This is a group that has incorporated in order to be able to carry on business for the group it represents. It has to file its own tax returns.
The Teamsters, the Girl Scouts of America, the NRA, and Planned Parenthood are all special interest groups. That they have different status from each other under the law is pretty obvious.
Unless you and your neighbor banded together and filed the necessary paperwork to become "Citizens for Joe Schmoe", you would be two private citizens buying air time. You could enlist your whole neighborhood, and have a bake sale and everything, but unless you file the papers, your aren't a special interest group, even though you are a group and have an interest, and are special. ;)
Special interest groups file the papers because there are legal and tax advantages for doing so. You and your neighbor couldn't write off the cost of your ad (which would be considerable, taking production costs and air time into account) unless you had incorporated.
As far as I can tell (not having read the bill in its semi-complete form), there are no restrictions on pamphletting, direct mail, letters to the editor, or posters. But these are used mostly by local people to express their opinions to their neighbors, and don't require major bucks to distribute. Except for postage.
That's the difference.
Regards--
Mary Anne
Current Events » in reply to I'm with you on this one...
The special interest group
The whole thread (37 posts)
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