progressive involvement

Identity dodge

Conservatives are falling all over themselves to claim they've been harrassed by the IRS.  Some outfit named Aleteia claims that a Catholic professor critical of the Obama administration was mysteriously audited.  

Franklin Graham, the apple who fell far from the tree, likewise claims the IRS has been persecuting him.  (His organization is a 501(c)3, which has stricter requirements than a (501(c)4.  Plus, he used organization funds to campaign against marriage equality in North Carolina, so there's more to his story than he's letting on.  Just sayin')

This is fall-out from the Citizens United decision.  Citizens United led directly to the rise of "super-political action committees, a.k.a. "super-pacs."

When Karl Rove began his super PAC American Crossroads, at first his fundraising was pretty anemic. He then set up Crossroads GPS, under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which is for “social welfare” organizations, which are supposed to further the general welfare (the provision talks about “civic betterment”). Donations to (c)(4)’s are not tax deductible. The main benefit is that contributors’ names are not public. 

The 501(c)4 status is an artful dodge to get around disclosing donors.  Donors to these organizations care more about protecting their identity than they do about getting a tax deduction.  

Also one wonders:  Do the tea party groups know that their promoters are passing themselves off as a "social welfare" organization to the IRS?  Are they aware that they're now committed to promoting the "general welfare" leading to "civic betterment"?

Incidentally, poor people who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are five times more likely to be audited than other people, mostly because conservative Congressmen keep asserting there's "fraud" somewhere in the program, which is what they always say this about programs that don't benefit them.

Routine poll findings

According to a just-released Public Policy poll, people believe Hillary Clinton over the House Republicans by a margin of 49-39.  Her favorability rating of 52-44 is unchanged from March.

By a large margin, people feel that immigration reform is much more important than Benghazi.

41% of Republicans, on the other hand, think Benghazi is the most important issue ever, even though 39% of those can't identify where Benghazi is--10% say it's in Egypt, 6% say Cuba.

"I am here asking for mercy."

Concern for a path to citizenship enlivened a crowd at Congressman Mike Coffman's (R-CO) office today.  Fr. Steve Adams of St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church of Aurora leads them in prayer before about 15 local clergy met with the Congressman's staff.

The meeting opened with prayer.  Scripture reflections were offered by Rabbi Bernard Gerson of Congregation Rodef Shalom and Fr. Adams of St. Piux X.  The Rev. Bonita Bock submitted a letter signed by 91 local clergy that advocates for humane immigration policies.

Summarizing the case for a path to citizenship, Sarah Hernandez told of her husband's deportation two years ago and the subsequent hardship on her family.  "I am here asking for mercy," she said, "and to be treated like a human being."

Coffman's staff said that they meet frequently with various groups in regard to the immigration issue, and they believe they are well aware of the issues involved.  The Congressman will offer no firm position until the current Senate bill is passed and heads to the House.

 

Backlash on guns?

Five senators who recently voted against background checks have seen their numbers tumble.  Jeff Flake (R-AZ).  70% of Arizonans support background checks, and Flake, with only a 32% approval rating, has now become the most unpopular senator in the country.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was relatively popular in Alaska, but her approval rating has fallen 16 points in the wake of her vote.  Her Alaska counterpart, Democrat Mark Begich has dropped 17 points among Democrats and 9 points among independents.

Rob Portman (R-OH) is down 18 points.  In Nevada, Dean Heller is down 3 points over-all, but 10 points among independents.

HRC continues to lead

Highest favorability rating of any Democrat.  She leads Vice President Joe Biden by a considerable margin in "favorability."  Biden's favorability is fairly high, but Hillary's is higher.

Somewhat curiously, 13% of the sample could not identify Secretary of State John Kerry.  These must be people who have entered into public awareness since 2004.

Regulation of explosive megatonnage just might be a good idea

The Boston bombing killed three and injured 150.  The West, Texas fertilizer explosion killed 15 and injured 200.  Both are horrific events, of course, but the West, Texas explosion did more actual damage to life and property than the bombings.  Yet, 95% of the news coverage has been about Boston.

Terrorism kills relatively few people, yet we can't stop ourselves from obsessing about it.  Meanwhile, industrial accidents--if that's what the West, Texas explosion proves to be--kill and maim many, many times the people directly affected by terrorism.

The Dallas Morning News has some stunning photos of the effects of a lack of regulation.  Local officials assess damage:

 

Good first quarter for Romanoff

Andrew Romanoff has raised over $500,000 in the first quarter, about the same as his opponent, incumbent Mike Coffman, in Colorado's 6th congressional district.  Romanoff also has about $100,000 more in cash-on-hand.

Romanoff has sworn off political action committee money so we'll see how fundraising goes as the campaign progresses.  For now, he's off to a good start.

Hillary: I support gay marriage

This is old news.  Hillary has been a supporter of gay rights for quite some time.  Her "gay rights are human rights" speech covered this ground in 2011.  In 2008, gays within the Democratic Party generally supported her.  She released this video today:

 

Sequestration kicking in

This is called the "Washington Monument" strategy.  People will notice the effects of sequestration when they see restrictions that affect famous national landmarks.

People call this a "strategy" but it only makes sense.  If the National Parks Service has to make some cuts, those cuts are probably going to affect the national parks.

South Dakota's Mount Rushmore won't be hiring this summer.  Meanwhile back in Washington, their senator, John Thune, is leading the charge to salvage White House tours from sequestration.

On Wisconsin

It's way early, of course, but a PPP poll of Wisconsin voters had some interesting results.  Cong. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Gov. Scott Walker were the leading candidates for president on the GOP side.  No surprise there.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) runs a strong second to both.

Hillary beats them all, and beats them like a drum--51-43 against Ryan, 54-51 against Walker, 52-38 against Rubio.  

She also has a whopping lead among Democrats, leading Wisconsin favorite son, Russ Feingold, 50-25.  Vice President Biden clocks in at 11%.  

If, by some chance, Hillary chooses not to run, the Vice President would probably be the front-runner, but would be more susceptible than Hillary to a challenge from Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, or, possibly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.