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Compiled by GayToday
The successful AU mailing comes at a time when Robertson has taken his message on tour for a series of "God and Country" rallies in states expected to be critical in the upcoming presidential race. Robertson has made appearances desperately touting church distribution of his group's voter guides in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri within the last week. Objective analysts agree that the Coalition's guides are deliberately stacked to favor Republican candidates. AU notes that federal tax law clearly prohibits houses of worship, which are tax-exempt, from distributing literature that supports one candidate over another. "These voter guides are not objective or fair," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "Instead, they are partisan campaign propaganda."
In the Federal Election Commission v. Christian Coalition ruling, Robertson's group won most of a case that had been filed against it by the FEC. But instead of approving distribution of the group's materials, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green specifically noted that the Coalition's voter guides have "made clear which candidates the Coalition preferred." Thus, experts say, houses of worship may not distribute them. Also, the court ruled on matters relating to federal election law, which is notoriously weak and full of loopholes, not federal tax law, which is much stricter and applies to churches. In addition, in Christian Coalition v. IRS, the government agreed to settle the case by conceding that the Coalition was tax exempt--but only for the year 1990. The tax agency agreed to refund the organization $169.26 in taxes it paid for that year. This does not clear tax-exempt houses of worship to distribute the group's political materials. The Coalition falls under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which allows the group to engage in significant electioneering. Churches, however, fall under 501(c)(3), which prohibits all partisan political activities. Lynn noted that the Christian Coalition relies on churches as virtually the only method of distribution for its guides. "The Christian Coalition can legally produce their partisan guides," said Lynn, "but churches, as tax-exempt institutions, can't distribute them." Christian Coalition leaders have effectively admitted that the voter guides are partisan political materials that support particular candidates. For example, in a September mailing to the group's supporters, Roberta Combs, executive vice-president of the Christian Coalition, described the voter guides as "the most effective tool to educate voters about candidates who deserve Christian support." Moreover, Robertson himself acknowledged earlier this year that he intends to use the guides to help elect George W. Bush. In a remarkable interview that aired on CNN during the primary season, before Bush had won the GOP nomination, Robertson told Wolf Blitzer that if McCain got the Republican nomination, the group "would not put out 75 million voter guides, would not urge its membership to vote for anybody in the general election.... You know, we're not under the obligation to put out any literature for anybody." Observed AU's Lynn, "Robertson has admitted that his voter guides are put out on behalf of certain candidates. Thus, they can't be lawfully distributed by churches."
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Pat Robertson is getting in trouble once again over his voters' guides 