Much todo about nothing.   Claiming to rival the Tea Party Movement, the so-called “Coffee Party” movement turns out to be nothing more than a George Soros funded enterprise.   American Thinker exposes the funding behind the movement, which isn’t a surprise.

“The Coffee Party website says its 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status is pending with the IRS, which must approve some, but not all, tax-exempt activist entities. Any 501(c)(4) may engage in lobbying, so contributions to them are not deductible. The contribution landing page for the Coffee Party says that it partners with Democracyinaction.org, a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning contributions to the latter are tax-deductible.

The About Page for Democracyinaction.org states that it gets funding from Open Society Institute, George Soros’s organization. Because contributions to 501(c)(3)s are tax-deductible, those funds may not be transferred to 501(c)(4)s, which are allowed to lobby.

Democracyinaction.org offers professional services the same or similar to what many for-profit companies provide and is described at Guidestar.com as follows:

DemocracyInAction is a nonprofit dedicated to leveraging the unique power of online communications for invigorating those committed to ecology, social justice and human rights. To a broad swath of these social change leaders, we provide cutting-edge e-advocacy tools for pennies on the dollar relative to the fees demanded by the private sector. In a word, we democratize e-activism, freeing practitioners to pour resources into mission and strategy.

The most recent tax return for Democracyinaction.org (its IRS Form 990) shows it gets far less in grants than it earns in program service revenue, which I believe are fees it charges to its progressive clients.

Democracyinaction.org is affiliated with for-profits Salsa Enterprise and Wired for Change. Wired for Change lists its “political organization” clients to include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and ACORN(and we thought ACORN wasn’t a political organization). Its candidate clients include Chuck Schumer and Jerry Brown.

In other words, these organizations are consultants playing in the big leagues. Democracyinaction.org lists its address as 1700 Connecticut Ave, Washington, D.C., which is a high-rent district. That, however, does not convince me that the Coffee Party is Astroturf.

What strikes me about Democracyinaction.org and its affiliation with for-profit consultants is that 501(c)(3)s are not only supposed to be engaging in a tax-exempt mission, but are also not supposed to use tax-deductible funds for lobbying or political purposes. Democracyinaction.org is tax-exempt, while its affiliates are for-profit. That doesn’t bother me, since I happen to believe that the First Amendment trumps the tax code. The IRS, however, does not typically withhold actions based on that same belief.

None of the entanglements I’ve described convince me the Coffee Party is Astroturf, but all of them merely demonstrate how the left has a vast network already in place to enable the formation and financing of tens of thousands of start-up causes. It merely means that Coffee Party’s founders knew the progressive network and knew to rely on skilled consultants. I could be wrong.”

Ok, so again this surprises no one. Neither does the MSM attempt to glorify the movement and attempt to make us believe that it’s a real grass roots movement – it’s not. But I’m not concerned either because as much as it touts huge involvement it’s nothing compared to the size of the Tea Party Movement, nor the sincerity that drives it.