Team,
Did you know that the tax code allows billionaires to donate huge amounts to dark money organizations without paying any taxes on the donation?
Regular people making political contributions to candidates they admire use money on which they paid taxes. Not right-wing billionaires.
Right-wing billionaires funnel dark money into the American political system tax-free. One of the worst abuses of this loophole was when far-right donor Barre Seid donated 100% of his ownership stake in a computer hardware company to a nonprofit run by none other than Supreme Court fixer Leonard Leo.
That stake was worth $1.6 billion. The loophole in the tax code let Seid avoid up to $400 million in taxes – boosting the money Leo could use to warp our politics and push more far-right judges and justices on the bench.
It’s not good for democracy when a single donor can transfer assets worth $1.6 billion to a dark money political group, and it’s even worse when it’s a multi-hundred million dollar tax dodge. If you agree that billionaires attempting to influence politics from the shadows should not be rewarded with taxpayer subsidies, add your name to my petition now to support my new legislation >>>
The End Tax Breaks for Dark Money Act would ensure the super-rich cannot avoid taxes while corrupting our political system. It makes donations of appreciated assets to nonprofit organizations subject to the same rules as gifts to PACs.
We need to pass the End Tax Breaks for Dark Money Act and my DISCLOSE Act to stem the flood of corrupting dark money in American democracy. Will you sign your name if you’re with me in this fight?
Thank you,
Sheldon Whitehouse
