'"Nonprofits" Tied to Karl Rove, Koch Brothers Spend Millions on Elections and Call it Public Welfare' ... aka "dark money"

A discussion of the "dark money" in our elections (partly because of the Citizens United decision) was in a Democracy Now segment on Monday 8/20/12. Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS is one of these so-called "social welfare" organizations, using the IRS 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status, mentioned in the segment. These "social welfare" organizations have tax-exempt status and do not have to disclose the identity of their donors, unlike SuperPacs. Organizations founded under the IRS 501(c)(4) clause file applications with the IRS saying they will not spend money on politics, but do.

... A new investigation by ProPublica reveals how these nonprofits are exploiting their special tax status to mount a secretly funded, permanent campaign. We speak to investigative reporter Kim Barker. [includes rush transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/20/nonprofits_tied_to_karl_rove_koch 

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the ProPublica story by Kim Barker mentioned in the interview :

http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare

...

Dark Money: Will Secret Spending by a Group of Billionaires Decide the 2012 Election? (Pt. 1)

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/22/dark_money_will_secret_spending_by

Wanna Buy an Election? Mother Jones Exposé on Dark Money, Citizens United (Pt. 2)

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2012/6/22/wanna_buy_an_election_mother_jones_expose_on_dark_money_citizens_united

{ links to other related material are available on the above pages }