IRS should investigate Citizen Action

[Guest Guest]

"In 1954, Congress revised the tax code, at the urging of then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson, that prohibited nonprofit or 501©(3) organizations from participating in political activities or endorsing candidates."

 

So when will the IRS and the State of New York look into Mary Clark and Citizen Action of the New York Southern Tier Chapter, a 501©(3) organization, and their politcal activities?

 

We have employee/non-employee/VISTA worker/non VISTA worker/City Councilwoman Lea Webb so blurring the lines we have no idea where one organization ends and another begins, even when she took the Hatch Oath to avoid such conflicts.

 

We have her using Neighborhood Assemblies for the benefit or both Citizen Action and her own personal political gain.

 

Citizen Action is the political call center for all Mary Clark's political candidates.

 

If ever an organization needed an investigation it is this bunch of welfare scammers and felons.

 

There would be enough here to keep the IRS and the NYS Attorney Gernal busy for years.

 

 

Politics & religion: Church battles IRS investigation

Officials deny synod in Conn. constituted political activity

 

 

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

Permissible:

Share religious teachings on human life, rights, justice and peace.

Address the moral/human dimension of public issues.

Apply religious values to legislation and public policy issues.

Invite ALL candidates to a public forum or debate sponsored by a religious organization.

Voter registration campaign.

Encourage adherents to vote.

 

Not allowed:

Endorse or oppose candidates.

Distribute partisan campaign literature.

Arrange for groups to work for a candidate.

Invite only selected candidates to address a religious-sponsored event.

Conduct voter registration slanted toward a candidate or party.

Distribute a biased candidate survey or a single-issue survey.

Source: Adapted from guidelines prepared by the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse

Related news from the Web

Latest headlines by topic:

 

By William Moyer

Press & Sun-Bulletin

 

Several local clergy who heard Sen. Barack Obama speak at his denomination's national meeting last summer said the Democratic presidential candidate's speech contained no political statements that warrant the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny into the United Church of Church for possibly engaging in "political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."

 

The speech was merely the saga of one high-profile man's personal Christian story, said three UCC pastors at Southern Tier churches.

 

"It certainly wasn't a 'vote-for-me' kind of thing," said the Rev. Steven Johnson, co-pastor of the Maine Federated Church, who attended the 50th anniversary General Synod last June in Hartford, Conn., where Obama -- a 20-year member of the denomination -- was a speaker. "In the general synod hall, no one was allowed to wear an 'Obama' button ... at no point did the synod vote to endorse him."

 

But in late February, the IRS said the Illinois senator's speech to 10,000 people at the June 23 session, as well as Obama-staffed propaganda tables outside the Hartford Civic Center, raised enough red flags for the government to see whether the national event violated the "absolute prohibition" against religious organiza- tions getting involved in political campaigns.

 

"(Obama) only reflected on his personal story of faith and how that influences public discussion on issues that face Americans today," said the Rev. David Heckman, pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Newark Valley, who also heard the speech. "I do not believe that he stepped over any boundaries that would have meant he was asking people to support him."

 

For now, local UCC congregations -- including 13 with 2,100 members in Broome, Chenango and Tioga counties -- will probably not feel any direct impact of the IRS probe, which The Associated Press reported could take years to resolve.

 

If the government does rule that the denomination violated the law, the IRS could levy a fine against the national church. That probably would need to be funded by its 1.4 million church members. At the extreme, the IRS could revoke the denomination's tax-exempt status -- a "death penalty" because adherents would not be allowed to deduct contributions to the church on their income tax returns.

 

Until now, one of the highest profile cases involving revocation of a religious organization's tax-exempt status involved the now-defunct Pierce Creek Church in Conklin in the mid-1990s. IRS agents yanked the church's tax-exempt status after it doled out money for anti-Bill Clinton advertisements in two national publications before the 1992 presidential election. The ruling, which was upheld on appeal, became a "landmark" victory for the government's power to impose the ultimate penalty on religious organizations. Pierce Creek disbanded, but later largely resurrected itself as Landmark Church in Binghamton.

 

UCC officials don't expect a similar outcome because Obama, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago -- which describes itself as "unashamedly black" -- spoke only about his Christian faith and didn't engage in campaign-related rhetoric in his synod speech.

