The nation’s oldest civil rights organization is refusing to cooperate with the IRS probe concerning its tax exempt status. The NAACP’s lawyers say the organization refuses to turn over documents related to a July 2004 speech at its national convention in which its chairman, Julian Bond, heavily criticized the President. Outside an election this may not have been a problem, however it was in the middle of the 2004 campaign. An interesting fact is that two unnamed Congressmen asked that the IRS investigate the organization. The NAACP argues that the investigation is motivated by politics.
Despite the identity crisis the organization is going through now, do they deserve to be investigated in such a manner? Apparently Bond criticized a number of other politicians during his speech. The 501(c)(3) law prohibits tax exempt organizations like the NAACP from taking political sides during a campaign. Everyone reading this knows what side the NAACP stands on. That’s a problem. TheStateOf has spoken on the partisan nature of the NAACP before and has come to the conclusion that it needs to be more bipartisan.
However, if the NAACP can be investigated at the behest of disgruntled Congressmen so easily, can a Catholic parish be investigated for calling on its congregation to vote against a candidate who supports abortion rights?
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