Black Soap

Why Are Non-Profits Banned From Politicking to Begin With?

Looking at LBJ’s maneuvers, one could argue that the installment of political prohibitions on non-profits was itself a political move, since Johnson used it to quell a rising tide of wealthy conservatives looking to take him out of office. Without that political maneuver, though, Johnson perhaps doesn’t get re-elected to the Senate, and then maybe doesn’t later get elected President of the U.S. In that case, he never pushes for and signs into law the Voting Rights Act and a stronger Civil Rights Act.

Tea party groups today claim non-partisanship, despite clear evidence otherwise, but it looks like the history of tax exempt status for non-profits wasn’t politically neutral to begin with.

Read more here.

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Look, we don’t need mainstream/national media to “recognize” when New Orleans has mass shootings. For one, it’s not even true that the city lacks national coverage on this matter. Almost every national and international major news outlet has reported on the Mother’s Day violence. Two, If you are in media, and you are complaining about why there isn’t more coverage, there’s a simple solution: Cover it! But what does mass media coverage gain New Orleans? The shootings are only symptoms of deeper problems. Louisiana’s prison status deserved and got national coverage. Corrupt police and sheriffs deserved and got national coverage. Poverty and inequality in education and economic opportunities in New Orleans could use more national coverage. But shootings? How does that help us? Media can’t save New Orleans

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Billboards – This offensive waste of money does nothing to deter crime, and is the propaganda of the Mayor’s dolled up racial profiling project which targets the “600 most dangerous individuals” in the city. One of the tenets of NOLA for Life, the Mayor’s “comprehensive murder reduction strategy”, is to basically harass young Black men until they inform on their peers in exchange for the promise of low paying jobs and underfunded social services. We need a meaningful division of resources that lead to true job creation for people who have already been to prison, while also reducing the number of people going in, the numbers of which continue to skew toward minor crimes. New Orleans truly standing for life would require ending racial profiling, not upgrading it with more funding. It would also mean admitting the criminogenic nature of our corrupt police and Orleans Parish Prison. 

— Rosana Cruz for Bridge the Gulf

Maybe Some of These Tea Party Groups Deserved Extra Scrutiny

True the Vote, which Colorlines reported extensively on last year, was engaged in plenty of work around elections and campaigns, and virtually all of the groups included in their network happen to be “tea party,” “patriot” and “9/12” groups — all conservative organizations that work both within the Republican Party and in support of its causes. And probably because those groups compose the bulk — if not all — of True the Vote’s membership, they are complaining that the IRS unfairly made them jump through hoops when registering as a tax-exempt group.

True the Vote, of course, advocates for voters to jump through hoops by showing proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, and show government-issued photo ID to vote by ballot. And while there were reports of True the Vote intimidating and harassing voters over the last couple of years, their director Catherine Engelbrecht is now accusing the IRS of doing the same thing to her organization. Engelbrecht is telling media that she applied for tax-exempt status over a year ago, and in return, she was probed for documents by not only the IRS but other federal agencies.

“This is what the beginning of tyranny looks like,” Engelbrecht told Breitbart.com. “If such politically-motivated governmental abuses of power can happen to us, they can happen to anyone.”

~~Fuck outta here~~

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Objects only appear closer

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Ummm … Peggy?

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Black Versus: What Kind of Animal Shoots Up a Mother's Day Parade?

blackversus:

I looked at “Big Red” Deb laid out in the hospital, tubes running out of her, blood running out of her, but saw a strong soul running within her. She was sedate, resting, not in peace, but in the unsettled and medicated calm that comes after violence. Her close friends gathered around her bed,…

— Brentin Mock

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