Taxpayers, regardless of their political leanings, should not have to financially support activist agendas they disagree with. Aiming to address this issue, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is formulating strategies to strip bogus political “charities” of their tax-exempt status.
According to reporting by The Post’s James Franey, Bessent and the IRS are scrutinizing the operations of a handful of prominent progressive nonprofits. These include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The investigation could lead to these organizations losing their tax-exempt status.
Such a move might generate a significant $165 million in new tax revenue from these entities. More critically, it would halt taxpayer-funded support for questionable political activities.
“The woke left pushes to ‘tax the rich,’ yet these same organizations go to great lengths, sometimes even bending the law, to sidestep paying their own taxes,” remarked a source acquainted with the Treasury’s intentions. “This is hypocrisy in its purest form.”
To maintain a 501(c)(3) tax exemption, nonprofits must primarily function with the goal of religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational objectives. They are strictly prohibited from engaging in substantial lobbying activities or supporting “propaganda,” legislation, or political campaign efforts.
Treasury is reportedly looking to treat nonprofits that are political activists in disguise as businesses or political machines for tax purposes, as per the law.
That’s appropriate. Open Society, after all, famously uses its billions to fund groups that back far-left causes — including criminal-justice reforms, climate change, legal privileges for illegal immigrants, DEI and more.
Why shouldn’t it have to pay its “fair share,” rather than force other Americans — most of whom object to much of its agenda — to pick up the tab?
CAIR, too, spends much of its time and money slamming a key US ally, Israel. That’s not political?
It’s also been accused of having ties to Qatar and was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial.
RELATED: Ratko Mladić, Infamous Bosnian Genocide Convict, Passes Away at 84
Just this month, prosecutors charged the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center’s ex-finance officer, Heidi Beirich, with leading a scheme that “knowingly misled donors” and funneled cash to “senior leadership” at a white supremacist group. (Her lawyer insists she’s innocent.)
Plus, the SPLC promotes blatantly political positions, like ending “unjust imprisonment,” eliminating “economic inequality” and legislation to “expand access to the ballot box.”
It has fiercely attacked critics of causes it supports, including DEI, school-based lefty indoctrination programs, allowing boys into girls’ sports and bathrooms.
In 2023, it tarred harmless pro-child activists at Moms for Liberty as a “hate” group.
And yet it’s somehow tax-exempt.
The Soros “charity” vehemently insists Treasury has no excuse for looking at it; CAIR and the SPLC declined to comment on the issue.
The probe may target other lefty groups, including MediaJustice, which lobbies for racial-equity policies in the telecom industry, defunding police tech and censoring online “disinformation,” as well as labor-backed entities like the Service Employees International Union’s Strategic Organizing Center and the anti-Amazon Athena Coalition.
Bessent and his team are on the right track: Private groups have every right to promote their political agendas — but no right at all to taxpayer support for that activism.
Especially when the taxpayers find those agendas so abhorrent.