Post by Alyssa on Feb 9, 2013 2:36:44 GMT -5
New Obama group Organizing for Action says it’s non-partisan Read more: www.politico.com/story/2013/02/new-obama-group-organizing-for-action-says-its-non-partisan-87345.html#ixzz2KNvjni00link
By TARINI PARTI and KENNETH P. VOGEL | 2/7/13 5:41 PM EST
President Barack Obama’s new nonprofit Organizing for Action insists that promoting the White House’s legislative agenda can’t be counted as “partisan political activity.”
The organization on Wednesday quietly posted new guidelines on its website formally declaring its intention to stay out of campaign politics.
“Neither OFA nor its chapters will be involved in any way in elections or partisan political activity,” OFA wrote. “Its exclusive purpose is public policy advocacy and development, and in particular, both enactment of President Obama’s legislative agenda and the identification and advancement of other goals for progressive change at the state and local level.
The freshly articulated mission language mirrors that of similarly structured conservative groups that have played heavily in recent elections and have drawn criticism from Obama and his allies for corrupting democracy and abusing the tax code.
Obama’s aides don’t deny the inherently political nature of their new group, which has been billed as the successor to Obama’s vaunted campaign apparatus and it’s being run by former White House and campaign officials.
“I think we can affect elections even if legally we can’t be involved with them for this particular organization,”Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, said last month.
Organizing for Action — like the Karl Rove-conceived Crossroads GPS and the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity — is registered as a non-profit under section 501(c)4 of the tax code. Such groups are able to accept unlimited and secret donations from corporations, lobbyists and political action committees – cash streams that Obama attacked bitterly when GOP-allied groups tapped them.
While Organizing for Action intends to accept unlimited corporate and individual donations, it stressed in its new guidelines that won’t take donations from lobbyists, foreign agents or PACs.
Read more: New Obama group Organizing for Action says it’s non-partisan Read more: www.politico.com/story/2013/02/new-obama-group-organizing-for-action-says-its-non-partisan-87345.html#ixzz2KNw2QLfk
By TARINI PARTI and KENNETH P. VOGEL | 2/7/13 5:41 PM EST
President Barack Obama’s new nonprofit Organizing for Action insists that promoting the White House’s legislative agenda can’t be counted as “partisan political activity.”
The organization on Wednesday quietly posted new guidelines on its website formally declaring its intention to stay out of campaign politics.
“Neither OFA nor its chapters will be involved in any way in elections or partisan political activity,” OFA wrote. “Its exclusive purpose is public policy advocacy and development, and in particular, both enactment of President Obama’s legislative agenda and the identification and advancement of other goals for progressive change at the state and local level.
The freshly articulated mission language mirrors that of similarly structured conservative groups that have played heavily in recent elections and have drawn criticism from Obama and his allies for corrupting democracy and abusing the tax code.
Obama’s aides don’t deny the inherently political nature of their new group, which has been billed as the successor to Obama’s vaunted campaign apparatus and it’s being run by former White House and campaign officials.
“I think we can affect elections even if legally we can’t be involved with them for this particular organization,”Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, said last month.
Organizing for Action — like the Karl Rove-conceived Crossroads GPS and the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity — is registered as a non-profit under section 501(c)4 of the tax code. Such groups are able to accept unlimited and secret donations from corporations, lobbyists and political action committees – cash streams that Obama attacked bitterly when GOP-allied groups tapped them.
While Organizing for Action intends to accept unlimited corporate and individual donations, it stressed in its new guidelines that won’t take donations from lobbyists, foreign agents or PACs.
Read more: New Obama group Organizing for Action says it’s non-partisan Read more: www.politico.com/story/2013/02/new-obama-group-organizing-for-action-says-its-non-partisan-87345.html#ixzz2KNw2QLfk
