Sunday, November 17, 2019
501(c) Organizations
501(c) organizations are nonprofit organizations that have been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt, charitable organization. According to the 501(c) organization they are established for religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering of national or international amateur sports, or prevention of cruelty to animals and children reasons. However, 501(c) organizations are used as SuperPACs except that they do not have to disclose their funding. That means anyone can donate as much money as they want to 501(c) organizations for any reason without being exposed. These organizations can then spend their money how they want but they cannot contribute directly to a candidate's campaign. This does mean that they can spend money on advertising. 501(c) organizations are a popular alternative to SuperPACs because many people prefer to spend money on political campaigns without the public knowing. If a person has alternative motives than simply liking the candidate they can donate to 501(c) organizations to have influence without their motives being exposed.
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Great post, I think that the conflict of 501(c) organizations is a very interesting one. Some, like the Montana residents from the documentary in class, would really like to know where all the campaign money is coming from, especially when it comes down to local elections. However, others don't seem to care as much, ignorance is bliss to them. Is it necessary to know who is funding these campaigns? Is it better to not know? What happens if it's no longer legal to not disclose these transactions through 501(c)s?
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