Vote to take place on limiting political activity of tax-exempt groups

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department proposed a series of regulations that would limit the political activity of tax-exempt social welfare groups. The Obama administration is now supporting these rules, as the anonymous donations to social welfare groups continue to make a large impact on elections. The IRS has come under criticism for its support of stricter limitations on conservative groups, and many groups are questioning how the amount of political activity will be regulated.

Donald Tobin, a professor at Ohio State University commented: “It’s clear that the IRS is treading slowly into the waters, knowing that it’s fraught with peril, and that they are starting to get ideas from people, which is exactly what they should be doing. One of the big problems you had in this area is the IRS couldn’t win. There are people like me who complain they haven’t been enforcing enough. There are others who say they’ve been unfairly targeted.”

Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., added: “There continues to be an ongoing investigation, with many documents yet to be uncovered, into how the IRS systematically targeted and abused conservative-leaning groups. Before rushing forward with new rules, especially ones that appear to make it harder to engage in public debate, I would hope Treasury would let all the facts come out first – something they could achieve by fully cooperating with Congress in the investigation.”