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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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List of Known PACI Complaints

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI) enforces the ban on partisan activity by charities and religious organizations. On June 8, 2007 the IRS released a report on the initial results of its 2006 program." The results of the enforcement program to date show a continued low level of violations, with the number of 2006 investigations remaining about the same compared to 2004.

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Congressional Hearings Examine Election Issues

The House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee passed a resolution, with a 6-4 vote, authorizing a subpoena to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell for testimony about the 2004 election. On January 29, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wrote a letter to Blackwell to "explore the state of voting rights and the allocation of resources to end voter suppression and voter fraud," but he has refused to appear voluntarily. The Associated Press quoted Conyers; "Mr.

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Inconsistent Enforcement: IRS Findings in NAACP and All Saints Church Cases

A comparison of two high profile IRS investigations into allegations of election intervention - the All Saints Church and NAACP cases -highlights the vagueness of the regulation and the inconsistency of IRS enforcement. According to OMB Watch's analysis, the facts and circumstances of the All Saints Church and NAACP cases are very similar, but the IRS findings were very different.

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Ohio Court Prohibits Harmful Rules for Third Party Voter Registration Efforts

In Ohio, a federal judge has upheld a previous decision to ban certain restrictions on "third party" voter registration activities. A coalition of voter advocacy groups led by Project Vote sued the state challenging an Ohio law that required compensated voter registration workers register with the state after completing an on-line training course and had to turn in voter registration applications directly to the secretary of state or local board of elections. Any violation would result in criminal charges.

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Discussion on the 2008 Election

Kay Guinane, director of nonprofit speech rights for OMB Watch and Laurette Edelmann, assistant director of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, discussed the 2008 election and its impact on philanthropy. Read the transcript of the online discussion here.

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Legislation to Regulate Robocalls

Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Arlen Specter, (R-PA) have introduced legislation to regulate "robocalls." Feinstein's press release states; "The measure introduced by Feinstein and Specter would not ban robocalls, but instead places sensible restrictions on how and when the calls can be made — including limiting the hours within which calls can be made, limiting the number of calls that can be made to each household, and requiring callers to identify themselves at the beginning of the call."

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Check out This Great Tutorial to Be Ready for the Election

An online tutorial has been created on how to engage with congressional level politics, leading a step by step tour through web sites. For example, the tutorial starts with the fundamentals; "Can I Vote?" directs the visitor to their state's Secretary of State's web site, and then if they need to register, another site is also provided. Subsequently the next web sites include biographical information on the candidates and members of Congress, candidate platforms, incumbent voting records, and campaign contributions.

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How are the Candidates Going to Help the Nonprofit Sector?

A blog posting titled "Bird-Dogging and Blogging the Primaries" observes that "until now, it would have seemed implausible that nonprofits and presidential politics would go hand-in hand. Activism is ubiquitous in communities; yet, on the whole the organizations that facilitate and conduct it are ignored by policy makers and politicians." The blog is promoting the new V3 campaign which shows candidates' responses to questions regarding the nonprofit sector created by Robert Egger.

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Join the 2008 Election Discussion

The Chronicle of Philanthropy will be hosting an online discussion next Tuesday February 12, at noon, Eastern time on the election and what it means for nonprofits. Experts on philanthropy and politics will be answering questions and if a question is submitted in advance, there is a better chance that it will be answered during the discussion. To submit a question, click here. The discussion is open to everyone, not just subscribers, so go ahead and ask a question!

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House Oversight Hearing on Voter Suppression

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold an oversight hearing on voter suppression this Friday, February 8. In preparation, last week Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, requesting his testimony at the hearing. The letter stated;

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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