How badly would you like to see Karl Rove in misery?
Bush's brain, the bagman for secret Corporate donations in this post-Citizens United era is about to have a big IRS problem thanks to some pure grassroots activism behind an organization called Velvet Revolution which has begun a campaign called the Campaign Accountability Watch. Campaign Accountability Watch has been contacted by several US Attorneys who have provided information to their local field offices regarding the potential illegality of Karl Rove's fundraising shenanigans.
Here's a bit of background info . . .
Top Republican political strategist Karl Rove's method of secretly funneling unlimited contributions from big donors was so hugely successful in the 2010 campaign that Democrats are now trying to copy it. But his model may yet end up backfiring spectacularly.
~snip~
Rove may well have found a way around the nation's federal election laws. But now the key question is whether the Internal Revenue Service is willing to be assertive. Because if it is, then just like with Al Capone, it could be the IRS that gets him.
HuffingtonPost.com
Now the IRS and Department of Justice are getting involved
Note the part where the article above mentions how Democrats are trying to copy Rove's winning 2010 strategy. . .
Way to go, Democratic Establishment! Instead of fighting back against the radical Robert Court's ruling on Citizens United, the Democratic Establishment has decided that they are better off fighting fire with fire by trying their luck at being even bigger Corporate sellouts than the GOP.
Now the beef that the IRS has with Karl Rove is pretty simple, really. Karl Rove has set up his Citizens United fueled secret corporate money funneling organizations such as CroosroadsGPS as a tax exempt 501(c)(4). But as the HuffingtonPost reported about a month ago . . .
The group's application, requesting the IRS to classify it as a "social welfare" group, is still pending.
And while the designation is typically not much more than a formality -- organizations routinely call themselves (c)(4) groups before they've been formally approved -- tax and campaign finance experts contacted by The Huffington Post said the IRS could well deny Crossroads GPS's application.
IRS guidelines for 501(c)(4) status state that social welfare groups "must operate primarily to further the common good and general welfare of the people of the community" -- which "does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office."
HuffingtonPost.com
Bold text added by the diarist
So you're NOT allowed to directly or indirectly participate in political campaigns if you are operating a 501(c)(4) non profit group, and the IRS has not even approved Rove's shady groups tax exempt 501(c)(4) status yet, but if you go to CrossroadsGPS own blog they brazenly tout a Wall Street Journal report that claims that Karl Rove's new organization operates with "a goal of raising $120 million in the effort to defeat President Barack Obama, win a GOP majority in the Senate and protect the party's grip on the House in the 2012 election."
Yeah, color me SHOCKED that Karl Rove might be involved with something illegal.
More below the fold
Now, obviously the Democrats can't let themselves be swamped again in a deluge of secret corporate donations, so really they have only three choices. First, they can do nothing and lose. Under this scenario, Republicans and their Corporate Donors win. Second, Democrats can try to compete dollar for dollar with the GOP, which is a losing proposition because the GOP is wholly enslaved to their corporate masters, whereas Democrats have to at least maintain the pretense that they fight for the working class, thus making the GOP the more attractive of the two to corporate donors, and the Democrats lose. There is also a third option, which is for Democrats to FIGHT BACK!
Democrats could go on the offensive and do everything they can to fight Citizens United. Hell, they could have done that in the last Congress when they had 59 Senators and a huge House Majority! Instead they chose a very centrist blend of my first two options, do nothing and lose, plus try to out whore the GOP and lose. Not surprisingly, in 2010 they lost.
But did Democrats learn anything? Did Democrats learn that they can't appeal to both their rich donors and pursue policies that would best help the working class? Did Democrats learn that the cause of the lack of "voter enthusiasm" in their base was because of their constant folding on issues that the voters overwhelmingly supported like a Public Option in health care reform and higher taxes on the rich?
