I do not know much about this .. this subject was brought to my attention by someone recently though and it seems to have some bearing here ..
1) the carnes have stated that “EMC” has state tax exempt status as a church
2) ben carnes speaks at many venues that are “political” .. the DNC (democratic national convention) in Denver is one example
3) ben carnes is the head of LPDOC .. a very political organization which lobby’s for the release of not only Leonard Peltier but all other “political prisoners”
4) carnes also claims to be involved in several “prisoner rights” organizations, which would also be classified as “political”
5) carnes has attended and even been a speaker at a great many political protests, I would think that all protests are categorized as “political”
I did some research after this was brought to my attention .. and it seems as if all of these “political” activities of carnes are forbidden to him because of EMC’s tax exempt status as well as LPDOC’s tax exempt status .. perhaps someone with more knowledge than me can shed some light on this .. .. if nothing else I would think that this would be important information for carnes to know about ..
http://www.muridae.com/nporegulation/lobbying.html#lobbying_non501c3Tax-exempt nonprofit organizations categorized under IRC 501(c)(3) in federal law [i.e. 26 USC 501(c)(3)] are generally permitted to "lobby" to some extent, but are absolutely prohibited from engaging in "political activity."
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)
Political activity
Section 501(c)(3) organizations are subject to limits or absolute prohibitions on engaging in political activities.
Elections
Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to intervene in elections to public office. [1] The Internal Revenue Service website elaborates upon this prohibition as follows:
"Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
"Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.
"On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
"The Internal Revenue Service provides resources to exempt organizations and the public to help them understand the prohibition. As part of its examination program, the IRS also monitors whether organizations are complying with the prohibition."
Lobbying
In contrast to the absolute prohibition on political campaign interventions by all section 501(c)(3) organizations, public charities (but not private foundations) are permitted to conduct a limited amount of lobbying to influence legislation. Although the law states that "no substantial part" of a public charity's activities may be devoted to lobbying, charities with very large budgets may lawfully expend a million dollars (under the "expenditure" test) or more (under the "substantial part" test) per year on lobbying. [11]
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http://atheism.about.com/od/churchestaxexemptions/a/overview.htm6. No Political Activity For or Against Candidates Permitted
Church tax exemptions are in jeopardy if an organization engages in direct political activity either against or on behalf of a political candidate or in an attempt to directly influence the passage of particular legislation. Churches and religious organizations, just as any other tax-exempt charitable organization, are free to comment on any social, political, or moral issues. They may not, however, speak out for or against political candidates if they wish to continue being tax-exempt. Losing tax-exempt status can mean both having to pay income taxes and that donations to the group will not be tax deductible by the donors.