 

"There were no signs, buttons, balloons or any other form of propaganda within the walls of the convention center," said the Rev. Kelly Shiflett, pastor of the United Church of Christ in Sherburne. "The national church assured us that they were in contact with the federal government from the very beginning of the process in the attempt to comply with all regulations."

 

'Disturbing' probe

 

The denomination's national president called the IRS investigation "disturbing," but the Rev. John H. Thomas said the UCC, which has nearly 6,000 congregations, will eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing.

 

In fact, national officials are so confident of vindication that spokeswoman Barbara Powell at UCC headquarters in Cleveland wouldn't even discuss possible consequences if the IRS would revoke its tax-exempt status. On most issues, the UCC is considered one of Protestantism's most liberal denominations. It has a national policy officially welcoming all people regardless of sexual orientation to its churches and affiliated organizations. It also ordains practicing homosexuals into the ministry.

 

"This IRS investigation is politically motivated," said the Rev. Arthur Suggs, pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Binghamton. "Even though the case is without merit, by simply being under investigation casts doubt in the mind of many ..."

 

Still, the national denomination must devote significant resources to reply to the undisclosed questions in the IRS inquiry by March 27. At one point, national leaders issued a financial appeal for a legal defense fund, expecting its defense would run into six figures. Within a few days in late February and early March, the appeal raised almost $60,000.

 

Late last week, though, the WilmerHale law firm of Washington, D.C., agreed to take the case without charging its customary fee.

 

Someone complained

 

IRS agents usually start sniffing around after getting a formal complaint, but the agency doesn't identify the complainant or discuss specifics.

 

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog of potential political activities in religious organizations, is a frequent complainant, but insists it did not file the complaint against the UCC. Since 1992, Americans United has asked the IRS to probe five dozen incidents of what it perceived as "church electioneering."

 

"We looked into the (UCC) situation and did not see a violation of IRS rules," the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said in a news release.

 

Suggs has no doubt partisan politics played a role in the timing of the investigation.

 

"It is nothing more than the Bush administration's attempt to use government resources for political ends," he said. "It is true to form that they would choose to use those resources to damage the reputation of a candidate and an entire denomination is the collateral damage."

 

For the 2006 elections, the IRS investigated 100 nonprofit organizations and agents found 26 improper activities, but the agency didn't revoke any organization's tax-exempt status. Two years earlier, though, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of five organizations after examining 110 cases.

 

In 1954, Congress revised the tax code, at the urging of then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson, that prohibited nonprofit or 501©(3) organizations from participating in political activities or endorsing candidates. The law was expanded in the 1980s to include a ban on opposing candidates. The courts have ruled the ban does not violate the Constitution, saying the government cannot subsidize partisan political activity through tax-exempt status.

 

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...EWS01/803150330

 

[Mouser]

Hey Ed, what, isn't good enough to just post your comments over on the PSB site....you have to bring them here? ( yea I read them there to - couldn't help myself, needed a good laugh over my java this morning)

 

You clearly show that you are self-centered demanding person

 

Why don't you go finish that project your suppose to be working on and stop wasting my tax dollars with all this crap?

 

I guess you must think no one reads the PSB online. We do, only because we need to be reminded how BIAS they are, like you.

[Guest Garo Kachadourian]

Hey Ed, what, isn't good enough to just post your comments over on the PSB site....you have to bring them here? ( yea I read them there to - couldn't help myself, needed a good laugh over my java this morning)

 

You clearly show that you are self-centered demanding person

 

Why don't you go finish that project your suppose to be working on and stop wasting my tax dollars with all this crap?

 

I guess you must think no one reads the PSB online. We do, only because we need to be reminded how BIAS they are, like you.

 

First of all Mouser I like Ed to post about these important issues if its Ed? Citizen Action is is ruining the election process in this community and needs to be stopped. Citizen Action is using the elderly by minipulation their are not very nice people.

 

[Mouser]

First of all Mouser I like Ed to post about these important issues if its Ed? Citizen Action is is ruining the election process in this community and needs to be stopped. Citizen Action is using the elderly by minipulation their are not very nice people.

