Powerline provides much needed sunshine: “A key provision is that a 501(c)(4) organization cannot engage in any activity that mentions a candidate for office or a political party within 60 days of a general election. The regulation is facially neutral as between conservative and liberal groups, but its effect will fall overwhelmingly on conservative organizations…”
…So for the Obama administration, it’s an easy calculation: 501(c)(4) groups are conservative by a margin of more than six to one, so let’s just knock them all out of action. Doing so will have no impact on the Democrats’ major funding source, the unions, since they are 501(c)(5) organizations.