Dolan: White House is "strangling" Catholic church

[NYC Liberal]

46. From the IRS's "Tax Guide for Churches & Religious Organizations":

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf

All IRC section 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches and religious organizations, must abide by certain rules:
- their net earnings may not inure to any private shareholder or individual,
- they must not provide a substantial benefit to private interests,
- they must not devote a substantial part of their activities to attempting to influence legislation,
- they must not participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, and
- the organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy .

However, section 501(c)(3) organizations must avoid any issue advocacy that functions as political campaign intervention . Even if a statement does not expressly tell an audience to vote for or against a specific candidate, an organization delivering the statement is at risk of violating the political campaign intervention prohibition if there is any message favoring or opposing a candidate . A statement can identify a candidate not only by stating the candidate’s name but also by other means such as showing a picture of the candidate, referring to political party affiliations, or other distinctive features of a candidate’s platform or biography . All the facts and circumstances need to be considered to determine if the advocacy is political campaign intervention .

Key factors in determining whether a communication results in political campaign intervention include the following:
...
- whether the statement expresses approval or disapproval for one or more candidates’ positions and/or actions;