The right-wing groups that promote bizarre candidates like Majorie Taylor Greene aren't doing it to promote the country's best interests, they are doing it for a very big paycheck.
The patriot groups fired up in 2008 as soon as President Obama won the election. They are not promoting the best candidate so much as the most popular candidate and as long as they are carrying guns, they will win.
George Walker Bush brought attention to a little-known statute called. 501(c)4. It was never widely used to organize political campaigns. But, during his presidency, it became obvious the Republicans were looking for all these "patriot" groups to go into their communities and drum up support for Republican candidates. FOX News made that easy with the FOX Nexus. One group was literally supported by Hannity. It came out of Wilmington, NC with a bus ride to Washington, DC to visit with Republicans in Congress to promote their point of view. After their bus ride, the donations started to roll in and there was born, "The blah, blah, blah Patriots," of one vernacular or another.
(4) (click here)(A)Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality, and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.
(B)Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an entity unless no part of the net earnings of such entity inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
So, the 100 people that stopped to listen to right-wing interest groups in the article below become larger and larger numbers when these groups begin to affiliate with each other. This is Carl Rove's specialty and how he got candidates elected when they would never be official party candidates. They take the primaries.
The question is are political action committees, of which they definitely are, civil organizations?
Additionally, unsavory businessman Donald Trump easily became the focus of these groups when he announced, after backing all sorts of candidates that didn't win at Trump Tower like the famous pizza lunch with Palin, he would run for the presidency. The populous logic was so evident, if "The blah, blah, blah Patriots" were real average Americans then they were THE REAL PATRIOTS and everyone else in the country was political fodder. Obviously, by reading this article below these groups never die and why should they, the organizers are making money hand over fist.
That is the point. The Republicans have taken a statute out of USA law and carved out a niche for these people and grew them so PRIVATELY OWNED COMPANIES like Koch Industries didn't have to organize politically, they simply dumped huge amounts of money into them. Russia found this very helpful when it infiltrated the 2016 elections. The Dark Money dumped into these political action committees is not traceable. The NRA thought that it is just great and acted as a patron of the Russians including accepting a de facto Russian agent into their fold and giving her access to the entire organization, elected political figures included.
So, basically, the article below from The Washington Post is a clear example of dysfunctional politics that successfully elect unelectable candidates. The result is empowering of extreme right-wing people that are racist, belonging to militias (don’t even try to state White Supremacists/Nationalists aren’t militias because they are) to take over the country in a coupe if necessary.
The traditional 501(c)3 organizations that enjoy non-profit status also have a method to join in the populous divide. They aren't supposed to enjoy political power, but, they do. If I may:
In return for its favored tax-status, (click here) a charitable nonprofit promises the federal government that it will not engage in “political campaign activity” and if it does, IRS regulations mandate that the charitable nonprofit will lose its tax-exempt status. This prohibition against political campaign activity (defined as “supporting or opposing a candidate for public office”) is SEPARATE from lobbying or legislative activities, which charitable nonprofits ARE permitted to engage in, although knowing the rules is important, as limitations apply....
...BUT charitable nonprofits MAY engage in voter registration and voter engagement activities.
Learn what charitable nonprofits can/cannot do in connection with voting and voter engagement (NonprofitVOTE)
Connect with resources on how to stay nonpartisan while still encouraging voting among your nonprofit staff, board members, and volunteers (Nonprofit Votes Count).
“All charities…are absolutely prohibited from intervening in a political campaign for or against any candidate for an elective public office....
The dialogue of these so-called "issue ads" starts like this, "Call your Congressman or Call Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi or whoever happens to be popular that week AND TELL THEM, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Frequently the person at the focus of the complaining (not campaigning) ad is a woman. By the end of the "Paid for by the People for treason, chaos and deceit" there will be a POLITICAL POSITION mapped out for the viewer or listener that fits right into the agenda of Republican candidates.
These groups are toxic to our political environment and are way out of line with mainstream politics, inclusiveness, and equity. They are frequently run by nouveau riche organizers that carry the political dogma of people not normally affiliated with the USA political system. They have a special interest, themselves. These groups, their qualifications to be political action committees, and their ability to acquire huge amounts of money to spend at will for any person they deem qualified, is a drag on the USA political system and ultimately governance.
In the year of a hard-fought election against these anti-American groups we have a president that cares about the country, cares about the people, and is willing to take a stand on issues rarely confronted. We, as a country, are moving forward for the first time in two decades and we did it because the people knew this was a problem and acted in the 2020 election.
We need election reform in this country. The Late Senator John McCain did several things with Democrats to address issues like climate and election reform and it was all plowed under by the Robert's Court. There is every reason to end the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court. We need to "get real" about these issues in recognition of the Americans that waited in line to vote for 12 hours while having food and water brought to them. Those Americans did what they were supposed to do and today they are under attack by state governments to eliminate them and make it really hard to vote.
Change has to occur in this country. We know that the Senate Minority Leader is an obstructionist while playing footsie with China and Russia. We know the values of the right-wing (conservatives nurtured by yet another right-wing glut of cash) Robert's Court, regardless of the efforts of the Chief Justice. The idea of political reform is out of the question, Money is a citizen and there is no limit on monetary spending to promote a candidate and his/her "Patriot" organizations.
The clock is running to 2022 and 2024 as well as 2030. We need to act to protect Americans and shut down the loopholes in election law as well as hostile state legislatures that covet "the vote" with corruption rather than empowering laws.
August 8, 2021
By Razzan Nakhlawi
Buffalo - The leader of a far-right "patriot" group in western New York (click here) stood on top of a truck trailer speaking to a crowd of about a hundred people in a quiet suburb of Buffalo. They had gathered in June to support a Buffalo Bills player who had refused to take the coronavirus vaccine, even at the cost of his career. Charles Pellien, head of the New York Watchmen, spoke proudly of a constellation of groups coalescing around their shared beliefs.
"We're all coming together," Pellien said. "That's why this crowd is so big."
Far-right groups across the nation have aligned themselves with those opposed to masks and vaccines, seeking new allies around the issue of "medical freedom" while appearing to downplay their traditional focus on guns, belief in the tyranny of the federal government and calls by some for violent resistance....