 

 

My my. I feel sorry for you that you feel this way. Everyone seems to complain about Citizen Action. Well I have just ONE question for you then.

 

WHY IN THE H-E-double L did you and the rest, allow them to get into power to begin with ?

 

You all knew about this group before elections, yet did nothing to stop it. While they were out getting people to the polls to vote for them by out and out lying, providing transportation to and from the polls, you all were sitting back in your easy chairs with the mindset " oh they're not going to win" and now complain because they did while you were enjoying you shots of ego!!!

 

That's what I like about the people who complain. They sit and talk about what could be done, yet not one single person gets up off their FAT BEHIND and does anything about it.

 

Maybe it's time to take and get up off your big lazy FAT behinds and go do something about it. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder then words and actions are not as easy as words.

 

The only reason Citizen Action is where it's at today is because they ran off the mouth to the mind-less ( just what it means - people who haven't got a clue on how to make up their own mind ) who sit around all day smoking and drinking our tax dollars up.

 

Who's to BLAME ? EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO IS COMPLAINING NOW ! ! ! ! THAT's WHO ! ! ! !

 

You don't like it --- CHANGE IT ! ! ! !

[Guest Guest]

Garo actually accepted Citizen Action's endorsement when he ran for office, knowing full well what they were all about.

 

 

 

[Guest Garo Kachadourian]

Garo actually accepted Citizen Action's endorsement when he ran for office, knowing full well what they were all about.

 

That is totally true, I was lead to believe they had a good agenda and worked hard for you in an election along with helping people not using them as I have seen. They did nothing for me NOTHING in my first run and even in the second run. Funny in the second run I was endorsed by them as well on their line. When I lost the Demoratic primary Citizen Action started sending out ads for Teri Rennia my oppponet while I had their line.

 

Thats why I want nothing to do with them, talk of hypocrites and back stabbers they are not to be trusted. In Pat Russo's election, Citizen Action and Lea Webb were warned not to be on the Woodburn Court property when in fact they waited for the building superintendent to leave at around 3:00 pm. They then canvased and took by van to the polls as well as escorted them to the voting booths these poor seniors. These people are vicious and will stop at nothing even to post on this site to counter the posts aganist them like the one above. These senior's at Woodburn Court and the one accross from Little Venice whom I spoke with, told me over the phone as I made calls for Pat Russo they were being intimidated by these Lea Webb supporters (Citizen Action).

 

 

 

[Ed Arzouian]

Hey Ed, what, isn't good enough to just post your comments over on the PSB site....you have to bring them here? ( yea I read them there to - couldn't help myself, needed a good laugh over my java this morning)

 

You clearly show that you are self-centered demanding person

 

Why don't you go finish that project your suppose to be working on and stop wasting my tax dollars with all this crap?

 

I guess you must think no one reads the PSB online. We do, only because we need to be reminded how BIAS they are, like you.

 

No, Mouser, it is not good enough to post only PSB for a number of reason.

 

First, those stories last a day and get sent archives after 14 days they are no longer accessible without paying for them.

 

Secondly, we have no control over the PSB site but more control over this site. For instance we can edit posts on this site.

 

Third, because the stories are archived we can discuss and debate them longer.

 

Fourth, more people see the stories and comments here.

 

Fifth, we can add mor information here. We can add photos, tables, formatting, color and many other featurews unavailable on PSB.

 

Sixth, and most importantly, I'll post where the hell I want. If you don't like it don't read.

 

Seventh, I do not happen to be working on any project this Saturday morning at 10 AM, are you?

 

Lastly, what does you comment have to do with how Mary Clark and Citizen Action are abusing their 501 C 3 tax-exempt status?

 

I certainly never "Allowed" them to get into power and I have done many things to see they are thrown out. Many more things than just posting here. Believe me.

 

[Guest Trump]

Not allowed:

Endorse or oppose candidates.

Distribute partisan campaign literature.

Arrange for groups to work for a candidate.

Invite only selected candidates to address a religious-sponsored event.

Conduct voter registration slanted toward a candidate or party.

Distribute a biased candidate survey or a single-issue survey.

 

Citizen Action is guilty of all of these mentioned items.

 

[Guest Guest]

Citizen Action is guilty of all of these mentioned items.

