Close to a third of the advocacy groups named by the Internal Revenue Service as recipients of special scrutiny during tax-exempt application reviews were liberal or neutral in political outlook, a leading nonpartisan tax newsletter reported after conducting an independent analysis of data released by the agency.
All told, around 470 groups were flagged as "potential political cases" between 2010 and 2012, including 298 whose experiences were analyzed in a Treasury Department inspector general's report. Because the IRS by law must not name groups that have not yet been approved or which were rejected, only a subset of their names was made public in May by the agency -- 176 cases.
Of these, "the majority of the groups selected for extra scrutiny probably matched the political criteria the IRS used and backed conservative causes, the Tea Party, or limited government generally," wrote Martin A. Sullivan in a June 3 piece in Tax Notes, a newsletter published by the Tax Analysts group. "But a substantial minority -- almost one third of the subset -- did not fit that description."
Non-conservative advocacy groups given special scrutiny by the IRS in or after 2010 included the Coffee Party USA, the alternative to the Tea Party movement that got a bunch of press in 2010, as well as such explicitly progressive groups as the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; Rebuild the Dream, founded by former Obama administration official Van Jones; and Progressives United Inc., which was founded by former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold.
Also included in the special scrutiny were Progress Texas and Progress Missouri Inc.; Tie the Knot, which sells bow ties to raise money to promote same-sex marriage; and ProgressNow, which describes itself as "a year-round never-ending progressive campaign."
The targeting also rolled up centrist groups, such as the Across the Aisle Foundation -- the educational and cultural arm of No Labels, which worked to build momentum for an independent ticket for the presidency -- and politically neutral ones, such as The East Hampton Group for Good Government Inc., formed to encourage better leadership and management of the New York vacation town, and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.
All of these groups were flagged by the IRS along with the Tea Party class of groups as "potential political cases" and were part of the 31 percent of groups given special scrutiny that were not clearly conservative.
Sullivan's Tax Notes piece lays out what we know about the cases that are public so far:
Because the IRS is prohibited by law from releasing information on applications either denied or not yet approved, we will probably never know the political persuasions of all 298 advocacy cases selected for extra scrutiny and of the additional 170 or so applications selected since then. We can, however, try to assess the political persuasion of the 176 approved organizations that the IRS identified on May 15....
As noted, 46 organizations on the May 15 IRS list had "Tea Party," "patriots," or "9/12" project in their name. Tax Analysts conducted Web searches of the other 130 organizations on the list to determine if the groups were conservative organizations. In 124 cases, we found what we believe is sufficient information to make a good faith determination whether a group was conservative....
[T]the results of the Tax Analysts review of these organizations are the following: 46 with "Tea Party," "patriots," or "9/12 project" in their name, 76 other conservative organizations, 48 nonconservative organizations, and six organizations about which we can make no determination....
Ultimately, to address the question whether the IRS's review of applicants for tax exempt status had a disparate impact on one side of the political spectrum or the other, we will need to know more about the overall pool of advocacy groups applying for tax exemption. For example, if there were a surge in the creation of potentially political conservative organizations in the last few years (that was disproportionate to the creation of nonconservative organizations), more conservative groups would be targeted than nonconservative groups even if there were no political bias among IRS officials. Looking at the makeup of exemption-approved groups tells us nothing about bias unless we know the makeup of the group from which they were selected.
A spokesman for the Treasury inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA), David Barnes, said he'd not heard anything about a list of progressive groups targeted by the IRS and referred me to page 8 of the inspector general's report for his office's understanding of the matter.
It stated: "approximately one-third of the applications identified for processing by the team of specialists included Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names, while the remainder did not. According to the Director, Rulings and Agreements, the fact that the team of specialists worked applications that did not involve the Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 groups demonstrated that the IRS was not politically biased in its identification of applications for processing by the team of specialists."
The TIGTA decided that there was bias because "we determined during our reviews of statistical samples of I.R.C. § 501(c)(4) tax-exempt applications that all cases with Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names were forwarded to the team of specialists" between May 2010 and May 2012 (emphasis added).
Though the Treasury inspectors found that one third of the groups given special scrutiny probably should not have been, they declined to say in their May report what the political leanings of theses improperly selected groups were: "We reviewed all 298 applications that had been identified as potential political cases as of May 31, 2012. In the majority of cases, we agreed that the applications submitted included indications of significant political campaign intervention. However, we did not identify any indications of significant political campaign intervention for 91 (31 percent) of the 296 applications that had complete documentation."
