Private Charity, Public Coercion

To say the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a private Charity, was embroiled in controversy this week, would be an understatement. What seemed at first blush to be a refocusing on the charity's primary goal of finding a cure for breast cancer, was to reduce or eliminate contributions to organizations that did not do any actual breast cancer screening. Logically, one would assume that this would free up those funds to go to organizations that do. Yea!

Not so fast! If one of the organizations that received this money in the past, but had no actual screening for breast cancer was Planned (Not) Parenthood, then this was a right wing "attack" on Planned Parenthood specifically and abortion in general.

If there is one thing the Obama economy has taught many of us, is that we have to make do with less. Spending patterns that may have made sense in times of prosperity (Are you listening, state and federal governments?) have to be sacrificed in failing and failed economic times.

But, as Rush Limbaugh is frequently heard to say, "Follow the money". Moving one's resources from one organization which claims to be helping in the fight against breast cancer to another which promises to be more effective is not an "attack" on abortion, other than the fact that money is fungible, and getting Komen to pay for "A" frees up money that can be used for "B".

And Planned Parenthood is all about the money!

In Planned Parenthood's annual report, it stated it received $500 million in tax dollars. According to documented stories, the salary of Planned Parenthood's president is $353,000. Its eight top executives received over $2 million. Salaries of the CEOs at their 81 facilities were over $12.8 million. The average salary for a CEO at a facility is over $158,000. These don't include expense accounts, etc.

So, Planned Parenthood, with their highly paid executives, receives a half a billion* in taxpayer dollars and squeals like a stuck pig when a smaller, private charity decides their money might have greater benefit to, say, poor women, if it were directed to an organization that actually screens for breast cancer? ? Got it!

And in all this, Planned Parenthood plays the victim. One thing this past week has once again demonstrated, what an excellent PR organization they have. Besides the MSM, I mean. How else could they have suckled at the teat of government (pun intended) for so many years and still manage to publicly coerce anyone who wishes to fund women's health, where they don't get a piece of the action?

Too bad they're liberals. I could see an #Occupy Planned Parenthood if they weren't.

*Figure adjusted for inflation, post morning coffee.

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.