Last night, I wrote about the new group, “Accountable America,” and their threatening ** WARNING ** letter being sent to Republican donors. It’s been a long time since anything political has gotten me this angry, so I’m going to take a second swipe at these sons-of-bitches.
And yes, I’m mad enough that there will be harsh language. I don’t use it very often, but that’s because I like to save it up for special occasions. This is one of them.
The more I read over the letter, the angrier I get. And I think that the only sensible response is a full-blown Fisking.
Dear Republican Supporter:
Yup, let’s get it out of the way up front. This is strictly a partisan message. If you’re not a Republican supporter, you have nothing to fear.
In recent years federal law enforcement agencies have taken a more aggressive stance against non-party, non-candidate organizations that engage in activities that might affect elections to public office. Accountable America, a non-partisan, non-profit group, is writing to make sure you are aware of some of the recent developments that may affect your decision-making concerning these organizations.
I’m not sure just what they’re talking about here, but two organizations that come to mind right away are ACORN, who have had numerous members arrested and tried for voter registration fraud, and Americans Coming Together, who agreed to pay a $775,000 fine for violating election financing laws in the 2004 presidential election.
And remember, Accountable America is a “non-partisan group” that is specifically targeting Republicans, while working to elect Democrats across the nation. You know they’re non-partisan, because they say so — both here and in their official registration papers.
1. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced new policies to examine the political activities of certain tax-exempt Section 501(c) organizations. You can read the IRS internal memorandum on this subject at this link: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/2008_paci_program_letter.pdf
2. Many of the leading donors to 501(c) and 527 organizations have had their business and personal affairs closely scrutinized by the media and well-funded “watchdog” groups. These groups — as well as the major political parties and candidates — have routinely filed complaints with the IRS and the FEC about 501(c) and 527 group activities. These increasingly aggressive tactics have prompted several liberal and Democratic-leaning groups to disband or curtail their activities.
3) The landscape of Section 501(c) organizations that are already the subjects of complaints filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Election Commission or both, and that could trigger scrutiny of their donors, include: Freedom’s Watch and Americans for job Security.
4. If a Section 501(c)(3),(c)(4) or (c)(6) organization is found to have the improper primary purpose of influencing elections it could face:
i. Fines.
ii. Public exposure of anonymous donors.
iii. Loss of tax-exempt status.
iv. Levy of unpaid taxes and interest.
v. Criminal penalties.
See, the federal government can be serious about this! And look at #2 — “several liberal and Democratic-leaning groups to disband or curtail their activities.”
From the tone thus far, it’s obvious where these people’s priorities lie — they’re upset because some liberal groups have run afoul of the law, so they’re going to take down some conservative ones. No mention of any conservative groups that might have been similarly affected, no interest in hearing about the misdeeds of any liberal groups.
5. If a Section 527 group exceeds just $1,000 in federal contributions or expenditures, and has as its major purpose influencing federal elections, then it too can face fines and criminal penalties, as well as reclassification as a federal PAC, which would render most or all of the contributions it had received as unlawful transactions by both the 527 group and its donors.
Hmm… I wonder just what category Accountable America falls under. I think it’s safe to say they’ve spent over $1,000 in this election cycle. And they’re incorporated as a 501(c)(4) group. not a Political Action Committee.
6. And, an IRS or FEC investigation of a group could involve examination of its relationships with its donors and their activities.
Emphasis in the original. They want to make it abundantly clear that this letter — and all the dire warnings above — are for YOU, Mr. and Ms. Republican Donor.
7. Accountable America is offering a $100,000 reward to encourage whistle-blowers and and others with information about unlawful conduct by business-oriented or conservative Section 501(c) and Section 527 groups to bring their information to the attention of law enforcement authorities. Learn more about the reward at http://www.accountableamerica.org/.
Yup, they’re putting their money where their mouth is. Or, rather, as a tax-exempt group, they’re putting OUR money where their mouth is.
Hey, last time I checked, $100,000 is considered more than $1,000. That means that the warnings back under #5 apply to them.
And I sincerely hope that they have at least $100,000 on hand to cover this offer.
