News that the IRS targeted conservative organizations for special review as part of the non-profit certification process is deeply concerning. It reminds me of the Bush-era IRS investigation of the United Church of Christ. The Obama Administration needs to quickly fix the problem but much of this is the messy result of the Citizens United court decision and thus the fix will require an overhaul of corrupt campaign finance laws. The Washington Post notes:
Campaign reform groups have been pressing the IRS for several years to conduct greater oversight of nonprofits formed in the wake of the Citizens United case, given that many have become heavily involved in elections.
“But this isn’t the type of enforcement we want,” said Paul Ryan, a senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. “We want nonpartisan, non-biased enforcement.”
Our government should work better than this. No one should be targed simply for their political views. At the same time, our election system should not be the rigged, corrupt system put in place by Citizens United.
