Republican strategist, Roger Stone reported a couple of weeks ago that David Koch (Co-founder and Co-owner of Koch Industries) may have played a vital role in the selection of Paul Ryan being tapped as the Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate. According to Stone, Mr. Koch pledged to give Governor Romney's Super PAC $100 million dollars if Congressman Ryan would be his V.P. selection. I will not speculate that Governor Romney selected Ryan for such a bountiful donation -nor should the liberal media outlets- because there is an actually a more substantive problem at hand. Assuming Stone's report is accurate, and now that Ryan was selected as the V.P. nominee, Mr. Koch will presumably settle his end of the bargain --making Romney's Super PAC(s) $100 million dollars richer.
Here is where my gripe comes in, Super PACs are defined under our tax codes as 501(c)(4) organizations, which are classified as charity or social welfare groups. When an organization is classified by the IRS under this section, they are essentially impervious to disclosure laws that make such organizations more transparent to the public in regards to their donors and donation amounts. The other problem with Super PACs being protected under the "charity' clauses is that any donation made to the organization can be tax deductible, acting similarly to the same deductions one gets when they tithe or donate money to a cancer foundation.
Now, I want to be clear in my argument here for I am not trying to pick on Mr. Koch, or any Republican candidates, because the Democrats have their power-brokers and Super PACs as well --making them virtually indifferent from their opponents. My problem is that these Super PACs are often accredited for publishing, producing, and financing many of these distasteful, libel-ridden advertisements we see on TV or the internet every day. However, they operate under a tax-exempt status, with little to no regulation, and can in layman's terms be called a "charity'. We should not allow these polarizing factions -major catalysts in eradicating Washington's pragmatic personalities of old- to be classified as charitable organizations; rather we should call them what they truly are, partisan provocateurs.
In order for us to move forward as a nation -with sensible public policy and prudent public officials- we should first try to discern the difference between a charity and a hate group.
Here is Roger Stone's original report: http://stonezone.com/article.php?id=516
This was an insightful report about Super PAC tax classification: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/03/are-corporations-claiming-tax-breaks-super-pac-donations/50067/