IN what may emerge as one of the salient issues of the 2006 campaign season, the NYT reports on a United Churches of Christ led complaint by a number of religious leaders accusing the IRS of favoritism in failing to investigate alleged church nonprofit tax code violations :

[ NYT story ] A group of religious leaders accused the Internal Revenue Service yesterday of playing politics by ignoring its complaint that two large churches in Ohio are engaging in what it says are political activities, in violation of the tax code.

In a letter to Commissioner Mark W. Everson, the clergy members cited reports of political events involving Fairfield Christian Church in Fairfield and World Harvest Church in Columbus and groups affiliated with them that have occurred or been disclosed since they raised the issue in January.