Johnson: Proposed IRS Regs Fracture Liberals

"The proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations governing political activity by nonprofits that have united the Right in opposition are now fracturing the Left," writes Eliana Johnson. Labor unions, the ACLU, and other liberals are joining conservatives in opposing the regs.

The proposed changes, which were unveiled in late November, would classify much of the day-to-day activity of 501(c)(4) social-welfare groups, including voter education and registration, as political, thereby endangering their tax-exempt status. They would also prohibit public communication 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary election that identifies a political candidate — that is, nearly every advertisement aired by groups such as the conservative Americans for Prosperity or the liberal League of Conservation Voters — during the period when they are most effective.

Labor unions worry that 501(c)4 regulations aimed at silencing conservative voices will easily be applied to 501(c)5 non-profits and used to silence liberal union voices. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, submitted a 26-page comment to IRS commissioner John Koskinen slamming the proposed regulations. “Social welfare organizations praise or criticize candidates for public office on the issues and they should be able to do so freely, without fear of losing or being denied tax-exempt status, even if doing so could influence a citizen’s vote,” the group wrote, calling such advocacy “the heart of our representative democracy.” The ACLU argued that, if the advocacy of social-welfare groups influences voting, it does so only by “promoting an informed citizenry.”

Liberal Chickens Coming Home to Roost

If the stakes weren't so high, these two Labor Day stories of liberal chickens coming home to roost might be very satisfying indeed.

Syria—

Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama first embraced Syria's Bashar al-Assad as a 'reformer' to be wooed and won. When Assad embarrassed them, liberals called for Assad to be ousted (which made Al Qaeda very happy) and Obama made a very foolish public threat setting 'a red line' about Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people.

Assad called liberals' bluff: he didn't leave power, and chemical weapons were used.

Backed into a corner, Obama let it be known he was ready to insert American cruise missiles into Syria's civil war between Assad-the-tyrant and Al Qaeda-the-uprisers.

Finding no international partners to stand with him (Britain's Parliament voted 'no involvement' last week), Obama now wants Congress to vote yea or nay on military force in Syria.

GOP Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham believe the U.S.'s reputation is on the line, but Americans aren't persuaded and a plurality/majority (depending on the poll) doesn't want U.S. intervention. With the ineptitude of Obama, Clinton and Kerry on full display, it seems few Americans on the left or right are willing to invest American blood to save their liberal faces.

This weekend as Victor Davis Hanson asked Now What?, liberal anti-war protesters picketed John Kerry's townhouse in Boston.

Unions and Obamacare—
Labor unions that fought mightily to enact Obamacare are bitterly upset that the liberal healthcare takeover is biting them in the arse, specifically in their members' work hours and 'Cadillac' healthcare plans.

In July, the AFL-CIO and two other unions "sent a scorching letter to the White House demanding Obamacare be changed before it permanently destroys the 40-hour work week."

This weekend, this headline: "Bloodbath: 40,000 Union Members Leave AFL-CIO Over Obamacare."

Liberal chickens coming home to roost!