Collateral damage
Fighting terrorism has become big business in this country. According to a knowledgeable source, compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security is now a billion-dollar-a-year industry, including forms and training of personnel.
A recent segment on “60 Minutes” raised questions about the need for some practices of airport screening, such as wanding elderly women. The spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration soberly assured us, after reminding us once again that “we are at war,” that if we didn’t screen such unlikely suspects, the terrorists would be sure to use them. It seems likely to me that I will not live to see the threat level reduced from Orange in my lifetime.
Most of us are now quite familiar with the official paranoia at airports. We’re even willing to concede that baggage checkers are quite nice people, apart from their grim responsibilities. Some of the collateral effects of the War on Terrorism are less visible, however.
I recently took over the position of treasurer for a local nonprofit organization, with annual cash flow of less than $10,000. When the outgoing treasurer and I went to the bank to change over the signature card and arrange for the printing of new checks, we learned that the account could not be changed over until our organization was first listed with the Secretary of State’s office as an official nonprofit corporation. There are serious federal penalties for any bank employee who does not adhere to the new rules.
Our organization has been openly in existence for 46 years, and we don’t look or behave much like terrorists—or, I should say, what we imagine terrorists are like. Nor is our educational and social agenda likely to alarm anyone. Nevertheless, it is insufficient for us to be listed as a voluntary association; we had to file articles of incorporation with the State of Nebraska. We also now have to file an annual report with the Internal Revenue Service, which (prior to the Patriot Act) had no such requirement for nonprofits with less than $25,000 of annual income.
In order to file the required report with the IRS, and thus avoid the penalty of losing our tax-exempt status, I navigated the uncharted waters of the IRS phone system, then learned that we first had to obtain an Employer Identification Number—though we have no paid employees. Acquiring such a number and waiting for it to get into the system takes a minimum of three weeks. Fortunately, the deadline for filing our report was still a few weeks away. The new and more stringent requirements are intended to facilitate computer tracking of financial accounts. No doubt even the computers are being watched by other computers.
Do we feel safer now, knowing that everyone is being watched? It’s a rhetorical question. At least we know that terrorist organizations cannot be funded secretly in this country by a plethora of innocuous nonprofits with small accounts.
Of course, computers insist that all groups being monitored fit into the categories provided, even if these categories don’t quite fit. So our voluntary association (excuse me, nonprofit corporation) is now listed as a business, and I’m receiving helpful small business start-up materials in the mail. Come to think of it, we’re probably not the only business these days that is not making a profit!
Has fear driven out common sense in this country? I have my opinion; you may have yours. It seems a question worth asking, though—along with this follow-up: Is there an expiration date for our national insecurity?
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