X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.2 Sender: -2.6 (spamval) -- NONE Return-Path: Received: from newman.eecs.umich.edu (newman.eecs.umich.edu [141.213.4.11]) by boston.eecs.umich.edu (8.12.10/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j2LI3ulj005720 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=FAIL) for ; Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:03:56 -0500 Received: from brokenways.mr.itd.umich.edu (brokenways.mr.itd.umich.edu [141.211.93.142]) by newman.eecs.umich.edu (8.13.2/8.13.0) with ESMTP id j2LHxRpt019112; Mon, 21 Mar 2005 12:59:27 -0500 Received: FROM reformers.mr.itd.umich.edu (reformers.mr.itd.umich.edu [141.211.93.147]) BY brokenways.mr.itd.umich.edu ID 423F0C86.4D1EC.26935 ; 21 Mar 2005 13:03:50 -0500 Received: from [192.168.2.8] (adsl-67-38-86-254.dsl.sfldmi.ameritech.net [67.38.86.254]) by reformers.mr.itd.umich.edu (smtp) with ESMTP id j2LI3n51014749 for ; Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:03:49 -0500 Message-ID: <423F0C85.6020701 Æ umich.edu> User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 (Windows/20041206) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.2 (2004-11-16) on newman.eecs.umich.edu X-Virus-Scan: : UVSCAN at UoM/EECS Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:03:49 -0500 To: improvetheworld Æ umich.edu From: Andrew Skol Subject: Is the IRS and GAO the new executive muscle to help quiet those who have agendas in confilict with the Bush Admin? Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 120 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. Advertisement 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.