Protecting Nonprofit 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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more news

Foundations Are Increasing Their Support of Advocacy

Jul 16, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

A new report from the Foundation Center found that foundations are increasing their support of advocacy to help the poor and other disadvantaged people. Specifically, giving to social-justice causes grew by nearly 31 percent from 2002 to 2006. The report, Social Justice Grantmaking II, was based on interviews with grantmakers and advocates.

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"Dollar Politics"

Jul 14, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

National Public Radio (NPR) has started an interesting series of investigative reports called Dollar Politics, examining the relationships between Congress and interest groups in regards to current major legislative issues: health care, energy policy and financial regulation.

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Group Alleges that IRS Asked Them to Limit Advocacy

Jul 14, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Interesting news comes from the Thomas More Society, which is asserting that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is imposing illegal conditions on the Coalition for Life of Iowa's request for tax exempt status.

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Advocacy Groups File Suit over Violations of Voter Registration Law

A coalition of voting rights groups has filed lawsuits against two states, Indiana and New Mexico, for failing to adequately implement a section of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), commonly known as the Motor Voter law. The groups charge that the states' public assistance agencies and motor vehicle offices have not met their responsibilities to offer residents the opportunity to register to vote.

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More on Citizens United

Jul 8, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

It seems as if more are now contemplating the possible repercussions of last week's "little-noticed order" from the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case. A New York Times editorial states; "we fear the Supreme Court has set the stage for dismantling the longstanding ban on corporate spending in elections for president and Congress. If those restrictions are overturned, it would be a disaster for democracy." The Court ordered additional briefing on two cases, Austin v.

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Calls for Congress to Loosen LSC Restrictions

Jul 2, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

On June 25, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2010 appropriations bill of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) subcommittee. This includes funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the nonprofit organization that provides grants to legal-aid charities around the country. The bill appropriates $400 million for LSC. Notably, it removes restrictions on LSC grantees' state, local, and private funds.

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McCain and Feingold Place Hold on FEC Nominee

Jul 1, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have placed a hold on the nomination of John Sullivan to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). According to Politico they have indicated they would release the hold only if President Obama announces two additional nominees to fill the other expired seats. This is a particularly interesting development considering recent events at the FEC and that Sullivan was presumed to face an easy confirmation.

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Another Example of Dissent Being Equated With Terrorism

A question on a Department of Defense (DoD) training exam states that the exercise of First Amendment rights in the U.S. is an "example of low level terrorism". New DoD employees are being trained to select "Protests" as the answer to a question about identifying an act of terror. This is one of several examples of when dissent and protest is being equated with terrorism. Civil liberty advocates, like the ACLU, and political activists, are outraged at these "deeply disturbing" assertions.

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USAID Seeks Comments on Expanding PVS to Contractors

On Friday May 26 USAID published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments on implementation of its problematic Partner Vetting System for acquisition awards. Comments are due August 25th. The notice notes that the final rule for NGOs has been delayed and that USAID "has not yet made a final decision on whether to implement PVS."

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Political Activist Detained by TSA Officials for Carrying Money; ACLU Files Suit

Coming just weeks after a Missouri Fusion Center bulletin warned of "rightwing extremists and militia members" supporting certain political parties, a political activist was detained by airport security after screeners spotted a metal box containing money. According to Bierfeldt, the money was the proceeds raised from selling campaign merchandise at a regional conference.

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