 

 

Of course they are guilty of all those things and more.

 

The NY AG's office is aware of much of this, yet they do not appear to have acted on any of it.

[Guest Guest]

Citizen Action is guilty of all of these mentioned items.

 

Isn't Citizen Action heavily connected to Mayor Matt Ryan and his election!! How far does this corruption go??

 

[Guest Garo Kachadourian]

Isn't Citizen Action heavily connected to Mayor Matt Ryan and his election!! How far does this corruption go??

 

 

Farther then one would think!

 

I have just learned something today that maybe of interest to the taxpayers of Binghamton, Mayor Ryan is considering closing then selling the Westside Main Street Fire Station to Tom's Coffee next door.

This maybe not be far fetched as it sounds and with Barb Daley a Citizen Action member and a City employee who still has an interest in Tom's coffee and stands to gain from the deal.

I don't give a darn if she screams to high heaven claiming she's not owner of Tom's or behind this lastest hair brained idea! She is and will try to gain from this move.

 

But I would not put it past them to think they can get away with this scam without the public's out cry to stop them!!

[Guest Guest]

Doe's Citizen Action do anything that is LEGAL???

 

Don't try to tell us about "vibrant" neighborhoods and their Assemblies, they are used only for Citizen Action's data collection for its politcal campaigns, like that of Lea Webb and Sean Massey. Only about 5 or 6 real residents ever attended the meetings and nothign happens in them. They discuss the planning of a possible sign that would cost $50 to make.

 

Economic Development Director Merry Harris lists a small one or two employee shop moving from Main Street to Court Street as "development". Painting a porch is considered the same and listed by her.

 

It is a joke.

 

Violent crime has risen 42% in 18 months under Matt Ryan and Citizen Action's "leadership". Is this the energy in the streets Mr. Strub was referring to?

 

Lea Webb and her friends at Citizen Action accompanied felon Davone Nealy, a Ryan campaign worker, to an Albany conference on public security to represent the City of Binghamton. Ryan and Citizen Action are imposing known feloins on the police and Neighborhood Watch group surveillance discussons.

 

This what the over 200 victims of violent crime in Binghamton every year see in the streets.

 

Violent crime in 2005 = 176 incidents.

Violent crime in 2006 = 206 incidents. (17% increase from 2005)

Violent crime in half of 2007 - 125 incidents. (21.3% increase from first half of 2006, projected total 249)

Keep in mind violent crime in the rest of Broome County went down 5% in the same time period

 

Thanks to Matt Ryan and Citizen Action violent crime has risen 42% in 18 months. Larceny has risen 22.5% in one year. Business taxes have risen almost 15% in two years. Crime is going down elsewhere in Broome County It was going down in the City of Binghamton before Matt Ryan took office.

 

"I'd like to communicate my frame of mind to the DA before going to court."- Matt Ryan, Mirandized in his sworn testimony to Vestal police leading to his conviction.

[Guest Guest]

Three of the four candidates backed by Citizen Action, Lea Webb, Ed Collins and Charles Kramer, won their districts. A fourth candidate, Sean Massey, could still win a race in the 5th District against incumbent Republican Chris Papastrat. Papastrat is holding onto a seven-vote lead, but with at least 70 absentee ballots yet to be counted, the results could easily change. The ballots will be counted Nov. 15.

 

Ryan actually hung out with Citizen Action election night:

 

The mayor’s top appointees, campaign staff, Citizen Action supporters and a handful of AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers packed Citizen Action’s North Side offices Tuesday night. The mayor’s choice of venues seems to indicate a shift in power away from the two major parties toward the Working Families Party and an agenda Citizen Action Regional Director Mary Clark describes as “a people’s agenda.”

 

“It’s about rebuilding our neighborhoods,” Clark said. “It’s about including people. It’s about getting health care for everybody. It’s about education for our children.”

 

How those policies will play into the city’s future is still clouded in speculation. But it’s likely Ryan will have an easier time bringing his policies to fruition when the new council takes office Jan. 1.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

What have Kramer, Webb and Massey done as city council members to "get healthcare for everybody?"

