By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--January 23, 2014
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A collection of perhaps 1,500 right-leaning players in the entertainment industry, Friends of Abe keeps a low profile and fiercely protects its membership list, to avoid what it presumes would result in a sort of 21st-century blacklist, albeit on the other side of the partisan spectrum.
Now the Internal Revenue Service is reviewing the group’s activities in connection with its application for tax-exempt status. Last week, federal tax authorities presented the group with a 10-point request for detailed information about its meetings with politicians like Paul D. Ryan, Thaddeus McCotter and Herman Cain, among other matters, according to people briefed on the inquiry. Officials particularly wanted to know why a speech introducing Mr. Cain at a Friends of Abe event in November 2011 — when he was a presidential candidate — should not be regarded as potentially prohibited political campaign support.I'm not sure who these Ryan and McCotter guys are, but that "Herman Cain" fellow sounds familiar. Maybe that's because, for whatever reason, he seems to scare the bejeezus out our good friends at the Internal Revenue Service. This is hardly the first time a visit from the boss brought about the taxman's wrath. Far from being content to conduct what most would consider an ordinary investigation into potential tax exempt status, it seems Obama's IRS would like a bit more information. According to the NYT's sources, they'd very much enjoy having a list of those actors and actresses who aren't toeing the Democrat line:
Those people said that the application had been under review for roughly two years, and had at one point included a demand — which was not met — for enhanced access to the group’s security-protected website, which would have revealed member names. Tax experts said that an organization’s membership list is information that would not typically be required. The I.R.S. already had access to the site’s basic levels, a request it considers routine for applications for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.In other words, the IRS wants the group to "name names" of known Hollywood conservatives. Welcome to the new McCarthyism. "Are you now, or have you ever been, a Republican?"
In the request last week, tax officials combined broad questions about membership criteria and social events, according to the people briefed on the matter, with pointed queries about meetings with a Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Kevin James, and Republican politicians like Mr. Ryan, Mr. Cain and Rick Santorum.How long do you think the group's membership info would remain secret once it was in the hands of the Obama administration? If you guessed anything more than 30 seconds, you're either very generous or very naive. As for Friends of Abe, the group seeks only the same kind of benefits that are already afforded to Hollywood's various left-wing non-profits.
The group is not currently designated tax-exempt, but it behaves as a nonprofit and has almost no formal structure, people briefed on the matter said. The I.R.S. review will determine whether Friends of Abe receives tax-exempt status that would provide legal footing similar to that of the People for the American Way Foundation, a progressive group fostered by the television producer Norman Lear and others.The IRS is currently refusing to comment on the matter. We'll keep an eye on this one, and make sure to update as information becomes available. Meanwhile, we'll keep trying to figure out why the IRS is so afraid of little old Mr. Cain.
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