Hi all,

Below are the first three paragraphs from an article from a NYT article 
that suggests the that the Bush administration (and similarly aligned 
republicans) may be sicking the IRS and GAO on non-profits that hold 
views in direct conflict to the Bush administrations moral beliefs.  And 
wasn't the president just in Russia criticizing Putin for hampering 
democracy in that country.  Does this remind anyone else a little of the 
Putin-Yukos dealings.

Andrew

Nonprofit Groups Question Motive for Federal Actions   
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/21/politics/21charity.html)
By STEPHANIE STROM

Published: March 21, 2005

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is locked 
in a standoff with the Internal Revenue Service, preferring to risk its 
tax exemption rather than hand over documents for an I.R.S. review that 
the civil rights group contends is politically motivated.
   
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While it is rare for an organization to defy the I.R.S. openly, the 
N.A.A.C.P. is not the only group that believes it is being made a 
government target for its positions on issues.

Roughly a dozen nonprofit organizations have publicly contended that 
government agencies and Congressional offices have used reviews, audits, 
investigations, law enforcement actions and the threat of a loss of 
federal money to discourage them from activities and advocacy that in 
any way challenge government policies, and nonprofit leaders say more 
are complaining quietly.

"In previous administrations, there's been the occasional instance of 
what might appear to be retaliation, but when it started happening in a 
serial way, it began to look like a pattern to us," said Kay Guinane, 
counsel for the nonprofit advocacy project of OMB Watch, a government 
watchdog group that has published two reports on the issue.