Oh, who am I kidding? These assclowns are practically screaming “we’re George Soros’ Butt-monkeys!” If they don’t have the money on hand, they could get it with a phone call or two.
8. Accountable America will publicize the political and business relationships and corrupt activities of donors to these 501(c) and 527 organizations both in the media and to shareholders of public companies where a donor is a major shareholder, director, or officer.
In other words, if you contribute to Republican and conservative causes, and we don’t like it, we will do all we can to destroy your life. And we’ll go after your business interests, too.
If you want to support your candidates of choice, the most secure way remains a hard-dollar contribution. The maximum donation is $2.300 per election.
So if you want to participate financially in elections, then give just to your candidate of choice and butt out. Don’t give money to interest groups (such as Accountable America), don’t support any causes or issues, just pick a single candidate per election.
And I think they even got that wrong. I believe it’s $2.300 PER CANDIDATE per election. But this letter is only going to people who back Republicans and conservatives, so a little misinformation won’t hurt, right?
This letter does not constitute legal advice. We advise you to consult your own attorney and accountant, especially experts in campaign finance and non-profit law and tax accounting.
Because only a great fool would take legal advice from someone threatening you with legal action.
Then, the single biggest lie in the whole letter
Sincerely.
OK, that’s it in detail. Now for the overall letter:
GO TO HELL, PIGFUCKERS.
This letter — although I’m sure it was vetted by the best Democratic lawyers dirty money can buy — is nothing less than a veiled extortion threat. Tom Matzzie, the leader (and only named member) of Accountable America, openly describes it as “going for the jugular.”
So far, the reaction around the blogosphere has been pretty much as expected: anger. And that’s a GOOD thing.
So, just who is this assclown causing all the fuss, anyway? Who is this “Tom Matzzie?”
Good old SourceWatch to the rescue.
- Former Washington Director and lobbyist for MoveOn.Org
- Formerly ran the Campaign To Defend America, a group to raise money for liberal causes, in the mold of Americans Coming Together (who got fined most of a million bucks for breaking the laws in 2004)
- Headed up the now-defunct (or maybe not — Matzzie is quoted as saying both) Americans Against Escalation In Iraq
- Joined with David Brock — founder of Media Matters For America — to start Progressive Media USA, with the intent of attacking John McCain.
- Served as Director of Online Organizing for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign.
- Served as Online Mobilization Director for the AFL-CIO.
- Helped fight against privatizing Social Security for the Campaign For America’s Future.
- Board of Directors, Progressive Majority.
You know what it looks like to me? This pig-fucking scumbag, Tom Matzzie, has spent his whole life in political in-fighting, in the shadowy world of influence groups and special interests and causes, and now is looking to clear the playing field. He’s put together yet another organization whose sole purpose is to take down his opponents. He’s bounced from one liberal group to another, always looking for the new group to jump on once the shiny newness wears off the old one. They all have these vague, idealistic names that tell you nothing about their actual agenda.
So now he’s finally coming clean, showing his true face. He’s tired of spending all his time and effort and energy and other people’s money and losing over and over and over again, so he’s decided that the best way he can win is if he can scare people out of funding them.
I think it’s time to fight fire with fire. I never heard of this asshole Matzzie before, and pretty much everything I know about him, I’ve discovered in the last couple of hours researching this article. But that’s more than enough to hate him.
So I’m going to turn the tables on him.
I am hereby issuing a call for any and all dirt on Mr. Matzzie. I don’t care if it’s illegal, immoral, unethical, or just plain embarrassing. If it’s bad about him and it’s true (or, at least, plausible), I wanna know about it. And to follow his model, I’m offering a reward.
The first twenty people to send me the very best dirt on Mr. Matzzie will get five cents from my PayPal account.
That’s right. Unlike Matzzie, I don’t have George Soros and a bunch of corrupt moneybags on speed-dial. I’m doing this out of my own pocket, so I’m limiting my reward to a buck. One dollar. And even then, I’m going to split it twenty ways.
That spotlight you’re aiming, Matzzie? It’s going right back on you.
Lick it up, bitch. Lick. It. Up.
Oh, and while you’re bent over licking it up, go fuck yourself, Matzzie. You represent EVERYTHING I hate about the current state of American politics.
