this has been the exact plan for a long time. get ready for “breaking” news about GOP initiatives to also eradicate:
- freedom of the press (this doesn’t just cover news media. censorship teams will prevent things from even being published–race, gender, science, LGBTQ, things critical of trump, things critical of religion, on and on and on–pretty much anything they don’t like is off the table)
- freedom of religion (obviously)
- consumer protections
- right to privacy (yea, this is the case now, but until now you’ve never had to worry about unwarranted search and seizures)
- due process/ habeas corpus
- financial aid/social safety nets
there is nothing there to protect you from them anymore. everything that will exist will be to protect them from you
If you’re wondering how this works, under this bill:
- The Treasury Secretary can “determine” that any non-profit organization “supports terrorism.”
- The Treasury Secretary does not have to provide any supporting evidence, or even any specific accusation.
- The non-profit will have 90 days to “appeal.” Without having any idea what they’re being accused of.
- The appeal can be declined without comment.
- The non-profit’s 501©3 status is revoked. This essentially closes the doors of that organization.
To be clear I think this bill is horrendous, but…
The non-profit will have 90 days to “appeal.” Without having any idea what they’re being accused of.
This is not quite true. In Section 4 C (ii) it states that the secretary must provide “the name of the organization or organizations with respect to which the Secretary has determined such organization provided material support” and in Section 4 C (iii) it states that the secretary must provide “a description of such material support or resources to the extent consistent with national security and law enforcement interests.”
That doesn’t lessen the chilling effect this bill will have nor will it lessen the damage caused. But I feel accuracy in discussing this is important.
Full text of the bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9495/text
I very much appreciate this, especially the link to the actual text of the bill.
“the name of the organization or organizations with respect to which the Secretary has determined such organization provided material support”
“You’ve provided relief funds and services to [redacted, national security].”
“a description of such material support or resources to the extent consistent with national security and law enforcement interests.”
“Can’t tell you, national security.”
Oh very true. But there is still congressional oversight and that means that some Dems will be privy to what [redacted] actually means.
Hey, just try find a few scraps of optimism…
After this bill, Trump will declare antifa, BLM, and pro-palestine movements as terrorist organizations
Then all leftist legal support is dead
After this bill, Trump will declare antifa, BLM, and pro-palestine movements as terrorist organizations
Possibly. But per the bill they have to at least make a show of “proving” that the organizations aided designated foreign or domestic terrorist organizations, which is defined by the Secretary of State. Yes, of course they can just define an organization as such but it’s not completely evidence-free. I’m a little unclear on the process of domestic vs foreign designations - Executive Order 13224 signed by bush gives both to the Secretary of State. Still that way?
“Then all leftist legal support is dead”
Because people can’t get a tax deduction? I’d hope we’re slightly better than that.
And this would just be the start of fascism in America.
Continuation, it already started.
This bill can’t pass without Democratic support … but last week, over 50 Democrats voted for it! It didn’t quite pass, but now they’re trying again … so please, if you’re in the US, please call your Congresspeople!
Here’s EFF’s action alert. https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-not-to-weaponize-the-treasury-department-against-nonprofits
Good, but 52 democrats voted in favour…wtf?
The call is coming from inside the house. We need to start seriously working on an alternative to the Democrats.
Until they bring it up again after Trump is inaugurated and gives the order to fall in line.
Non-voters, third party throw away voters, and the “low information voters” all got together to let this happen. Participating in society isn’t that hard. Hope y’all figure that out by the midterms.
This only has a chance of passing because there are 50+ Democrats on board with it. And it’s not just Democrats from red states and red areas.
Trump voters, meanwhile, are blameless.
Dude, basic reading comprehension implies heavily, to the point of truth, that my comment is about people IN ADDITION to Trump voters.
There’s literally nothing in your comment that actually, directly, blames Trump voters. You have to use your words on the internet.
Also? There won’t be any midterms. Elections are over, you need to get with the program and be prepared for something other than playing voteball every two years.
And now we know which 501(3)© is going to be targeted in retaliation first…
Uhh, that’s already illegal. This would have just allowed the IRS to revoke status. They can already weaponize the FBI this way. They’ll take all the work product, computers, and key personnel. And it will take years of legal fights to get them back. That organization is effectively dead at that point.
