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IRS Should Move Against Christian Coalition Says Watchdog Group

Nine-Year Wait Unprecedented to Rule on Group's Tax Exempt Status

Formal Request Sent to the Internal Revenue Service

Compiled by Badpuppy's GayToday
From Americans United Reports

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a formal request to the Internal Revenue Service today, asking the agency to finally rule on the tax-exempt status of the Christian Coalition.

The Christian Coalition was assembled in late 1989 by TV preacher Pat Robertson from the remains of his failed campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Though the organization had a partisan slant from its very inception, it applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status. Because the IRS has never made a decision, the Coalition has operated as a tax-exempt group pending final approval.

"For nine years, the Christian Coalition has enjoyed the benefits of operating as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "To the best of our knowledge, the length of the delay in determining whether the organization is worthy of such a status is unprecedented. While I am aware that an ongoing examination of the Coalition is underway, the wealth of public information available seems more than enough to warrant a decision on this matter." blynn.gif - 8.48 K Barry Lynn

Lynn's letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti also explained the inherent dangers associated with the group's influence due to its tax-exempt status.

"Because the Coalition can present itself as a tax-exempt group, churches are led to believe that any materials distributed by the organization are free of partisanship or bias," Lynn explained.

"The evidence is now abundant and overwhelming that these materials, including the Christian Coalition 'voter guides,' are merely the tools of a political machine attempting to influence voters and advocate the election of like-minded candidates."

While a 501(c)(4) organization may engage in some partisan politicking, AU contends that the evidence clearly shows that political work on behalf of conservative Republican candidates is the primary purpose and the predominant activity of the Christian Coalition.

Americans United highlighted some of the more egregious partisan politicking done by this supposedly non-political organization, including:
robertsn.gif - 13.23 K Former presidential candidate Pat Robertson

The Coalition's role in re-electing U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) in 1990, where Ralph Reed boasted, "Bottom line is...five days later we put three- quarters of a million voter's guides in churches across the state of North Carolina and Jesse Helms was re-elected by 100,000 votes out of 2.2 million cast."

A $64,000 contribution in October 1990 from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee to the Christian Coalition. Such donations are rarely made from political parties to non-partisan, tax-exempt "social welfare" organizations.

Analysis by researchers Glenn R. Simpson and Larry J. Sabato in their book, Dirty Little Secrets, which examined 193 congressional voter guides issued by the Coalition during the 1994 elections and found a pattern of "manipulations, distortions and outright falsehoods."

Robertson himself boasting in a closed-door speech last September of electing the GOP congressional majority in 1994. He also urged the Coalition to emulate Tammany Hall and other notorious political machines of American history. He even suggested ways to skirt election law and align the Coalition behind a single Republican presidential candidate in 2000.

Lynn concluded that in light of its history and actions, the Coalition's application for tax-exempt status should be rejected, and the Christian Coalition should register with the government as a political committee.

"Ultimately it becomes explicitly clear that the Christian Coalition is little more than a division of the Republican Party, selecting candidates and distributing election materials manipulated to favor the candidates of which they approve," Lynn said. "The Coalition, by its chairman's own admission, is a political machine, displaying the activities and qualities of a political committee. There is simply no reason for the Christian Coalition to continue to enjoy the benefits of a tax-exempt status while flaunting its partisan character in apparent violation of federal tax law."