Arianna Huffington: Spotlight on the Charitable Foundation Dodge

Arianna: Here's a line you won't see very often: I couldn't agree more with Tom DeLay.

Tom DeLay was speaking of full and complete disclosure of campaign contributions. But the GOP for the past decade has been associated with more and more contributions flowing through tax-free charities. These are almost nothing but political scams to provide funding and jobs for friends and relatives and supporters while engaging in political related activities.

These "charities" have the advantage of minimal federal oversight. Donations to them are unlimited, tax deductible and not reported. A complete win-win-win for dirty money flowing into politics. This is also related to the tax-free foundations that have been fueling the Right-Wing Media Noise Machine which now spends tens of millions of dollars (tax-free) each year distributing right wing opinions and studies to every branch of media.

The most immediate need is for all the spending of foundations and contributions to charities to be reported. The next priority is an overhaul of the tax code - the more money that flows through non-taxed channels the more the tax-payers have to pick up the bill.

Tags: Huffington, DeLay, charities, tax-free, foundations, corruption