Most likely, these improperly selected cases were -- like the selected cases that the IRS has released data on so far -- a mixture of liberal, conservative, and neutral (civic pride, good government, etc.) in outlook.
More flawed than the selection process -- which flagged groups that should not have been given extra scrutiny as well many that appropriately received it but which were selected using improper criteria, according to the TIGTA report -- were the lengthy delays in processing applications and the excessive and intrusive questions asked of the selected groups. According to the report, 58 percent of inquiries asked of those groups were later deemed unnecessary.
***
Below, the list of 48 nonconservative groups identified by Tax Analysts in their inquiry.
Table 1. Nonconservative 'Centralized' Tax-Exempt Organizations
Organization Name Status Mission or Description
1. Across the 501(c)(3) Educational arm of No
Aisle Foundation Labels, a centrist
policy advocacy group;
encourages
bipartisanship on
Capitol Hill.
2. ALICE (American 501(c)(3) Provides a Web-based
Legislative and public library of
Issue Campaign progressive law on a
Exchange) wide range of issues in
state and local policy
("a very partial
antidote to ALEC
[American Legislative
Exchange Council], the
corporate-backed
group").
3. Chattanooga 501(c)(3) Helps individuals and
Organized For organizations "to build
Action the power of everyday
people from
marginalized and
oppressed communities
to take control of the
circumstances of their
lives."
4. Comeback 501(c)(3) "[Promotes] fiscal
America Initiative responsibility and
Inc. sustainability by
engaging the public and
assisting key
policymakers on a
nonpartisan basis in
order to achieve
solutions to U.S.
fiscal imbalances."
Former U.S. Comptroller
General David Walker is
founder.
5. Corporate 501(c)(3) A project of
Accountability Philadelphia-based
Project ActionPA; "provides
educational organizing
resources for fighting
corporate power."
6. East Hampton 501(c)(3) Promotes improved local
Group for Good government in East
Government Inc. Hampton, N.Y.
7. Engage San 501(c)(3) San Diego-based
Diego "regional network of
organizations working
in historically
underrepresented and
socially responsible
communities."
8. Intersections 501(c)(3) A network of ministries
Inc. to empower young people
in American Samoa
"through programs that
combine the arts and
technology with the
educational,
vocational, and
spiritual disciplines."
9. Miami-Dade 501(c)(3) "An independent,
Taxpayers Alliance nonpartisan research
Inc. institute dedicated to
better stewardship of
Miami-Dade County's tax
dollars."
10. National Jobs 501(c)(3) "Committed to building
for All Coalition a new movement for full
employment at livable
wages." Affiliated with
many liberal
organizations.
11. Northeast Ohio 501(c)(3) "Enables and expands
Voter Advocacy voter education and
Inc. registration in
underrepresented areas
of the City of
Cleveland, Cuyahoga
County, and other
counties of northeast
Ohio."
12. Open Sky 501(c)(3) Nebraska-based fiscal
Policy Institute policy research group;
generally opposes
income tax cuts.
13. Progress 501(c)(3) "Multi-issue
Missouri Education progressive advocacy
Fund organization" focused
on state and local
policy.
14. Public Works: 501(c)(3) Director previously
The Center for the founded the Texas-based
Public Sector Center for Public
Policy Priorities, a
nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization committed
to building the
economic and social
well-being of
low-income Texans.
15. Rebellious 501(c)(3) Seeks to "unveil the
Truths curtain of dastardly
deeds and the cobweb of
lies entangling
America."
16. Restoration 501(c)(3) Grass-roots
Philadelphia Inc. organization made up of
individuals, churches,
and ministries
committed to
"mobilizing the Church
of Philadelphia to
fulfill its destiny and
restoring the City of
Brotherly Love, so that
the vision of William
Penn's Holy Experiment
becomes a reality and
the Glory of God is
revealed all."
17. Sarasota Tiger 501(c)(3) Nonpartisan political
Bay Club Inc. organization that hosts
debates, forums, and
speakers in central
Florida.
18. Center for 501(c)(3) San Francisco-based
Election Science group dedicated to
"election-related
scholarship."
19. Center for 501(c)(3) Conducts research and
Health Care Policy analysis necessary for
the creation of a
single-payer healthcare
system.
