Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times: President Obama owes Karl Rove a thank-you note. During last year's election campaign, Rove and other Republicans showed how federal tax law could be stretched to turn a political committee into a "social welfare" organization. These nonprofit organizations, known as 501(c)(4)s, are defined by the Internal Revenue Code as "primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare." This year, with the president's blessing, former Obama campaign aides have followed in Rove's muddy path and launched a social welfare organization of their own, called Organizing for Action (with, happily, the same initials as Obama for America).