EDITORIAL: Who pays who?
Voters have a right to know who tries to sway elections and influence politicians with their money. The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Senate have an obligation to help bring about that transparency.
Eight U.S. senators correctly called on IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman to improve visibility at one of the blind intersections of money and politics.
Political operatives establish so-called social welfare organizations governed by Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(4), and use the secrecy afforded to them by the law to carry out electioneering activity. Through inaction, the IRS has permitted these organizations to proliferate.
These nonprofits exist on the right and on the left. Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist operates one that aids Republicans, as does conservative strategist Karl Rove. President Barack Obama's backers set up one to help his re-election.
Nonprofit corporations benefit from tax codes. They are exempt from state and federal taxes. In exchange, the law limits the amount of time they can devote to election campaigns. Inexplicably, the IRS refuses to enforce that law.
Identities of contributors who donate money to candidates' campaigns are publicly disclosed. But donors who contribute to nonprofit corporations know that their identities and the amounts they give will remain confidential.
They know they will never be held accountable for their actions.
Not surprisingly, many of the most underhanded television ads are funded by these secretive organizations.
What's more, operators of the corporations need not disclose basic information until long after votes have been cast. The amounts raised by these organizations in 2012 won't become known until as late as October 2013, hardly useful for voters hoping to make informed choices.
Just as Shulman should crack down on campaign operations that masquerade as nonprofits, the Senate should approve pending legislation, S. 219, to require that senators file their campaign finance reports online.
- The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee