ALEC Update...

Alec loses two more big ones: Blue Cross/Blue Shield becomes the 12th corporation to sever ties; and Proctor & Gamble becomes #13....

(Oh, and Chuck Grassley tries to suggest that everyone should boycott Coca-Cola for leaving... rofllol ) (I wonder if Grassley bothered to notice that the second ingredient on the label is "high-fructose corn syrup"... I wonder what they make that out of?... Oh yeah, CORN... Seems that I remember they grow a lot of that in Iowa...) rofllol

Oh, and that's not the end of ALEC's troubles...

ALEC Hit With IRS Complaint Filed By Common Cause

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Open government advocates accused a conservative legislative group Monday of falsely claiming tax-exempt status while doing widespread lobbying.

Advocacy group Common Cause said Monday it had filed an IRS complaint accusing ALEC of masquerading as a public charity. ALEC is formed as a nonprofit that brings together lawmakers and private sector organizations to develop legislation and policy.

ALEC says its work is not lobbying.

Common Cause disagrees. "It tells the IRS in its tax returns that it does no lobbying, yet it exists to pass profit-driven legislation in statehouses all over the country that benefits its corporate members," said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, in a statement. "ALEC is not entitled to abuse its charitable tax status to lobby for private corporate interests, and stick the bill to the American taxpayer."

Common Cause wants an IRS audit of ALEC's work, penalties and the payment of back taxes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/2 ... 45175.html

Common Cause challenges ALEC's tax-exempt status

he American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is flouting federal tax laws by posing as a tax-exempt charity while spending millions of dollars to lobby for hundreds of bills each year in state legislatures across the country, Common Cause charged today.

In a formal submission to the Internal Revenue Service Tax Whistleblower Office, Common Cause argued that ALEC’s primary purpose is to serve as a vehicle for corporations to do taxpayer-subsidized lobbying. The filing includes thousands of pages of documents obtained by Common Cause that show extensive ALEC efforts to lobby state lawmakers and influence a wide range of legislation, clearly violating the terms of its tax-exempt status. The documents include ALEC talking points, “issue alerts,” tracking documents and invitations to elected officials to gatherings paid for and attended by ALEC’s corporate members.

The prominent whistleblower law firm Phillips & Cohen is representing Common Cause pro bono on the IRS complaint. Phillips & Cohen LLP has recovered more than $7 billion in fines and settlements for its clients. The complaint seeks an IRS audit of ALEC and the payment of back taxes and penalties .

“ALEC is a corporate lobby front group masquerading as a public charity,” Common Cause President Bob Edgar said Monday in announcing the complaint. “It tells the IRS in its tax returns that it does no lobbying, yet it exists to pass legislation that serves the economic and partisan interests of its corporate members in states all over the country. ALEC is not entitled to abuse its charitable tax status to lobby for private corporate interests, and stick taxpayers with the bill.”

http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/ar ... c-lobbying

ALEC is going down... Poor Koch Brothers... They gave them $500,000 to start up, and gave them another $1-million to keep going. It looks like they may not get their "bang for their buck"...

Lunch money for them....I doubt they lose much sleep.

LadyJazzer wrote:

ALEC Hit With IRS Complaint Filed By Common Cause

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Open government advocates accused a conservative legislative group Monday of falsely claiming tax-exempt status while doing widespread lobbying.

Advocacy group Common Cause said Monday it had filed an IRS complaint accusing ALEC of masquerading as a public charity. ALEC is formed as a nonprofit that brings together lawmakers and private sector organizations to develop legislation and policy.

Isn't that what the NAACP does as well? AARP? Prison Policy Initiative? How is this organization different, other than the obvious that it is one that "progressives" have policy differences with?

I guess we'll find out in court...won't we....