Dems Eye Legal Attack on Shadow Spending Groups

[Donnachaidh]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/democrats-target-outside-spending-crossroads-gps

Democrats in Congress fighting to blunt the effects of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision face an uphill battle in the 112th Congress. After last year's defeat of the DISCLOSE Act, which would've beefed up disclosure requirements in campaign ads and blocked foreign money from seeping into American elections, new legislative efforts face long odds under House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). But a top House Democrat says lawmakers and reform groups are eyeing a more direct strategy to crack down on the powerful outside groups that were so influential in the 2010 midterms: challenging their tax status.

In an interview with Mother Jones, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the past chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and one of Congress' staunchest campaign-finance reform advocates, says Democrats and left-leaning groups are mulling a legal fight that would challenge the tax-exempt status of independent right-wing groups that sprung up in the aftermath of the Citizens United decision. Their targets include groups such as Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and the American Action Network (AAN), run by former GOP Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, which together spent more than $43 million supporting conservative candidates and attacking Democratic ones, making up 23 percent of all outside conservative spending. "People are looking at different legal strategies through the courts because there's emerging evidence that these groups have abused the rules," Van Hollen says.

Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), another backer of campaign-finance reform, echoes Van Hollen. In an interview, he confirms there's been discussion among Democrats about legal challenges to challenging outside groups, adding, "I think there are ample goals for challenging the way those groups have acted."

Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for Crossroads GPS, told Mother Jones that "Van Hollen is irresponsibly making claims on zero evidence whatsoever and this is extremely irresponsible for an elected official holding high office." A spokesman for American Action Network didn't respond to a request for comment on Thursday.


More at the link --

[blondeatlast]

1. We need leaders like this. Big k/r nt

[DCKit]

2. If that's their line of thinking, a LOT of back taxes are owed. nt