User talk:Rockmhoward

Welcome

Welcome to my talk page.

Let's get serious about political pages

I added a picture of Kathie Glass as the Libertarian camdidate for Governor of Texas. Kathie is ballot qualified and will be a choice for every Texas voter. However some wikipedia editors are removing her picture saying she needs to get at least 5% in a poll before her picture can be shown. This is wrong on several levels. First of all, even though Kathie has been ballot-qualified since the convention in June, there has been no poll that lists her as one of the choices for Governor. This means getting 5% is impossible. (You might want to suggest that "other candidate" is a choice and typically gets low numbers, but that ignores the reality that many poll responses get tossed as the call ends prematurely once the poll taker points out that the poll has unfairly left Kathie's name off of the list of choices.)

But all of that doesn't really matter. The truth is that it is common for groups to discriminate against unfavored political candidates by using this "poll results" dodge. Since others do it, why not Wikipedia? It turns out there is a problem with that. The IRS has determined that non-profit groups that post information about political campaigns must treat all candidates equally on their websites or else risk losing their non-profit status. The FCC also has similar rules although it is not clear whether or not they apply to websites. Up until now the Libertarian Party has not wanted to use these rules to insist on equal treatment since the IRS is not one of their favorite government agencies, but currently I am in discussions with state party executives about how we are going to handle things this year. Given that Kathie Glass is already up against non-profit groups trying to keep her out of debates based on polling numbers. the chance is real that either the Glass campaign, the Texas LP or both may work to have either the IRS or the FCC regulations enforced. If that happens, then attaching other non-profit groups that also ignore the IRS and FCC rules to any such complaint would seem to be a logical step.

I found a pertinent IRS web page at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154712,00.html that discusses the guidelines for non-profit organizations vis-a-vis elections in a general manner. Please note the section on web sites and especially Example 19 which, in my view, closely pertains to the election pages posted by Wikipedia. Note that the guidelines specifically state that all candidates must be treated equally. Failing to do so can presumably lead to a determination that a non-profit organization is intervening illegally in an election. Rockmhoward (talk) 14:20, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

Texas

Please stop reverting and putting Glass back into the infobox. The fact is that Glass is mentioned in the candidates section of the page. We have come to consensus numerous times before. I understand you feel very strongly about this, but one opinion can't overrule numerous discussions.--Jerzeykydd (talk) 22:40, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Numerous discussions are irrelevant. The IRS guidelines are clear. (Did you read them?) Wikipedia management has forwarded these guidelines to their legal staff for review. I am pleased to see that at least for the moment the web page is treating all candidates equally by including no pictures of any of the candidates. Rockmhoward (talk) 03:53, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

A WikiProject for Nonpartisan Election Pages on Wikipedia

I created the proposal for a new Nonpartisan Election Pages WikiProject and invite you to join up as a member. This project would create new guidelines for pages concerning U.S. Elections that conform with federal regulations. I would then work to get support from managers of the Wikipedia Foundation for this project and also recruit project members who are willing to help me update election pages to meet the new guidelines. Rockmhoward (talk) 13:37, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

After a period of Wikipedia inactivity I'm back and have joined your group Nonpartisan Election Pages. I'm hoping that we can attract a few other people to help marshal arguments when editors get overly enthusiastic about cutting. The 5% polling threshold is ridiculous, considering that most professional polling firms won't even ask about independent or non-Dem/Rep candidates. Thanks for your good work on this. I'll be more active through election day. Let me know if you'd like for me to pitch in on any topics. DJ Silverfish (talk) 16:10, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

Bear Woods Page

I am an Atlanta Falcons fan and so I created a Wikipedia page for Bear Woods who is a rookie linebacker who was just signed to the Falcons Practice Squad. This exercise helped me learn more about using my Sandbox to create a new article.