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 IRS Humiliates Nation's Largest Anti-Gay Group 'A Devastating Blow to Pat Robertson's Cause' |
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Compiled By GayToday
Washington, D.C.--The premiere anti-gay political organization in the country --
the Virginia-based Christian Coalition -- announced a massive
reorganization today after a series of humiliating setbacks and major
high-level resignations have hit the once-formidable organization and its
founder and chairman, televangelist Pat Robertson.
On the heels of an international public relations fiasco that severed lucrative business ties for Robertson this week, the Christian Coalition confirmed today that the Internal Revenue Service has denied its long-pending application for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. The move has forced the group to reorganize as a business entity and rename itself Christian Coalition International, making it potentially liable for millions of dollars in back taxes and threatening its ability to have any political coordinating connection to churches. The announcement noted that the new corporation will "have the freedom to endorse political candidates on a state and local level, make financial contributions to candidates or engage in such other activities as are permissible to all businesses" through the creating of a corporate political action committee.
It was unclear what role Robertson would play in the Texas organization, whether it would continue to be Texas-based, or how it would operate as an arm of the reorganized Christian Coalition International business entity. It was also unclear how the business entity would generate revenue for itself, and what, if any, non-PAC political activities it could legally conduct. "Clearly the Christian Coalition, as we knew it, is no more," said Kevin Ivers, director of public affairs for Log Cabin Republicans. "In order to survive and remain a viable entity under the law, all of these actions were necessary. But the resignations, firings and demotions of all its top talent, and the impact of these changes on its ability to raise money and campaign in churches make you wonder what could be left of the organization today, other than Pat Robertson sitting alone at the top. We shouldn't underestimate their ability to rebuild in some way, but it's hard to imagine how." "It's about time," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, in response to a copyrighted report in Thursday's St. Petersburg Times. "The Christian Coalition is a hardball political machine that has been masquerading as a tax-exempt group. The IRS has finally pulled off the mask. "This is a devastating blow to TV preacher Pat Robertson's political ambitions," continued Lynn. "His crusade to politicize America's churches is now almost certain to fail. I, for one, say 'amen.'" Americans United has been the leading critic and opponent of the Coalition since the Robertson group's inception. In 1997, AU launched a national campaign to warn churches about legal limits on political activities and to urge them to reject Coalition voter guides.
Americans United has urged the IRS to deny the Coalition's application for tax exemption and has submitted voluminous evidence to the tax agency of the Coalition's obvious partisan nature. Most notably, AU gave the IRS a tape of a September 1997 closed-door Robertson speech to Coalition state lieutenants outlining his partisan political goals and strategies. Urging the group to emulate political machines such as Tammany Hall, Robertson took credit for the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and laid plans to elect a Republican to the presidency in 2000. "That tape was the smoking gun," concluded AU's Lynn. "Robertson sounded more like a ward boss than a religious leader. After that, the IRS had no choice but to deny the group's tax exemption." In 1990, in the wake of his failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination, Robertson formed the Christian Coalition, which sought tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Since that time, the group has operated as a tax-exempt organization pending a final decision from the IRS. The developments were also welcomed by People For the American Way Foundation President Carole Shields, who called the ruling "long overdue but worth the wait." |
