The IRS has notified the NAACP that it is reviewing the organization’s tax-exempt status, based on a speech by Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman of the Board, criticizing the Bush Administration’s policies. Organizations that get involved directly in electoral campaigns are not allowed tax-exempt status. http://www.naacp.org/news/2004/2004-10-29.html;http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a8383006a01.htm.
Is this right? Did what Bond said go over the line? He criticized the Dems as well as the Pubs, calling the Republicans “shameless” and the Democrats “spineless.” Seems even-handed to me.
Which side he criticized more does not matter. What matters is that he got involved in the political process. That invalidates their tax exempt status.
Well, I take that back. It still doesn’t matter which side he criticized more. I feel that he was simply exercising his Free Speech. The ACLU should not lose their tax exempt status over a statement. However, if it was found that the ACLU was giving donations to either party, then that would be grounds to have their tax exempt status reviewed.
As long as he didn’t specifically say that people should/shouldn’t vote for one candidate, he’s in the clear as far as I can tell. He could call Bush a wife-swapping baby-eating atheist goat molester, and the most he would do is open up the door for a slander suit.
Anyone seen a transcript? None of the versions I read earlier (okay, fine, the one Reuters vesion I saw on Googlenews) made it clear whether he made a specific stance on voting.
Anyone else think that this action is going to piss off a whole lotta African-Americans who are now going to be extra-motivated to vote Bush out? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
I’ve read all three articles and the Free Republic one does a bit of digging where the other two don’t. I’ve previously been told that blacks tend to vote Democrat anyway - I don’t understand why but that’s another question - so it would be expected that the people heading the organisation are Democrat-leaning. But it does seem to me that they might well have overstepped the mark. I think that the issue is that with power comes responsibility and they have not exercised that responsibility. Mr Bond should think long and hard about resigning.
