Eight former commissioners of the federal Election Commission have submitted a comment on the IRS' proposed regulations on 501(c)(4) political activity. By an order of magnitude, this is the most commented on set of regulations in the modern system of regulatory review. If the Commissioners' comment is anything to measure by, for good reason. They accuse the IRS of defying the Supreme Court, exceeding statutory authority, confusing regulated organizations, and impermissibly restricting First Amendment expression. That's going to leave a mark.
All this regulatory change is not just threatening to stifle free speech. It is already doing it. By putting out such a flawed draft regulation, businesses who engage in political speech have to start planning to take these IRS regulations into account and the planning process starts now.
HT: National Review
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