The comment period for the Internal Revenue Service’s proposed rules changes governing 501(c)(4) politically active nonprofit groups, which closed at the end of last month, drew firm opposition from across the spectrum. Exactly 143,764 comments were submitted to the IRS — a number that shatters the IRS’ previous record for public participation.

These 501(c)(4) political organizations, categorized by the IRS as “social welfare groups,” are able to collect unlimited contributions and spend a good share of the funds on election-related activity. Unlike virtually all other groups spending money on federal elections, though, they don’t have to disclose the names of their donors to the public — hence the nickname “dark money.” Their abililty to keep their contributions secret makes them increasingly attractive to megadonors looking to hide their involvement in the political fray. The one constraint on the groups is that they can’t spend the “majority” of their resources on “political” activity. Until now, the IRS’ definitions of “majority,” “political,” and other key terms have been less than clear. However, the proposed rules seek to rectify that.

The impetus for proposing these rules is easy to see in the numbers. The post-Citizens United political landscape has witnessed an explosion of election-related outside spending by these political nonprofits, as well as by more transparent super PACs and other groups.

Which brings us to this week’s Politiquizz question:



“How much more outside money has been spent in the 2014 cycle so far than by this time in 2010?”

The first person to submit the entire correct answer to [email protected] will win a free OpenSecrets.org bumper sticker. The answers can be found somewhere on our website. Happy searching!

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

In our last Politiquizz, we asked:

What company, organization, or individual donor has been Sen. Wyden’s largest career contributor? How about for Senator Landrieu?

Congratulations to Robin from Grenola, KS, who was the first to submit the correct answer:

Sen. Wyden — Metro One Telecommunications, Sen. Landrieu — EMILY’s List

Image: Norm Coleman, chairman of 501(c)(4) American Action Network (Flickr/mngop)



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