On Tuesday I wrote about the incredibly ugly intimidation campaign and enemies list distributed to Janesville subscribers to the Janesville Gazette, without the permission of the Gazette, by the way. That enemies list was compiled by Wisconsin "civic education group" Citizens for Responsible Government.

When the first disclosures were filed, the address reported for CRG was easily trackable to Chris Kliesmet and his attorney-wife Mary. Subsequent filings have used a PO Box instead of a street address, but Kliesmet is still a director of the organization and there is no reason to suspect that anything has changed.

When I started looking at this group in connection with the sleazeball tactics they employed against teachers, I started with this post by Hart Williams, which is long and goes through many twisty passages, but also has documentation for everything. Williams was able to link up CRG with the Wisconsin Club for Growth and Eric O'Keefe, who we know is connected to American Majority (the Ned Ryun effort out of Kansas), the Sam Adams Alliance, former executive director of the National Libertarian Party, and more.

Eric O'Keefe is one of the Kochtopus' best operatives, and so, it should come as no surprise to discover that the Wisconsin Club for Growth gave CRG a grant in 2009. Here's what that grant was for, according to the Wisconsin Club for Growth tax filing:

Just in case it's not easy readable, I'll quote:

Grants were given to promote education and mobilize support for a fiscally responsible budget in Milwaukee County including proposals to lower costs by outsourcing services. A fiscally responsible budget passed that included outsourcing of custodial and security services and a minimal tax levy increase.

That grant to CRG was for $126,500. It was, according to the Club for Growth return, all paid in 2009. The identification number on the postcard filing matches the identification number on the Club for Growth filing.

CRG filed a postcard return with the IRS for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, just as it had for 2008, 2010, and 2011. There are special rules connected with the postcard filing. For example, an organization could receive more than $50,000 in one year, (the usual threshold for the postcard filing) and still file via postcard as long as their average receipts were less than $50,000 over a three-year period.

Let's see if they qualified. In 2007, CRG received 40,959. In 2009, CRG received at least $126,500. Assuming no receipts in 2008, the average receipts comes out to $55,819.67, which exceeds the permissible threshold for filing an information-free return. Oops!

Why is this important? It's important because it seems clear that the Wisconsin Club for Growth used CRG and other allied right wing groups as funnels and fronts to avoid accountability for purely evil acts like publishing an enemies list of public school teachers, for example. It's important because there might have been at least a shred of accountability for their prior bad acts. And yes, there have been many.

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It's about time some of these organizations got the evil eye from the IRS. Common Cause has filed a request with the IRS for them to take a long look at whether or not ALEC has reached beyond the constraints of their tax-exempt status. This follows a front-page feature article from the New York Times about ALEC and their activities, showing them to be nothing more than stealth lobbyists for corporations.

Via Think Progress:

ALEC, the “association for conservative state lawmakers who shared a common belief in limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty,” has pushed an extreme legislative agenda in states across the country, pushing shoot-first” “stand your ground” laws and voter suppression efforts. In recent weeks, at least a dozen companies announced they would no longer fund ALEC — following pressure from a Color of Change national campaign — and ALEC announced it would refocus its efforts away from “non-economic issues.” Last week, the group’s Louisiana state chairman resigned from the group.

Now, Common Cause is asking the Internal Revenue Service to take action; the group is requesting the agency audit ALEC’s work, impose penalties, and compel payment of back taxes. Common Cause President Bob Edgar (a former Democratic U.S. Rep. from Pennsylvania) said the group is masquerading as a public charity.

As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt “charitable” organization, donations to the group are tax-deductible. But IRS rules state that (c)(3)s must “not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests” and “may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities.”ALEC claims its work is not lobbying. But, Edgar argues, ALEC’s mission “is to bring together corporations and state legislators to draft profit-driven, anti-public-interest legislation, and then help those elected officials pass the bills in statehouses from coast to coast. If that’s not lobbying, what is?”

This would be a good time for all tax-exempt political/ideological organizations to take a hard look at what they're doing and how they're doing it, because I have a sense this is only the beginning of the wars over tax-exempt status. It's about time. Let's have a closer look at some church organizations, too.