Are There Rules, Or Not?

A quick word here before honey-do time hits.

TeachTheFacts.org is registered with the IRS as a nonprofit corporation. That means we have a lot of rules about what we can do, especially having to do with endorsing political parties and candidates. We're new at this, and are trying to figure out what we really need to do to comply with the rules, which are subtle and complicated.

But then I see the top story in this morning's Washington Post:

Nonprofit Groups Funneled Money For Abramoff:
Funds Flowed to Lobbying Campaigns

Newly released documents in the Jack Abramoff investigation shed light on how the lobbyist secretly routed his clients' funds through tax-exempt organizations with the acquiescence of those in charge, including prominent conservative activist Grover Norquist.

The federal probe has brought a string of bribery-related charges and plea deals. The possible misuse of tax-exempt groups is also receiving investigators' attention, sources familiar with the matter said.

Among the organizations used by Abramoff was Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. As the money passed through, Norquist's organization kept a small cut, e-mails show.

A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds; the council's president has told Senate investigators that Abramoff often asked her to lobby a senior Interior Department official on his behalf. The committee report said the Justice Department should further investigate the organization's dealings with the department and its former deputy secretary, J. Steven Griles. Nonprofit Groups Funneled Money For Abramoff

And it goes on and on.

Now, look, here we are, trying to figure out how to be careful to treat everybody evenly, even though we know there will be school board elections this year and we will definitely prefer some candidates over others, and I'm reading that these other "nonprofits" are giving millions of dollars to lobbyists, which ends up going to politicians as "contributions," directly influencing the course of the elections and the legislative process that follows.

The thing is, even if they crack down on these organizations now -- the water is already under the bridge. Laws have been passed, goodies have been given out, people have been elected into office on the basis of ads paid for by this dirty money. So even if you took away these groups' nonprofit status, you can't undo the damage that's been done, you can't un-elect these crooks, you can't un-pass their laws.