Fighting Fire With Fire

Facing a barrage of ad spending from conservative-friendly third party groups, Democrats are upping their attacks on the outside influence that threatens to drown out their messaging ahead of November's midterm elections.

Several House Democrats are demanding some of those outside ads get pulled from the airways and one senior Democratic senator wants an investigation into whether such groups are violating federal tax law.

On Wednesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, penned a letter to the IRS asking it to look into whether outside groups organized as 501-c4's, 5s and 6s are in compliance with the federal tax code.

Groups like American Crossroads GPS, Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Job Security, all of which have spent millions on ads in 2010, are among the targets.

At issue is whether the nonprofit groups, named for the sections of the tax code that govern them, are primarily engaged in political activity. In order to keep their donors anonymous and hold their tax-exempt status, the group's primary purpose cannot be political, according to federal law.

Still, the groups have poured millions into some of 2010's top Senate and House races, leading Baucus to question whether they're operating within the tax code.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/campaign-ads/122285...

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