Have Democrats learned that the easiest way to win election is to support what is best for the working class that compromises the vast majority of voters, and then to do it once they get elected? I mean, I know that when out of power the one goal if the GOP is to make it damn near impossible to govern, but the Democrats could at least try to make a unified argument once in a while. If you don't fight back, you can not win, but in this system Democrats can NOT fight back on behalf of the working class without raising the ire of the wealthy plutocrats who they must woo in order to get the funding they need to run their campaigns. This is where Citizens United really frightens me, because not only does it empower the already corrupt GOP, but it is making it easier to push the Democratic Party away from the interests of the working class and into the arms of the special interests.
And yet, faced with this dilemma, the Democratic Establishment has decided, as always, to compromise. There is no attack on Citizens United coming from the Democratic Party or Democratic members of Congress, they have accepted it as a reality and they are going to try to work within this new system, and in doing so, the Democrats have left themselves with two options, each worse than the next; either Democrats will not out-fundraise the GOP with their own network of CrossroadsGPS style mimicry and they will lose and the Corporate Special Interests will win, or they will suck up as badly as they can and make promises to the special interests and thus become even more corrupted by them, and just as if they had lost anyway the needs of the working class of America will be ignored and the needs of only the corporate special interests will be pursued.
So how do we fight back? In reality I am not sure whether the IRS will pursue this case all the way, it could end up as a huge setback for secretive donations resulting in millions and millions in penalties, or it could end up with Crossroads losing their 501(c)(4) status, or it could drag out and go nowhere. One can sometimes only hope for the best.
But sometimes we can DO something about it, and in this case, I think there is something we CAN do about it.
For my money, I have totally given up on giving anything to large Democratic Establishment organizations, and even if I were in a position to support Democratic candidates or ideas, I always do so on an individual basis, such as through ActBlue.
But in order to build a movement we need more than just elected officials, we need direction, and a direction that can not be derailed by politicians who are looking to split the difference between what is best for the majority of Americans and what their special interest campaign donors want in return for their donations, and therefore I would like to introduce to you an organization that I think deserves some good support . . .
You see, I found this story at VelvetRevolution.us
Velvet Revolution is waging a battle against Clarence Thomas for his corruption, it has Don Seigelman as a contributing writer, they are fighting against the GOP's gutting of voter's rights nationwide, these are the types of organizations we should be helping out and telling our friends about.
From Velvet Revolution's About Us page
The left has not been able to develop the necessary tactics to win this battle for the heart of America, despite the fact that there are many fine progressive organizations with many members. The leadership of the Democratic Party has generally engaged in a pattern of appeasement, and few organizations have had the clout or backbone to go toe to toe with the extreme right. In many major battles recently, the Democrats have rolled over, and the result is a frightening world of perpetual war and civil strife, both literally and figuratively, led by politicians who are out of touch with regular Americans.
VR was conceived to fight for the Constitutional rights of all American citizens and to fight the corrupt tactics of government and corporations.
I don't get paid by these guys, I just really dig what they are doing and think they should be getting more support. When it comes to push versus shove compromise is not an option. This is class war, and we the people are getting our asses kicked by Corporations and the very very wealthy. Sooner or later, we are going to have to pick a fight, and I am tired of waiting for politicians who want more donations to do it for me.
There are some good politicians out there who deserve our support, and their are some good organizations out there who do the opposite of what Karl Rove does. If you want to beat Karl Rove you can't be more like him, you have to join forces with those who are against him, and if the Democratic party can't figure that out we will have to drag them kicking and screaming into the reality where the needs of the many matter more than the needs of the special interests. I will support those individuals and organizations that FIGHT BACK against the Class War of the Super Rich. I hope you do too.
So send Velvet Revolution some love, because money does make a difference in the fight for the working class, but we should be giving it only to staunch allies and not those who would play both sides of the game, as the Democratic Establishment has chosen to do by playing the new Citizens United game. They should've been fighting back, not playing along.
Donate to VelvetRevolution.US here
You can also "like" Velvet Revolution on Facebook here
Or you can follow Velvet Revolution on Twitter here @VR_Tweet
Peace and love to all, except for Karl Rove. To hell with Karl Rove
You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca
Peace