I noted earlier this week that several religious leaders in Ohio filed a complaint with the IRS against some conservative churches that have been helping Republican candidates, specifically Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R), despite legal restrictions on intervening in political campaigns. Yesterday, as Sarah Posner noted, Blackwell encouraged the churches to keep doing what they’ve been doing. There’s one big problem with that.
Republican gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell told conservative religious leaders yesterday not to be deterred from political participation by a federal complaint filed by 31 Columbus-area pastors.
“You tell those 31 bullies that you aren’t about to be whupped,” said Blackwell, the secretary of state, who said that “political and social and cultural forces are trying to run God out of the public square.”
Posner noted the inherent flaw in having Ohio’s Secretary of State encouraging religious ministries to ignore federal tax law. That’s certainly true.
But Blackwell’s advice isn’t just misguided, it’s breathtakingly self-serving. These churches are intervening on Blackwell’s behalf as part of his gubernatorial campaign. If the IRS decides the ministries have run afoul of tax law, who’s left holding the bag? The churches. What happens to Blackwell? Nothing.
The penalties for a church that helps a political candidate could be probation, fines, and in some cases, the revocation of the church’s tax-exempt status. The penalties for a candidate who uses a church for political gain? There are none.
Blackwell, in other words, finds himself in a convenient position as he encourages friendly churches to break the law — he gets all of the benefits with none of the risk. If the churches involved face IRS penalties, Blackwell will pat them on the back, thank them for the support, and encourage them to hire a good lawyer.
It’s shameless. I realize that Blackwell embraces the kind of far-right, vaguely theocratic values that the churches like, but these ministries are being used.