Nonprofit Speech Rights

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Bipartisan Effort Supports E-Filing of Senate Campaign Contributions

The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.1508), which has yet to be reported out of committee, would require U.S. Senate candidates to file their federal campaign finance reports electronically, just like House and presidential candidates do, and many critics say it's high time. Currently, Senate candidates report on paper and then those pages of contributors are entered manually by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a time consuming process that denies the public the right to know who is contributing to a Senator's election campaigns when it matters most -- before the election.

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Found To Have Not Supported Terrorism, Scholar Still Denied Visa

Sep 26, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

U.S. clears Tariq Ramadan of being a supporter of terrorism, but maintains that he will not be granted a visa. Ramadan is a highly regarded, leading Muslim scholar and currently a fellow at the University of Oxford. In January 2004, he was offered a position at the University of Notre Dame and was granted a specialized nonimmigrant visa, but was then informed by the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland that his visa had been revoked. This exemplifies a harsh consequence for giving to a charity with alleged connections to Hamas, before Hamas was designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

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Law Meant to Regulate 'Sham' Issue Ads Instead Silences Citizens Groups

Statement of AFL-CIO, Chamber of Commerce, National Education Association and OMB Watch
Sept. 8, 2006 marked the beginning of a 60-day blackout period for broadcasts that mention federal candidates, even if the broadcasts are wholly unrelated to the election. As organizations deeply concerned with public policy issues, we condemn this clampdown on free speech.

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Scarce Low-Income Voter Registration Opportunities in Ohio

Sep 22, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

An AP story reported that a federal lawsuit filed in Cleveland charges that Ohio’s Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, and Barbara Riley, the Director of the Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS), violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requiring that voter registration opportunities are available in public assistance offices. Their research has found that low income Ohio citizens were not given assistance in registering to vote, especially in the most populous counties.

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Documented Influence

Sep 21, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

It is interesting to note that the Secret Service yesterday released White House visitor records of certain Republican activists, including Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Democratic National Committee (DNC). The Abramoff investigation indicates that lobbyists had access to the White House through conservative activists like Norquist and Reed.

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Photo ID Law Passes In House

Sep 20, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

This afternoon the House passed H.R.4844, the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006," which would require all citizens to present a photo ID when voting. After voters have faced wide spread trouble at the polls through the primary season caused by human errors or by voting machines, an additional barrier could be in place if this would become law. Many Americans, such as the elderly or those who do not drive might not easily be able to attain the proper identification.

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Congressmen Accurately React to IRS Political Activity Compliance Initiative (PACI)

Sep 20, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

On Monday September 18, Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service expressing great concern over its Political Activity Compliance Initiative (PACI). They intently warn that the IRS initiative could be a harmful obstruction to an exempt organizations' capacity to discuss matters of public policy. They are asking that the IRS alter the political intervention rules to be clearly well defined for nonprofits.

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American Muslim Relief Group Faces FBI Investigation

Sep 19, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the FBI along with the Joint Terrorism Task Force raided the Southfield, Michigan offices of a well respected American Muslim relief organization, Life for Relief & Development. The search warrants were obtained for criminal reasons, but no further reasoning has been disclosed. The charity is cooperating with this investigation, but there is concern about its timing. In less than a week Ramadan will begin, an important time for donations that would normally rise during the holy month.

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An Insignificant Number of Black Churches Gain from Faith-Baised Initiative

Sep 19, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

After the establishment of President Bush's faith-based initiative program in 2002, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies recently conducted a survey of over 700 black churches, concluding that black churches have only been minimally affected. This is detrimental to a vital and successful source of social service programs, especially in the northeast. However, despite some political concern that churches which ideologically support Bush would overwhelmingly be helped, liberal churches were more likely to apply for the grants.

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A Pasadena California Church In Defense of 2004 Antiwar Sermon

Sep 18, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service informed the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California that they have until September 29 to turn over all documents it produced during the 2004 election year that have references to any political candidate. In response to this investigation the rector will seek legal aid. All Saints came under IRS scrutiny shortly after Regas, the church's former rector, delivered a sermon that depicted Jesus in a mock debate with then-presidential candidates George W. Bush and John F. Kerry. The sermon did not endorse either candidate. . . .

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