Self-Inflicted Pain
Nothing is so painful as self-inflicted pain. I’m always baffled when I see someone create painful situations for themselves or their friends. Is it some sort of unconscious intention, or simply blissful ignorance? The incorrigible Mr. Elkins has done it again with his latest blog post. Elkins writes:
“Although the ACCG itself is a 501(c)4 organization that uses its contributions for political lobbying, it consistently accuses and criticizes archaeological professional groups such as the AIA, American research centers abroad such as CAARI, and advocacy groups such as SAFE for what it calls political lobbying and manipulation. Of course the irony in this is that all of these are 501(c)3 organizations, which could not pay for political lobbying with the same freedom that the ACCG can.”
I have to wonder what goes on in the mind of someone who makes a statement like that. The IRS sets up categories of non-profit organizations for a reason. Those who lobby are not allowed to do so with money that was skimmed from the public purse through tax deductions for donors. Hurrah for the IRS! The AIA, CAARI and SAFE all do exactly the same things that ACCG does, except that they are chartered as 501(c)3 organizations which DO skim from the public purse through tax deductions and a variety of grants. Now Mr. Elkins is apparently astute enough to know that this is a delicate issue for 501(c)3 organizations because, depending on how the IRS views their activities, they could lose their tax exempt status and be penalized financially for certain forms or levels of “lobbying”. Claiming that lobbying only applies to legislative issues is a slippery slope, and one that the aforementioned organizations are not so distant from in any case. So what is the point, Mr. Elkins? The ACCG requested a non-profit designation that reflects exactly what it does–nothing to hide. The others dance around the issue and pretend that they are really not lobbying, when a third-grader could see through that. Raising this point as some sort of criticism of ACCG is not only ignorant, it is foolish. Why would any of the above organizations invite scrutiny of their tax exempt status? Make no mistake, the ACCG has been aware of this for some time. The tax reports of these organizations are easily obtainable and they invariably (if not always) claim that no money was spent on lobbying activities. Say What? That does tend to raise an eyebrow among all who have eyes to see. Mr. Elkins should be quietly commending the ACCG for not making this an issue and thereby creating a very burdensome situation for AIA, CAARI or SAFE. But no, he highlights it on a public blog. The real irony of this situation is that ACCG, who can legally spend all of its funds on lobbying, spends virtually nothing on it—we are spending our shekels in court.
