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Ellipsis

(9,124 posts)
Wed May 28, 2014, 07:36 AM May 2014

Is David Koch Getting a Tax Writeoff for Dropping $900K on the Walker Race?

The "charitable" wing of David Koch's Americans for Prosperity has dropped nearly $900,000 on ads to boost Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's reelection campaign, just days after polls showed Walker tied with his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke.

Incredibly, whomever provided the funding for the ads -- whether it was David Koch himself or a collection of deep-pocketed donors -- can write-off the expenses as a charitable contribution, just like a donation to a neighborhood church or the American Red Cross.


/snip/

The ads direct viewers to the website ItsWorkingWisconsin.com, which is also a relic of the 2011-2012 "It's Working" campaign. Although the latest TV ads are only attributed to AFP, the website's "about" page describes it as a joint project with the MacIver Institute.


http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/05/12490/americans-prosperity-charity-pours-900k-walker-race

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Jack Rabbit

(45,984 posts)
4. Everybody knows AFP is Koch funded
Wed May 28, 2014, 01:30 PM
May 2014

I feel ridiculous repeating it here.

We, who oppose the Koch brothers' assault on democracy, are right to consider an attack on democracy or support for an allied candidate for public office, from a Koch-funded organization like ALEC, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks or the Tea Party is an attack on democracy from the Koch brothers. Accordingly, direct action in opposition to such attacks on democracy shall be taken against David and Charles Koch to include their financial interests.

I call for a boycott of Koch Industries and its products. If you are buying Dixie Cups at the supermarket, you're wrong.

Half-Century Man

(5,279 posts)
5. It's bad enough they are buying elections
Wed May 28, 2014, 03:21 PM
May 2014

but now they insist on skipping the sales tax?

I've said this before. Societies should view billionaires with the same lust the average man views tapeworms. The fewer the better, the absence divine.

PoliticAverse

(26,366 posts)
7. Politics and 501(c)(3)s...
Wed May 28, 2014, 03:46 PM
May 2014

From: http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/The-Restriction-of-Political-Campaign-Intervention-by-Section-501%28c%29%283%29-Tax-Exempt-Organizations

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.

Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.

On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.

pscot

(21,024 posts)
9. Maybe I could write off my bar bill
Wed May 28, 2014, 04:24 PM
May 2014

if the Wee Three reinvented itself as a shelter for wayward drunks.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
11. These days, a donation to most churches is not much different from a contribution to the RNC.
Wed May 28, 2014, 10:52 PM
May 2014

Under IRS regs, a pastor just about has to make "Vote for the X (insert here Republican candidate du jour) part of his or her sermon before the regs are violated. (I could be wrong, but I think I remember it being okay for a pastor saying farewell to congregation members in the church, but after the end of the regular service, to make campaigning for the Republican part of the farewell. But, as we all know, saying it's your religious obligation to "vote for the most pro-life candidate" is perfectly fine and almost guarantees that the Republican will be understood to be the most pro life candidate, given that most churches equate anti-abortion with pro-life.

According to televangelist Rod Parsley, evangelists are filmed electioneering from the pulpit every year and send the films to the IRS every year, hoping to provoke a test case on freedoms of speech and religion. But, nothing happens.

In other words, we need to look at all tax deductions. Do I think that will be done as part of tax "reform?" No, but we should demand it anyway. Maybe our demands will do nothing. And, if recent history is any guide, they probably will do nothing. But, at the very least, they should at least know someone who has the same vote as Rod Parsley and David Koch is watching.

 

certainot

(9,090 posts)
13. RW radio is still walker/koch's biggest advantage and Wisconsin colleges actually endorse
Thu May 29, 2014, 09:35 AM
May 2014

some of those stations, and walker, with sports broadcasting.

if wisconsinites want to get Mary Burke's back here's a link to my recent diary describing how to record and transcribe what wisconsin talkers/liars like McKenna and Sykes and Belling and Webber are saying about her.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251364203

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