 

The city split off from the school district decades ago..so the city no longer administers the school district...so what have Webb, Kramer and Massey done to make sure "our children" get educated? Are they offering legislation regarding curriculum?

 

It's the same with Ryan...when he ran for office, he promised to lower energy bills and get prescription drug coverage for seniors..remember that one?

 

Citizen Action is one big LIE!

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Hey, this was one of my old posts!

 

 

Doe's Citizen Action do anything that is LEGAL???

 

Don't try to tell us about "vibrant" neighborhoods and their Assemblies, they are used only for Citizen Action's data collection for its politcal campaigns, like that of Lea Webb and Sean Massey. Only about 5 or 6 real residents ever attended the meetings and nothign happens in them. They discuss the planning of a possible sign that would cost $50 to make.

 

Economic Development Director Merry Harris lists a small one or two employee shop moving from Main Street to Court Street as "development". Painting a porch is considered the same and listed by her.

 

It is a joke.

 

Violent crime has risen 42% in 18 months under Matt Ryan and Citizen Action's "leadership". Is this the energy in the streets Mr. Strub was referring to?

 

Lea Webb and her friends at Citizen Action accompanied felon Davone Nealy, a Ryan campaign worker, to an Albany conference on public security to represent the City of Binghamton. Ryan and Citizen Action are imposing known feloins on the police and Neighborhood Watch group surveillance discussons.

 

This what the over 200 victims of violent crime in Binghamton every year see in the streets.

 

Violent crime in 2005 = 176 incidents.

Violent crime in 2006 = 206 incidents. (17% increase from 2005)

Violent crime in half of 2007 - 125 incidents. (21.3% increase from first half of 2006, projected total 249)

Keep in mind violent crime in the rest of Broome County went down 5% in the same time period

 

Thanks to Matt Ryan and Citizen Action violent crime has risen 42% in 18 months. Larceny has risen 22.5% in one year. Business taxes have risen almost 15% in two years. Crime is going down elsewhere in Broome County It was going down in the City of Binghamton before Matt Ryan took office.

 

"I'd like to communicate my frame of mind to the DA before going to court."- Matt Ryan, Mirandized in his sworn testimony to Vestal police leading to his conviction.

 

[Guest Guest]

Hey, this was one of my old posts!

 

Are you serious: An old BCVoice post: That is not where I got it from, I GOOGLED Citizen Action Binghamton and picked that up off of the INTERNET!!!!

[Guest Guest]

Are you serious: An old BCVoice post: That is not where I got it from, I GOOGLED Citizen Action Binghamton and picked that up off of the INTERNET!!!!

 

 

Good. But I wrote it and posted it here or on the old site!

 

I guess it is still floating in cyberspace.

 

Cool!

 

That is exactly what people should see when they Google Citizen Action.

[Guest Guest]

Good. But I wrote it and posted it here or on the old site!

 

I guess it is still floating in cyberspace.

 

Cool!

 

That is exactly what people should see when they Google Citizen Action.

 

S-H-I-T

 

[Guest Guest]

Straight from the Citizen Action of NY website-(emphasis mine)

 

"Please Note: because of the essential grassroots lobbying we do on education, after-school programs, health care, living wage, campaign finance reform and affordable public transit, contributions are not tax deductible. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to our research and education affiliate, the Public Policy and Education Fund, please click here to send us an email."

 

 

http://www.citizenactionny.org/join/join.html

 

I would say they are probably a 501 © 4 abnd their research dept. is probably a 501 © 3. I wish people would do a little research

[Guest Guest]

Straight from the Citizen Action of NY website-(emphasis mine)

 

"Please Note: because of the essential grassroots lobbying we do on education, after-school programs, health care, living wage, campaign finance reform and affordable public transit, contributions are not tax deductible. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to our research and education affiliate, the Public Policy and Education Fund, please click here to send us an email."

 

 

http://www.citizenactionny.org/join/join.html

 

I would say they are probably a 501 © 4 abnd their research dept. is probably a 501 © 3. I wish people would do a little research

PS The Southern Tier Citizen Action is part of a larger state organization which is also a member of a larger national organization. I think they would know Tax Code!

[Guest Guest]

Sure they know it and they know how to abuse it.

 

Being a charitible cause and being tax-exempt are not the same thing.

