Press Questions Nonprofit Status
Malcolm Maclachlan wrote in the Capitol Weekly that Move America Forward "has been criticized for running such advocacy ads while maintaining a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status. However, several political watchdogs noted that the group adheres to the letter of the law. For instance, the group does not give to candidates or directly call for people to vote for anyone."
On September 9, 2006 the Sacramento Bee ran an article detailing a number of issues with Move American Forward's activities that might affect its nonprofit status. Chief among these were concerns public donations to MAF may be indirectly or directly subsidizing partisan activity prohibited nonprofit organizations by law. Milbourn cited as evidence the statement by Melanie Morgan that the Bush administration is running "one of the most inept communications departments I've seen. ... That's one of the reasons we started Move America Forward ... This administration is unable to articulate clearly why we went to Iraq, why we are there and why we're winning the war." He also noted that Move America Forward shares its office with Russo's PR firm, that one of Russo's private clients is the government of Kurdistan in northern Iraq and that his firm is running a campaign encouraging investment there. Milbourn says the Center for Media and Democracy has questioned whether the contract poses a conflict for Russo, given Move America Forward's promotion of the war. Russo is also director of the 'The Campaign Store, Inc.' which provides for a fee the processing of packages to troops and the accounting of contributions received.
In its 2007 IRS filing Move America Forward says it has not "attempted to influence national, state, or local legislation, including any attempt to influence public opinion on a legislation matter or referendum."
Read more about this topic: Move America Forward
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