Review: Three out of every Four of Section 527 Tea Party Organizations Are Inactive

There are two routes by which the activity of political organizations in this country can reach federal disclosure. One is through the Federal Election Commission, which collects and discloses contributions to and spending of political parties, political action committees, and candidates for office. The other is through the Internal Revenue Service, which maintains a database of federally-registered non-profit Section 527 political organizations engaged in policy rather than campaign activism. These latter organizations must report expenditures (whether of money or in the provision of in-kind services) they make to maintain their organization and to influence policy in America, and must also reveal the dollar value of contributions they receive (whether in money or in the provision of in-kind services) to accomplish those ends. To the extent that either money or in-kind services are necessary to engage in political activity in America, a Section 527 organization’s reports of contributions are a reasonable indication of its level of activity.

A quick search through the IRS Section 527 Political Organization Disclosure Database reveals documentation for 34 different Section 527 organizations using the term “Tea Party” in their title (more than 34 organizations are listed in search results, but some of these are duplicate records for groups that at some point changed their names). The following is a summary of contributions received since formation by the 34 “Tea Party” organizations registered with the IRS in the United States of America:

This data, current as of today, reveals that slightly more than 3 out of every 4 of these registered “Tea Party” organizations are utterly inactive (or have failed to obey the law and file accurate financial disclosures). Only 5 out of the 34 “Tea Party” Section 527 groups — Arkansas Tea Party, Inc., Tea Party of Louisiana LLC, the Tea Party of Western Michigan, the Baton Rouge Tea Party and the Cincinnati Tea Party — have raised more than $10,000 during the course of their existence. And only 1 out of the 34 “Tea Party” groups registered with the IRS has gathered enough resources to engage in significant public activity and organization-building. That organization, the Cincinnati Tea Party, has raised a relatively whopping amount of $255,400.70 since its inception — enough for it to arrange its own special discount days with Kings Island, organize its own media division and more.

Of the 34 Tea Party groups that have made their activities transparent to the public, only 1 group reports enough activity to make a stink. That group, the Cincinnati Tea Party, bears close watching. The other groups, as “grassroots” as they may be, cannot be the source of the apparent groundswell of “Tea Party” activity — at least not if they report their activities with honesty and diligence.