Liars, Spinners & Bastards
I subscribe to a lot of news, research and advocacy e-mail services because I want to a) get my news from a variety of perspectives and sources and b) stay abreast of issues being advocated by both liberal and conservative sources.
One of the sites I get e-mail from is the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), an ultraconservative, Christian Right organization that is pretty much a puppet organization for Pat Robertson and his 700 Club ministries. The specific reason I subscribe to this organization is because it has had a powerful lobbyist presence among the ultraconservative GOP presence on Capital Hill and the West Wing.
In today's e-mail I received a notice that some reform legislation proposed by Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, would undermine the status of thousands of churches, synagogues and not-for-profit organizations right to form grassroot campaigns to change laws for positive reasons.
The e-mail specifically stated:
As much as I am more liberal than conservative, except perhaps in fiscal accountability, I am still a devout Catholic and belief sincerely that churches, synagogues, mosques, not-for-profits and grassroot organizations are inherently endowed with the right to associate, organize and address our political leadership on moral, social, ethical and, to a limited extent, political matters. Not-for-profits and grassroot organizations have a specific function in redressing grievances and providing direction in legislation that address the issues that these organizations deal with on a daily basis. Religious leaders and their congregations have a specific function in discussing and addressing moral and ethical issues in our society. Doing either function requires the ability to communicate with our political leaders in an unobstructed manner.
It is already disturbing that so many congress members will not allow direct e-mail from citizens and use e-mail handlers to screen out not only non-constituents, but people that would care to communicate with them on a regular basis. However, when a lobbyist, agent of a foreign government, or some other influence peddler seeks access, they are given priority status. The lobbyists walk the halls of the Capital Hill in an area once dubbed "Gucci Gulch" because of the wealthy lobbyists and their clients that walk through that hallway, always seeking--and too often receiving--the attention of representatives, senators and their staff.
So, when I received this e-mail, I sent out some requests for info among my network of colleagues of both the conservative and liberal ilk. I included links on the ACLJ Executive Summary Analysis and the full text of the ACLJ analysis of H.R. 4682 (Full Text of House Bill) and S.1. (Full Text of Senate Bill). I didn't have time to read the full text of either the House or Senate proposal, but the ACLJ analysis made some startling claims that concerned me because I am a member of the ACLU and I thoroughly and vehemently defend the Bill of Rights, especially the First Amendment.
So I began investigating and I found that the spin provided by the ACLJ is at best alarming and misleading. Jay Sekulow, the de facto head of the ACLJ, and Chief Counsel, spun this in a deliberately alarming manner. In fact, the vast majority of organizations, including churches and other religious institutions, would barely be touched by the provisions of this bill, in either the Senate or the House version. Those institutions and organizations that have over 500 politically active members, or spend amounts over $50,000 annually to affect political campaigns, would be required to report their activities in a similar manner as required by the IRS. In addition, if a religious organization, of any denomination or faith, were to act in the manner described in the bill, it would be required to surrender its not-for-profit/tax exempt status by the IRS anyway.
In effect, Sekulow and the ACLJ is using overly emotional appeals, straw man arguments, overly broad statements, misleading statements and red herrings to appeal to those who would be concerned about these issues. Of course, Sekulow goes on to seek to rob the recipients of this e-mail of funds because of the "urgency" of these matters. Of course, there isn't any genuine urgency at all. These bills were proposed in the previous congress and have been going through a process of delays and amendments under the former GOP congress and in accordance with the Religious Right agenda. The GOP-led congress played with these reforms for months to delay the process of assuring a level playing field. Now that the Dems are in control, and actively seeking to push some sort of reform agenda through congress, the Christian Right is reacting to its loss of influence on Capital Hill by lying, spinning and being hypocritical bastards.
Some better analyses of these bills are provided by the Clean Up Washington group and the Alliance for Justice and their Non-Profit Advocacy Network (NPAN) that holds lobbying and organizing seminars for not-for-profit organizations, as well as their Advocacy Lawyer and Accountants Network (ALAN) that focuses on issues for lawyers and accountants dealing with not-for-profit organizations.
In stark contrast to the analysis provided by Sekulow and his ultra-conservative Christian Right bias, the Alliance for Justice offers the following:
This legislation might affect some organizations like MoveOn.Org, which spends a lot of money and represents the more extreme liberal side of the political spectrum (just short of communism in some issues), but most churches, religious institutions, grassroot organizations, and not-for-profits will remain largely untouched.
But I have to question why the Religious Right/Christian Right is spinning this matter in the twisted way they have chosen to do so. Additionally, given the "religious" nature of the ACLJ, as well as its "legal" nature, one has to question the hypocritcal spin it offered... never mind the urgent demand for money to defend these issues. But then again, the ACLJ does this sort of thing when it comes to defending civil liberties as well.
One of the sites I get e-mail from is the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), an ultraconservative, Christian Right organization that is pretty much a puppet organization for Pat Robertson and his 700 Club ministries. The specific reason I subscribe to this organization is because it has had a powerful lobbyist presence among the ultraconservative GOP presence on Capital Hill and the West Wing.
In today's e-mail I received a notice that some reform legislation proposed by Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, would undermine the status of thousands of churches, synagogues and not-for-profit organizations right to form grassroot campaigns to change laws for positive reasons.
