501(c)(3) Law: A Lawyer's Relief Act

I mentioned a while back that I was hoping that John Lott's attempt to get a 501(c)(3) foundation funded to pay for research on crime-related questions would be successful, and I was somewhat tempted to try and pursue a similar strategy, so that I could work full-time on public policy issues, instead of doing it in my spare time, catch-as-catch-can.

The more time I spend reading about 501(c)(3) law in the area of "private inurements," the more I find myself wondering how so many 501(c)(3) foundations manage to pay their directors such extraordinary salaries. My suspicion is that many of these very high salaries only survive because there are squadrons of lawyers and consultants available to defend them.  I suspect that any 501(c)(3) set up to fund the type of research that I do would rapidly produce an IRS audit (if not auto da fe).