Republicans Want to Make the Koch Brothers Political Donations Tax Deductible

Sneaky bastids.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/11/republicans-want-to-let-the-koch-brothers-political-donations-tax-deductible/

Republicans Want to Make the Koch Brothers’ Political Donations Tax Deductible
The House tax bill could lead to $2 billion per year in tax-free dark money.

Noah Lanard
Nov. 15, 2017 6:00 AM



Few adolescents who’ve sat through homilies would accuse priests or rabbis of lacking material. House Republicans beg to differ. Under their tax bill, religious institutions—and all nonprofits—would be able to endorse politicians for the first time since 1954.

The House tax cut plan would repeal a tax provision, known as the “Johnson Amendment,” that blocks churches and other nonprofits from electioneering. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan Congressional body, expects that this change would lead to billions of dollars of political-spending being routed through nonprofits that can collect tax-deductible contributions without disclosing their donors. As a result, mega-donors like the Koch brothers would likely get tax write-offs for funding television ads and get-out-the-vote operations.

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Tyler says the change is being pushed by “just a couple” of interest groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council, two right-wing Christian groups. But after its repealed, everyone agrees that the effects would extend far beyond those groups. Emily Peterson-Cassin, a project coordinator at the watchdog group Public Citizen, says repeal would “reshape the whole landscape” for campaign spending, and create a “huge avenue of abuse” as new groups spring up to take advantage of the new rules. Peterson-Cassin notes that even in a “magical world” where the IRS was committed to enforcing the new status quo, minimal spending could wind up being 5 or 10 percent of a charities expenses. “That’s billions of dollars,” she adds.

Along with interest groups, the other beneficiaries will be politicians and their funders. The Koch brothers can already spend unlimited money to influence elections. If the House bill becomes law, they’d be able to keep doing that while collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. All to fix a free-speech issue that the vast majority of religious leaders don’t think exists. Tyler says there’s no substance to the claim that priests are living in fear of violating the current rules. “The reality just doesn’t reflect that story,” she adds. “I find that pastors feel incredibly free.”