[Lnc-business] IRS Rule Change That Would Destroy Free Speech and Grassroots Activism

[Daniel Hayes]

Members,

We should of course support organizations such as these for principled reasons.  The government should not be abridging the speech of any person or organization.   Free speech is one of the fundamentals of Liberty.  I believe that their overall goals are in line with our goals and principles.

As a separate aside we should also support those that go all in with us. I have it on good authority that in the last month, all of the members of this organization that had not already done so reregistered as Libertarians.  It was somewhere near 20 of them.  They did that as individuals of course as their organization is non partisan.  So often members of these non partisan organizations use our Party and it's members as a vehicle for their organizations and then as individuals they encourage people to "opt out" of politics and not support our Party.

I would support joining their Alliance.

Daniel Hayes
LNC At Large Member

On Sep 14, 2016, at 02:35 PM, Nicholas Sarwark <chair at lp.org> wrote:

Dear All,

I have had some discussions with the Tax Revolution Institute about the Libertarian Party joining their First Amendment Alliance.  Below is an email from Jason Casella, the Program Director, with details about what is happening and what they're doing.  I told him I would send it on to the LNC to discuss whether we are interested in signing on.  Please chime in with whether you would support or oppose our signing on and reasons so I can get a sense of whether it's something that should be put up for a vote.

Yours in liberty,
Nick


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jason Casella <jcasella at taxrevolution.us>
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 1:29 PM
Subject: IRS Rule Change That Would Destroy Free Speech and Grassroots Activism
To: chair at lp.org


Good Afternoon Nick, 
It was a pleasure speaking with you again.   As I mentioned, we have formed a non partisan first amendment alliance to stop this rule and would love to have the Libertarian Party join and wanted to see if you know of any organizations that would like to join.   Here is a little more background on the situation as well as a link for the bill we have prepared.
Shortly before Thanksgiving in 2013, as the American public left for the holiday, the IRS quietly issued a proposed rule to “clarify” the definition of political activity for not-for-profit social welfare organizations (501c4s). This “clarification” would have left many organizations unable to function, as it would have effectively prohibited them from mentioning the voting records and names of many public officials. After receiving over 175,000 comments, mostly in opposition, the IRS withdrew the rule. Shortly afterward, instead of taking the initiative to protect free speech, Congress kicked the can down the road, prohibiting the funding of any such new rule until October 1st of this year.
On June 8th, 2016, 43 members of Congress urged the House Appropriations Committee to remove even those modest protections, and allow the IRS to fund the nonprofit muzzling rule. And as revealed in an interview with Politico, not only is IRS Commissioner John Koskinen still pursuing the rule, but he now wants to expand it to include all nonprofits; labor unions, business associations, churches, educational institutions, and even charities.
The rules claim to be an attempt to “clarify” what makes an activity “political” and therefore cannot be counted toward a nonprofit organization’s purpose. They could include:
posting a candidate’s voting record
voter registration
get-out-the-vote efforts

voter guides
candidate questionnaires
discussing issues “related” to candidates

Having the name of a candidate on a non-profit’s website, even if it was posted before they were a candidate

If enacted, these rules would censor many nonprofit organizations, reduce civic engagement, and open the door to crippling red tape for even the most non-political organizations.
If Congress does not act by October 1st, the impact these IRS rules could have on nonprofits of all types could be devastating. The Tax Revolution Institute’s First Amendment Alliance will raise awareness about the full impact of these rules and organize action to prevent their implementation.  For more information visit: https://taxrevolution.us/first-amendment-alliance/
Here is also the press release we just published earlier this week on the alliance as well.

Please reach out when you can.

Best,

Jason Casella
Program Director

Tax Revolution Institute
Capitol Hill District
20 F Street NW
7th Floor
Washington, D.C.  20001
P 202-507-6329
F 202-507-6101
C 202-601-0454

jcasella at taxrevolution.us
http://TaxRevolution.us 





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