Remember the "social welfare" groups from the book Dark Money? The donors to these groups are kept secret from the public. Recently, the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee advanced to amend the tax code regarding to 501(c) "social welfare" groups in order to keep donors' identity from the IRS. This would open the door to secret, unaccountable money from foreign government, corporations, etc. What do you guys think?
What exactly do they want to amend in regards to "social welfare" groups? I looked at some IRS documentation and it does not seem like the Kochs for example could donate money without their identities being unaccounted for.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Other-Non-Profits/Social-Welfare-Organizations
I do not see the practicality of this amendment. This will help us understanding what are financial sources of organizations and anticipating strategies of organizations. However, the amended law will not do much for preventing these political activities.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a way for the Republicans to keep the secret somewhere darker and deeper. Clearly, this amendment will be covered under the name of amendment and it will not do any good to the public.
ReplyDeleteBut I think it's interesting what would happen if foreigners start to exert the authority on the US politics. Would money mainly come from Europe or maybe China?
If presidential candidates or politicians start to be "dependent" on foreigners? What kind of policy would be most impacted?
Or can it allow the foreign capital that is indeed owned by Americans?
Maybe this amendment will allow for people to invest more money, or for these organizations to secretly market towards a specific political party. I don't think the purpose of this is to decrease investment, but rather to increase investment. I do believe that there are still laws regulating the amount that people can donate so this is not a huge change.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting amendment, since it would allow foreign corporations to get their hands on American politics. This is almost more wrong than letting the wealthiest individuals donate freely in the first place, since it's not even furthering American interests. At least when the domestic billionaires do it, their wealth stays (partly) in the US.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mario, I think a major benefit of the amendment would be see how foreign corporations are affecting American politics. These corporations definitely have alternative motives in mind and to allow them to affect our country can only have negative affects. While this amendment may not stop wealthy individuals from donating at least we can monitor contributions and there could be potential legislature put into place to stop foreign activity.
ReplyDelete