[Guest Barb Fiala]

"In 1954, Congress revised the tax code, at the urging of then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson, that prohibited nonprofit or 501©(3) organizations from participating in political activities or endorsing candidates."

 

So when will the IRS and the State of New York look into Mary Clark and Citizen Action of the New York Southern Tier Chapter, a 501©(3) organization, and their politcal activities?

 

We have employee/non-employee/VISTA worker/non VISTA worker/City Councilwoman Lea Webb so blurring the lines we have no idea where one organization ends and another begins, even when she took the Hatch Oath to avoid such conflicts.

 

We have her using Neighborhood Assemblies for the benefit or both Citizen Action and her own personal political gain.

 

Citizen Action is the political call center for all Mary Clark's political candidates.

 

If ever an organization needed an investigation it is this bunch of welfare scammers and felons.

 

There would be enough here to keep the IRS and the NYS Attorney Gernal busy for years.

 

 

Politics & religion: Church battles IRS investigation

Officials deny synod in Conn. constituted political activity

 

 

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

Permissible:

Share religious teachings on human life, rights, justice and peace.

Address the moral/human dimension of public issues.

Apply religious values to legislation and public policy issues.

Invite ALL candidates to a public forum or debate sponsored by a religious organization.

Voter registration campaign.

Encourage adherents to vote.

 

Not allowed:

Endorse or oppose candidates.

Distribute partisan campaign literature.

Arrange for groups to work for a candidate.

Invite only selected candidates to address a religious-sponsored event.

Conduct voter registration slanted toward a candidate or party.

Distribute a biased candidate survey or a single-issue survey.

Source: Adapted from guidelines prepared by the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse

Related news from the Web

Latest headlines by topic:

 

By William Moyer

Press & Sun-Bulletin

 

Several local clergy who heard Sen. Barack Obama speak at his denomination's national meeting last summer said the Democratic presidential candidate's speech contained no political statements that warrant the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny into the United Church of Church for possibly engaging in "political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."

 

The speech was merely the saga of one high-profile man's personal Christian story, said three UCC pastors at Southern Tier churches.

 

"It certainly wasn't a 'vote-for-me' kind of thing," said the Rev. Steven Johnson, co-pastor of the Maine Federated Church, who attended the 50th anniversary General Synod last June in Hartford, Conn., where Obama -- a 20-year member of the denomination -- was a speaker. "In the general synod hall, no one was allowed to wear an 'Obama' button ... at no point did the synod vote to endorse him."

 

But in late February, the IRS said the Illinois senator's speech to 10,000 people at the June 23 session, as well as Obama-staffed propaganda tables outside the Hartford Civic Center, raised enough red flags for the government to see whether the national event violated the "absolute prohibition" against religious organiza- tions getting involved in political campaigns.

 

"(Obama) only reflected on his personal story of faith and how that influences public discussion on issues that face Americans today," said the Rev. David Heckman, pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Newark Valley, who also heard the speech. "I do not believe that he stepped over any boundaries that would have meant he was asking people to support him."

 

For now, local UCC congregations -- including 13 with 2,100 members in Broome, Chenango and Tioga counties -- will probably not feel any direct impact of the IRS probe, which The Associated Press reported could take years to resolve.

 

If the government does rule that the denomination violated the law, the IRS could levy a fine against the national church. That probably would need to be funded by its 1.4 million church members. At the extreme, the IRS could revoke the denomination's tax-exempt status -- a "death penalty" because adherents would not be allowed to deduct contributions to the church on their income tax returns.

 

Until now, one of the highest profile cases involving revocation of a religious organization's tax-exempt status involved the now-defunct Pierce Creek Church in Conklin in the mid-1990s. IRS agents yanked the church's tax-exempt status after it doled out money for anti-Bill Clinton advertisements in two national publications before the 1992 presidential election. The ruling, which was upheld on appeal, became a "landmark" victory for the government's power to impose the ultimate penalty on religious organizations. Pierce Creek disbanded, but later largely resurrected itself as Landmark Church in Binghamton.

 

UCC officials don't expect a similar outcome because Obama, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago -- which describes itself as "unashamedly black" -- spoke only about his Christian faith and didn't engage in campaign-related rhetoric in his synod speech.

