Grassroot Institute lobbying defense makes no sense


Doug White notes Grant Jones' response at Hawaii Reporter (also posted on his Dougout blog) on behalf of Grassroot [sic] Institute of Hawaii regarding Doug's observation (noted here Tuesday) about the claim in their nonprofit tax filing that they did no lobbying. Grant's response completely misses the point.
...those that support the Grassroot Institute do so voluntarily and know for what purpose their money is going to be used.

Irrelevant. The question isn't whether supporters know how their money is being used, it's how the money is actually being used. Non-profits are prohibited from doing "excessive" lobbying activities, and can lose their tax-exempt status if they do. Supporters' donations would no longer be tax-deductible. Doesn't matter one bit if the supporters know that is how their money is going to be used.
As everyone who lives in Hawaii is well aware, some "non-profits" are more equal than others. For example a department of the state government, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, proudly trumpets on its Web site the vast sums of tax dollars they have spent lobbying for both state and federal legislation.

Total non sequitur. A "department of the state government" is not a "non-profit." Hello? OHA is not a tax-exempt organization regulated by the IRS. This comparison makes no sense whatsoever.

On a somewhat related note, Lance Foster makes the connection between the Anti-Hawaiians and the Anti-Indians.


Posted: Fri - September 21, 2007 at 08:23 AM    
   
 
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Published On: Sep 21, 2007 08:30 AM
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