by Jesse Galef

It was a good week for separation of church and state. The “I Believe” license plate was ruled unconstitutional, the DC Council might have the courage to stand up to the Archdiocese threats, and here’s one from earlier in the week I missed – Representative Lynn Woolsey, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote an op-ed in Politico calling for greater IRS scrutiny on the way the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) influenced the healthcare bill.

The role the bishops played in the pushing the Stupak amendment, which unfairly restricts access for low-income women to insurance coverage for abortions, was more than mere advocacy.

They seemed to dictate the finer points of the amendment, and managed to bully members of Congress to vote for added restrictions on a perfectly legal surgical procedure.
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The IRS is less restrictive about church involvement in efforts to influence legislation than it is about involvement in campaigns and elections.

Given the political behavior of USCCB in this case, maybe it shouldn’t be.

What does it say about me that I was immensely cheered up by this?

Woolsey is absolutely right on this point – trying to affect legislation through lobbying is getting into sketchy territory for a 501(c)3 like the USCCB. Such nonprofits get their tax-exempt status and are not allowed to devote significant time lobbying. That’s what a 501(c)4 designation is for.

At the Secular Coalition for America, we were a 501(c)4 because we had the express purpose of lobbying congress and the administration. As a result, donations we received were not tax-deductible. Them’s the breaks. The ACLU, by the way, is in the same boat. My monthly donations are not tax-deductible (not that it makes a difference on the scale that I donate).

I don’t know if what the USCCB did was too much lobbying for a 501(c)3 – but that’s just the point, we don’t know if the IRS doesn’t investigate, and we have reason to be suspicious:

The influence the USCCB showed in the debate was considerable, the Wall Street Journal reports, calling the group “a major political force with the potential to upend a key piece of President Barack Obama’s agenda.”

The Journal reports that the USCCB swayed Congress with “behind-the-scenes lobbying, coupled with a grassroots mobilization of Catholic churches across the country.” Along with conducting private meetings with lawmakers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the group circulated to churches a prayer supporting health care reform that included the phrase, “We will raise our voices to protect the unborn.”

Of course, we can count on other elected officials to completely miss the validity and nuance of the problem:

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who is Catholic, took to his Twitter account today to defend the USCCB, the Hill reports.

“The nerve of some citizens to petition their government,” he wrote. “In Woolsey-land, free speech is cause for retribution.”

Wow, is McHenry really calling for a complete overhaul of the non-profit system? Is he saying that even organizations getting special tax privileges should be allowed to influence government in any way they choose?

Or is he just clueless on separation of church and state?