 

"There were no signs, buttons, balloons or any other form of propaganda within the walls of the convention center," said the Rev. Kelly Shiflett, pastor of the United Church of Christ in Sherburne. "The national church assured us that they were in contact with the federal government from the very beginning of the process in the attempt to comply with all regulations."

 

'Disturbing' probe

 

The denomination's national president called the IRS investigation "disturbing," but the Rev. John H. Thomas said the UCC, which has nearly 6,000 congregations, will eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing.

 

In fact, national officials are so confident of vindication that spokeswoman Barbara Powell at UCC headquarters in Cleveland wouldn't even discuss possible consequences if the IRS would revoke its tax-exempt status. On most issues, the UCC is considered one of Protestantism's most liberal denominations. It has a national policy officially welcoming all people regardless of sexual orientation to its churches and affiliated organizations. It also ordains practicing homosexuals into the ministry.

 

"This IRS investigation is politically motivated," said the Rev. Arthur Suggs, pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Binghamton. "Even though the case is without merit, by simply being under investigation casts doubt in the mind of many ..."

 

Still, the national denomination must devote significant resources to reply to the undisclosed questions in the IRS inquiry by March 27. At one point, national leaders issued a financial appeal for a legal defense fund, expecting its defense would run into six figures. Within a few days in late February and early March, the appeal raised almost $60,000.

 

Late last week, though, the WilmerHale law firm of Washington, D.C., agreed to take the case without charging its customary fee.

 

Someone complained

 

IRS agents usually start sniffing around after getting a formal complaint, but the agency doesn't identify the complainant or discuss specifics.

 

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog of potential political activities in religious organizations, is a frequent complainant, but insists it did not file the complaint against the UCC. Since 1992, Americans United has asked the IRS to probe five dozen incidents of what it perceived as "church electioneering."

 

"We looked into the (UCC) situation and did not see a violation of IRS rules," the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said in a news release.

 

Suggs has no doubt partisan politics played a role in the timing of the investigation.

 

"It is nothing more than the Bush administration's attempt to use government resources for political ends," he said. "It is true to form that they would choose to use those resources to damage the reputation of a candidate and an entire denomination is the collateral damage."

 

For the 2006 elections, the IRS investigated 100 nonprofit organizations and agents found 26 improper activities, but the agency didn't revoke any organization's tax-exempt status. Two years earlier, though, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of five organizations after examining 110 cases.

 

In 1954, Congress revised the tax code, at the urging of then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson, that prohibited nonprofit or 501©(3) organizations from participating in political activities or endorsing candidates. The law was expanded in the 1980s to include a ban on opposing candidates. The courts have ruled the ban does not violate the Constitution, saying the government cannot subsidize partisan political activity through tax-exempt status.

 

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...EWS01/803150330

 

[Guest Dan Lamb]

Please forward this to HIGHER Government.....This BCVoice website is not the place for this "serious" investigation! Please help stop this LOCAL invasion of personal control of politics!

[Guest Guest]

Please forward this to HIGHER Government.....This BCVoice website is not the place for this "serious" investigation! Please help stop this LOCAL invasion of personal control of politics!

 

 

This or something like it plus other documentation is already in the hands of AG Andrew Cuomo and his Assistant Attorney General Karin Kunstler-Goldman. (William Kunstler's daughter)

 

Call or write her and remind her:

 

karin.goldman@oag.state.ny.us

charities.bureau@oag.state.ny.us

 

Binghamton

44 Hawley Street, 17th Floor

Binghamton, NY 13901-4433

(607) 721-8771

 

New York State Office of the Attorney General

Andrew M. Cuomo

Charities Bureau

120 Broadway, 3rd Floor

New York, New York 10271

(212) 416-8400 (phone)

(212) 416-8393 (fax)

 

The Capitol

Albany, NY 12224-0341

(518) 474-7330

 

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/complaints/html/comp_char.html

[Guest Guest]

The more people contact the AG's office the better.

 

While oyu are in touch with them, ask if it is aceptable to use state grant money and taxes for a $100,000 no-bid contract like that given to Plexicomm for the muni wif ssytem that does not work.