanted to be willfully blind. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/5 "2015-10-22T14:26:24Z")
Ah, I see. “Both sides do it!” “But we only have examples of one side doing it.” “But I’m sure that both sides actually do it, so the investigations that only found one side must be biased!” **adaher** , is there any way your basic assumptions could be falsified? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/6 "2015-10-22T20:46:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ah, I see. “Both sides do it!” No, he’s saying the issue is whether only one side was investigated to find out if they were doing it. The investigators can’t find what they don’t look for. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/7 "2015-10-22T22:27:28Z")
And given the source reporting it, you can bet they were only looking at one side. That’s okay, because media doesn’t have to be impartial. You’ll get no argument for me that most of these organizations are simply ways for parties to raise unlimited amounts without having to report their donors. There’s plenty of room for reform of that process. The best way is just to let candidates get as much as they can from whoever will donate, but all transparently. The way the laws are structured now that’s what was happening even before Citizens United, it was just less transparent. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/8 "2015-10-23T21:18:59Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > . Even the left wing organizations that got swept up only did so because they had words like “Patriot” in their name. or such rightwing buzz words as [“progressive”](http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jun/22/donna-brazile/donna-brazile-no-conspiracy-here-irs-targeted-libe/) . ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/9 "2015-10-23T22:05:03Z")
Yeah, but the Cincinnati office got to handle those applications. Tea Party applications were sent to DC. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-irs-or-fec-crack-down-on-this-the-gop-will-claim-another-scandal/735364/10 "2015-10-25T18:35:40Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Political nonprofit spent nearly 100 percent of funds to elect Tillis in ’14](http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/10/political-nonprofit-spent-nearly-100-percent-of-funds-to-elect-tillis-in-14/) > > No doubt if the IRS cracks down, as per the law and as it should, GOPers will proclaim yet another IRS scandal. And it’s a damned shame this kind of information only comes out a year after the crime. > > Thank-you Citizens United. This has nothing to do with Citizens United. That decision didn’t change tax law. This is a tax issue, nothing more.