20. Alliance for a 501(c)(4) Multi-issue education
Better Utah Inc. and advocacy
organization promoting
progressive ideas and
causes.
21. Campaign for 501(c)(4) Advocates for greater
Vermont Prosperity state government
Inc. transparency and
accountability and a
stronger economy with
more and better-paying
jobs while espousing a
commitment to social
responsibility and
environmental
stewardship.
22. Coffee Party 501(c)(4) Founded on the
USA underlying principle
that the government "is
not the enemy of the
people." Seeks to
remove corporate
influence from
politics.
23. Committee for 501(c)(4) Focuses on the roles
a Fair Judiciary and responsibilities of
senators in the
judicial selection
process and seeks to
educate the public
about how the process
works and how it could
work better.
24. Freedom Club 501(c)(4) Aims to guide members
to financial, health,
emotional, and
spiritual freedoms ("to
raise the life energy
of Mother Earth and
Mankind to new heights
and welcome in the new
era of Love, Prosperity
and Cooperation").
25. Delawareans 501(c)(4) National coalition of
for Social and community-based
Economic Justice organizations composed
of parents and students
in low-income
communities focused on
unveiling a report on
schools that are
eligible for federal
turnaround
intervention.
26. Grantville 501(c)(4) Local government group
Action Group in San Diego that
opposes development.
27. Homeless but 501(c)(4) Registers voters at
Not Powerless shelters, soup
kitchens, parks, and
jails.
28. League of 501(c)(4) State chapter of
Women Voters of national organization
Hawaii to educate policymakers
and the public on
issues.
29. Louisiana 501(c)(4) Advances progressive
Progress Action state policy solutions.
Fund Inc.
30. Middle Class 501(c)(4) San Diego-based
Taxpayers organization that
Association serves as a voice for
those "not served by
big business-funded
taxpayer groups."
31. Missourians 501(c)(4) Group opposing
for Fair Taxation reductions in income
tax that are paid for
through sales tax
increases.
32. New American 501(c)(4) Coalition of CEOs,
Economy Action start-up founders, and
Fund venture capitalists
formed to press
Congress to pass
immigration reform that
would encourage
innovation and create
jobs.
33. New York Civic 501(c)(4) Associated with
Action Inc. left-leaning network
action groups.
34. Nicolas 501(c)(4) Dedicated to the design
Berggruen and implementation of
Institute new ideas of good
governance that can be
brought to bear on the
common challenges of
globalization in the
21st century.
35. No on 22 -- 501(c)(4) Opposes California
Citizens Against Proposition 22, which
Taxpayer Giveaways would give money to
redevelopment agencies
at the expense of state
core services such as
public education.
Sponsored by
firefighters.
36. Progressive 501(c)(4) Brings diverse and
Leadership potentially competing
Alliance of Nevada organizations together
into one cohesive force
for social and
environmental justice
in Nevada.
37. Progress 501(c)(4) Promotes a stronger
Missouri Inc. progressive movement in
Missouri and advances
in progressive public
policy.
38. Progress Texas 501(c)(4) Organizes rapid
response communications
in opposition to
conservative groups.
39. Progressive 501(c)(4) "We advocate for
USA Inc. sensible policy
solutions, hold our
nation's elected
officials accountable
for their actions and
take head-on the flawed
policies and hypocrisy
of the radical right."
40. Progressives 501(c)(4) Opposes corporate
United Inc. influence in the
political system.
41. Progress Now 501(c)(4) Progressive campaign.
42. Rebuild the 501(c)(4) Supports pro-union
Dream demonstrations in
Wisconsin.
43. RVA Alliance 501(c)(4) Affiliated with the
Inc. Alliance for
Progressive Values.
44. Texas Business 501(c)(4) Promotes education with
for Higher no apparent political
Education agenda.
45. Tie the Knot 501(c)(4) Sells bow ties to raise
money to promote
legalizing same-sex
marriage.
46. TN Fair Tax 501(c)(4) Promotes the creation
of a progressive
Tennessee state tax
structure that ensures
adequate revenues.
47. U.S. Common 501(c)(4) Group's president is
Action affiliated with
California Common
Sense, a group
dedicated to open
government.
48. U.S. Health 501(c)(4) Promotes the right to
Freedom Coalition access alternative
Inc. medical treatments such
as naturopathy.
