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| NY Times twitter |
6/16/14, "A Church-PAC Link Raises Questions in Mississippi," NY Times, Derek Willis, The Upshot
"The full-page advertisement in Mississippi Link, [bottom of pg.] a weekly newspaper aimed at black residents of Jackson, the state’s capital, urged readers to vote for Senator Thad Cochran in the June 3 Republican primary.
That
might be unremarkable except for one thing: The political action
committee that paid for the ad
“All Citizens for Mississippi” did not appear to exist at the time of the ad’s publication. Its registration as a super PAC
with the Federal Election Commission was posted online last week and
contains one important clue about its origins. All Citizens for
Mississippi shares an address with New Horizon Church International in Jackson and also names Jacqueline Vann, the church’s chief financial officer, as its treasurer.
If
church resources were used by the PAC, that could be “potentially
problematic" for the church, said Michael Toner, a partner at the Wiley
Rein law firm and a former F.E.C. chairman. “The people who are
associated with churches, you can be involved in politics, but need to
do so in your personal capacity. That’s the dividing line: Is it in
their personal capacity?”
The danger for the church is that it, like other I.R.S.-approved charities, could lose its tax status if it participates in a political campaign,
whether for or against a candidate. The advertisement appears to have
appeared around the same time the group’s F.E.C. registration form was
filled out, but the PAC has not filed an independent expenditure report
describing the expenditure or any reports listing its donors. An email
and a phone call to Ms. Vann at the church’s offices were not
immediately returned.
The
ad, with a big picture of a smiling Mr. Cochran, asked Democrats to
vote for him. It cited the senator as having received praise from
Democrats and Republicans alike for providing more than $18 million to
Mississippi’s historically black colleges and universities.
“The
decision on who is going to be our next senator is going to be made in
the republican primary,” the text at the bottom of the ad reads, keeping
the names of the political parties in lowercase. “We’re asking
democrats to cross over and vote in the republican primary to ensure our
community’s interest is heard.”
Mr. Cochran was unable to win a majority of votes in the Republican primary June 3. He faces Chris McDaniel, a state senator, in a June 24 runoff election."
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Derek Willis NY Times Twitter
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Derek Willis NY Times Twitter
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Filed for organization at Church address, 6/6/14:
An African-American church shilling for the
likes of Thad Cochran: Is there a better indication that electoral
politics is irreparably broken?"
Isn't it time to close the loophole for
'churches?' So many people are abusing the tax code; churches who want
to weigh in on politics and many more who just fraudulently claim to be a
"church." Even if they were cheating, why should religious
organizations be tax-exempt anyway? Do not they also get the advantages
of doing their business in America? If so, they should contribute."
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Comment: It's certainly a sign that politics of Haley Barbour and New York billionaires are irreparably broken.
Comment: It's certainly a sign that politics of Haley Barbour and New York billionaires are irreparably broken.
