A controversial “nonprofit killer” bill is back on track after it was blocked earlier this week.
A majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives rejected the bill on Tuesday out of fear that it could grant President-elect Donald Trump the legal tools with which to target his ideological foes, but Republicans are swiftly pressing ahead.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would empower the secretary of the Treasury to designate any nonprofit as a “terrorist supporting organization” and revoke its tax-exempt status, is set to go before the Committee on Rules on Monday for a hearing that could tee up the bill for a new floor vote.
The hearing was announced Thursday evening, just two days after 144 Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill as part of a fast-track parliamentary procedure that required a two-thirds majority.
The bill, also known as H.R. 9495, has come under withering criticism from a broad coalition of organizations that say its sponsors are pushing it as a means of cracking down on free speech — particularly […]
As I have stated previously, the logic of this bill is the sane as that of the so called US Patriot Act. It is part of an on-going logical extension which has been supported by a majority of Republican and Democrats for well over 20 years. You can go back and see the logic in action: Fusion Centers, terror watch lists without check or recourse, National Security Letters, governmental spying on American citizens without warrant, assassination of American Citizens overseas without trial or charge, the imprisonment of Journalists for doing their job and exposing the evils of empire, the invasion of other nations without pretext or the declaration of war. This list can go on and on. Many of us objected to the so called Patriot Act when it was introduced fearing this very trajectory. Our efforts at reform were continually stymied using fear, the modern currency of the empire. Don’t like the outcome? Then you have to change the structure. Think outside the box.