Ah, Trust (again) . . .

. . . wonder WHY this continues to be an issue . . .


(from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/clinton-claim-small-donors-mostly-false-politifact-finds-n542621)
". . . Following (several recent) victories . . . Hillary Clinton thanked her supporters — especially those who have given small amounts of money to her campaign. . . "Keep contributing at hillaryclinton.com. Please, please join the 950,000 supporters who already have contributed, most less than $100, because our campaign depends on small donations for the majority of our support," Clinton said. . . Candidates like to play up their small-dollar donations because they are a sign of grass-roots strength. For instance, the Bernie Sanders campaign often talks up its large small-donor base and small average donations. . . And in fact, of all the 2016 candidates, Sanders has done the best in this regard: Through Jan. 31, Sanders raised $67 million from small donors, or a whopping 70 percent of all the money he took in from individuals, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent group that tracks campaign finance data. . . If one defines "the majority of our support" as dollars, then Clinton is wrong — small donations accounted for 17 percent of all of her individual donations, which is well short of a majority. In fact, the Campaign Finance Institute calculated that a clear majority of the funds Clinton had raised through Jan. 31 from individuals came from donors giving $2,700 — the legal maximum that anyone can give. . . We rate (Clinton's) statement Mostly False. . ."

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Lesson. . .

. . . learned.

The kid who was incarcerated over an alleged threat on Facebook is now free thanks to an anonymous donor who posted his $500,000 bail.  The threat came during an argument about a video game when he claims to have 'sarcastically' said he was going to "shoot up a kindergarten."  He was jailed in February.

School violence and free speech came head to head as a result of the incident. In response to reporters, the young man said,   "I certainly would have thought a lot more about what I said and how permanent my writing -- and everyone's writing -- is (on the Internet).  People should be very, very careful of what they say. It's being recorded all the time, if you say it on any website, anywhere. And you can get in trouble for something that's not something you should get in trouble for. I just want people to be warned."


Lesson learned.

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Wrong tree? . . .

(Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/opinion/colinvaux-irs-taxes/index.html)
Roger Colinvaux, associate professor of law at Catholic University of America and former counsel to the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation

The noise about IRS 'targeting' procedures should not be misinterpreted.  The real issue at hand is disclosure of donors, not tax-exempt status.  Something tells me that liberal and conservative groups are equally suspect when it comes to revealing donors, but that's just ME.

The IRS is actually in the 'targeting' business.  They are an enforcer and are supposed to go after scofflaws, cheaters and dodgers.  The guilt lies in the searching of tax returns for names like "tea party", which is clearly a specific group. What they should have done was searched for all such groups as a class, irrespective of political affiliation.

Roger Colinaux writes, ". . .  But the extra scrutiny here is less because of tax exemption and more because of other tax benefits that flow from tax-exempt status, such as the ability to receive tax-deductible contributions. Importantly, charitable organizations are not allowed to engage in any political activity, because Congress long ago decided that charity and politics are incompatible. . ."

It's campaign finance law and NOT tax law that dictates public disclosure of donors for political groups but not for social welfare organizations.  Mr. Colinaux again, ". . . After the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, it became possible for a 501(c)(4) organization to engage in unlimited amounts of political spending. It thus also became possible for a political organization to use the tax law to hide the identity of donors. After Citizens United, the abuse the IRS is tasked with policing is whether an organization that claims to be a "social welfare" organization is in reality a political organization in disguise. . ."

So its yet another polarizing issue (guess there wouldn't be so much polarization if we weren't limited to only two poles.) and also again, an issue of many barking up the wrong tree.

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