The e-mail specifically stated:
Sitting in front of our new Congress, under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, there is a proposal to designate churches, pastors, religious denominations, public interest organizations, and other non-profit groups as ''lobbyists.''
Currently, lobbyists must register with the government - this new bill expands the definition of ''lobbyist'' to include any church or organization that strives to influence public opinion!
As much as I am more liberal than conservative, except perhaps in fiscal accountability, I am still a devout Catholic and belief sincerely that churches, synagogues, mosques, not-for-profits and grassroot organizations are inherently endowed with the right to associate, organize and address our political leadership on moral, social, ethical and, to a limited extent, political matters. Not-for-profits and grassroot organizations have a specific function in redressing grievances and providing direction in legislation that address the issues that these organizations deal with on a daily basis. Religious leaders and their congregations have a specific function in discussing and addressing moral and ethical issues in our society. Doing either function requires the ability to communicate with our political leaders in an unobstructed manner.
It is already disturbing that so many congress members will not allow direct e-mail from citizens and use e-mail handlers to screen out not only non-constituents, but people that would care to communicate with them on a regular basis. However, when a lobbyist, agent of a foreign government, or some other influence peddler seeks access, they are given priority status. The lobbyists walk the halls of the Capital Hill in an area once dubbed "Gucci Gulch" because of the wealthy lobbyists and their clients that walk through that hallway, always seeking--and too often receiving--the attention of representatives, senators and their staff.
So, when I received this e-mail, I sent out some requests for info among my network of colleagues of both the conservative and liberal ilk. I included links on the ACLJ Executive Summary Analysis and the full text of the ACLJ analysis of H.R. 4682 (Full Text of House Bill) and S.1. (Full Text of Senate Bill). I didn't have time to read the full text of either the House or Senate proposal, but the ACLJ analysis made some startling claims that concerned me because I am a member of the ACLU and I thoroughly and vehemently defend the Bill of Rights, especially the First Amendment.
So I began investigating and I found that the spin provided by the ACLJ is at best alarming and misleading. Jay Sekulow, the de facto head of the ACLJ, and Chief Counsel, spun this in a deliberately alarming manner. In fact, the vast majority of organizations, including churches and other religious institutions, would barely be touched by the provisions of this bill, in either the Senate or the House version. Those institutions and organizations that have over 500 politically active members, or spend amounts over $50,000 annually to affect political campaigns, would be required to report their activities in a similar manner as required by the IRS. In addition, if a religious organization, of any denomination or faith, were to act in the manner described in the bill, it would be required to surrender its not-for-profit/tax exempt status by the IRS anyway.
In effect, Sekulow and the ACLJ is using overly emotional appeals, straw man arguments, overly broad statements, misleading statements and red herrings to appeal to those who would be concerned about these issues. Of course, Sekulow goes on to seek to rob the recipients of this e-mail of funds because of the "urgency" of these matters. Of course, there isn't any genuine urgency at all. These bills were proposed in the previous congress and have been going through a process of delays and amendments under the former GOP congress and in accordance with the Religious Right agenda. The GOP-led congress played with these reforms for months to delay the process of assuring a level playing field. Now that the Dems are in control, and actively seeking to push some sort of reform agenda through congress, the Christian Right is reacting to its loss of influence on Capital Hill by lying, spinning and being hypocritical bastards.
Some better analyses of these bills are provided by the Clean Up Washington group and the Alliance for Justice and their Non-Profit Advocacy Network (NPAN) that holds lobbying and organizing seminars for not-for-profit organizations, as well as their Advocacy Lawyer and Accountants Network (ALAN) that focuses on issues for lawyers and accountants dealing with not-for-profit organizations.
In stark contrast to the analysis provided by Sekulow and his ultra-conservative Christian Right bias, the Alliance for Justice offers the following:
A number of nonprofits have been receiving action alert notices from organizations falsely claiming that legislation currently being considered by the Senate to amend the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act will restrict the amount of grassroots lobbying an organization may do, or that the organization will be compelled to comply with all federal lobbying disclosure laws, including registration with Congress and the filing of quarterly reports to Congress. These action alerts are inaccurate.
If the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 (S.1) passed in its current form, nonprofits will end up reporting under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act little more information than they already currently track for and report to the IRS.
Most importantly, the addition of the grassroots lobbying provision will not change the registration thresholds under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act. Organizations will determine whether they meet the threshold based on their federal direct lobbying activity. The legislation wisely does not cumulate the direct and grassroots lobbying expenses to determine the threshold level for registering and reporting. Therefore, the provision will not cause any new groups to start reporting unless they first meet the thresholds for registration through direct lobbying at the federal level.
This legislation might affect some organizations like MoveOn.Org, which spends a lot of money and represents the more extreme liberal side of the political spectrum (just short of communism in some issues), but most churches, religious institutions, grassroot organizations, and not-for-profits will remain largely untouched.
But I have to question why the Religious Right/Christian Right is spinning this matter in the twisted way they have chosen to do so. Additionally, given the "religious" nature of the ACLJ, as well as its "legal" nature, one has to question the hypocritcal spin it offered... never mind the urgent demand for money to defend these issues. But then again, the ACLJ does this sort of thing when it comes to defending civil liberties as well.
posted by Jim Downey at 8:03 PM
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