Remove U.S. judges from posh seats
I am tired of judges legislating from the bench. They make decision for all, without consulting the people, and are even intent on silencing the people. So, I want these judges removed from their posh, paid, lifetime-tenured seats: Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Alito, Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas. They decided, just five people, to allow unlimited corporate “contributions” to elections and campaigns, heavily weighting availability of media and information (and mis- and dis-information) toward what is good for the corporation, not what is necessarily good for the citizens who are in the true majority of this country.
The courts are supposed to provide a deliberative balance to the legislative and executive branches, both of which are more reactive to public opinion. Not to say that even a deliberative court cannot be wrong (Dred Scott, anyone?), but it is not supposed to respond to fickle public sentiment.
Jeni Nosbisch
Des Moines
Don’t lose tax exempt status
We at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are concerned because more than 3,600 small community-based nonprofits in Iowa are in jeopardy of losing their tax-exempt status. The loss of this status could greatly impact the organizations’ charitable work and their donors’ potential tax deductions.
The organizations that are at risk failed to file the required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009, according to IRS records. The requirement to file is the result of a tax law change that occurred in 2006. For many of these small organizations, complying with the new law may be as simple as completing a 10-minute form online. They can preserve their exempt status under a one-time relief program the IRS announced in July, but only if they file by Oct. 15, 2010.
A list of the organizations that were at-risk is posted at IRS.gov.
Christopher Miller
IRS Spokesperson for Iowa
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