IRS attacks a liberal church's right to free speech

It looks like free speech in this country, especially the kind that doesn't sit well with the current Bush administration, is under attack. The liberal All Saints Episcopal Church is being investigated by the IRS for "alleged improper campaigning" after the Rev. George F. Regas gave an anti-war sermon two days before the 2004 Elections.

The IRS used the excuse that "the tax code bars nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or campaigning against candidates in an election" even though the reverend made did not do so in his speech. Now the church's non-profit status could be threatened.

But under the guise of a new enforcement tool called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative, the IRS is trying to stifle freedom of speech in this country. It threatens non-profit and religious groups ability to engage in non-partisan issue advocacy and criticize our elected officials. Churches have always been a source of political activity especially during the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, was himself a preacher, and mobilized people politically through his church in Atlanta. Even in recent history, figures like Falwell and Dobson created the Religious Right through political activities in evangelical churches. I guess all that matters to the IRS is that you are advocating the wrong political ideology. Even the NAACP was under investigation after the chairman Julian Bond criticized Bush's civil rights policies until the charges were recently dropped..

Legal questions have been raised over this new IRS arm. A report of the program by OMB Watch states PACI's problems:

• the vagueness of the "facts and circumstances" test
• secrecy regarding enforcement action
• IRS statements regarding its intent to prevent repeat violations before an election
• the threat that an organization's tax-exempt status will be revoked
• lack of deadlines for closing cases

Thus this enforcement tool is ripe for abuse and partisan attacks against certain groups. As of now, Commissioner Everson, who runs the IRS and a Bush crony already has a bad track record. According to News Corpse:
"Commissioner Everson came right from the Bush White House, where he was deputy director for management for the Office of Management and Budget. His wife, Nanette, was a White House counsel. One of his first projects at IRS was a plan to cross-check applications for tax-exempt status against terrorist watch lists. These lists were notoriously inaccurate. He also considered sharing IRS data with other agencies in spite of the fact that it was illegal to do so. He was said to believe that 9/11 legislation gave him the authority to act without the laws being changed."